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intheheartTitle: Part Four
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Zack has either very good or very very bad timing.
Date: December 29th, 2028
Notes: More plot! Sort of.
Dr. Kendall was just coming up the stairs when Zack entered the morgue.
He almost stiffened, almost braced for an argument or a cutting remark, before reminding himself of his New Year's resolution to be nicer to her. It annoyed him to admit it, but Felipe had been right; he'd been a jerk to her, which wasn't cool even if she'd been a bitch to him.
And anyway it was hard to think of her as a bitch after the Secret Santa thing, after she'd looked at him with wonder in her eyes and told him with a disturbing amount of sincerity that she loved a stupid little scrap of wood he'd carved in half an hour on a stakeout because he was bored, and given to her because he didn't care about it.
Hello, guilt.
He'd go and say hi, he decided on impulse, and stepped forward. "Dr. Kendall."
Too late, he saw that she was with someone, a tall and fairly handsome man with stubble shadowing his jawline. He had a hand at the small of Dr. Kendall's back, and hard eyes that didn't soften, not even when he smiled and touched his free hand to his forehead. He looked vaguely familiar-- maybe he'd been hanging around the station recently?
Zack disliked him on sight.
"I'm sorry," he said, eyes on the tall man. "I didn't see your... friend?"
The meaningful pause, he told himself, had been absolutely necessary, thank you very much. So had the challenge in his face, and the implied question.
"That's all right," Dr. Kendall said, and Zack snapped his attention back to her, searching her face. She was afraid, he thought. Which was ridiculous; her voice was steady, and she sounded perfectly normal. But her eyes were wide, and her skin paler than usual. She was afraid. "Can I help you?"
"We really ought to be going," the tall man said. Dr. Kendall's eyes widened even more.
Zack spoke up without even thinking. "Actually," he said, "I need your opinion on something. A case I caught," he explained to the tall man, lying blithely and grateful that he was plainclothes today. Mere officers didn't get cases. But Dr. Kendall hadn't mentioned his rank, so maybe he could pass as a detective.
The faintest tinge of relief colored her voice. "Of course. How can I help?"
"Summer," the tall man said, through his teeth. Her shoulders hunched, and Zack felt suddenly and irrationally protective. "We really need to go." He pressed forward with the hand at her back, but she stood her ground.
"I have to do my job," she said, sounding just the slightest bit on edge.
The tall man smiled. It didn't look pleasant to Zack. "Your job is what got you into trouble, remember?" he said.
Dr. Kendall lifted her chin and inhaled, her free hand clenching. Zack looked from her to the tall man and back again, knowing something was wrong, knowing she wasn't all right, but dammit, he didn't have any proof. There had to be something he could do...
And like a gift from God, it came-- a flash of light sparking off metal at Dr. Kendall's back.
What happened next happened, for Zack, largely on autopilot. He reached out, grabbed Dr. Kendall's free arm and jerked her hard towards him, away from the man. She fell forward; he caught her and swung her away, towards the door, shouted "Run" as the receptionist let out a shrill scream and ducked behind her counter. The man swung his gun up, aiming for Zack.
The problem with being out of uniform was that he didn't, at least today, carry a gun.
Zack dove sideways and took shelter behind the row of chairs for visitors. He heard the cracking of shots behind him and the snap snap snap of bullets into wood. None of the wet meaty sounds of bullets into flesh, thank God. The receptionist was under cover (and hopefully calling 911), and Dr. Kendall must be safely out the door by now. She was smart. She would run.
He peeked between the chairs, trying to get a look at the gunman's position, and saw only a flash of black hair before somebody shot at him again.
Dammit, he had a meeting at Central in ten minutes.
He was definitely going to be late.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Zack has either very good or very very bad timing.
Date: December 29th, 2028
Notes: More plot! Sort of.
Dr. Kendall was just coming up the stairs when Zack entered the morgue.
He almost stiffened, almost braced for an argument or a cutting remark, before reminding himself of his New Year's resolution to be nicer to her. It annoyed him to admit it, but Felipe had been right; he'd been a jerk to her, which wasn't cool even if she'd been a bitch to him.
And anyway it was hard to think of her as a bitch after the Secret Santa thing, after she'd looked at him with wonder in her eyes and told him with a disturbing amount of sincerity that she loved a stupid little scrap of wood he'd carved in half an hour on a stakeout because he was bored, and given to her because he didn't care about it.
Hello, guilt.
He'd go and say hi, he decided on impulse, and stepped forward. "Dr. Kendall."
Too late, he saw that she was with someone, a tall and fairly handsome man with stubble shadowing his jawline. He had a hand at the small of Dr. Kendall's back, and hard eyes that didn't soften, not even when he smiled and touched his free hand to his forehead. He looked vaguely familiar-- maybe he'd been hanging around the station recently?
Zack disliked him on sight.
"I'm sorry," he said, eyes on the tall man. "I didn't see your... friend?"
The meaningful pause, he told himself, had been absolutely necessary, thank you very much. So had the challenge in his face, and the implied question.
"That's all right," Dr. Kendall said, and Zack snapped his attention back to her, searching her face. She was afraid, he thought. Which was ridiculous; her voice was steady, and she sounded perfectly normal. But her eyes were wide, and her skin paler than usual. She was afraid. "Can I help you?"
"We really ought to be going," the tall man said. Dr. Kendall's eyes widened even more.
Zack spoke up without even thinking. "Actually," he said, "I need your opinion on something. A case I caught," he explained to the tall man, lying blithely and grateful that he was plainclothes today. Mere officers didn't get cases. But Dr. Kendall hadn't mentioned his rank, so maybe he could pass as a detective.
The faintest tinge of relief colored her voice. "Of course. How can I help?"
"Summer," the tall man said, through his teeth. Her shoulders hunched, and Zack felt suddenly and irrationally protective. "We really need to go." He pressed forward with the hand at her back, but she stood her ground.
"I have to do my job," she said, sounding just the slightest bit on edge.
The tall man smiled. It didn't look pleasant to Zack. "Your job is what got you into trouble, remember?" he said.
Dr. Kendall lifted her chin and inhaled, her free hand clenching. Zack looked from her to the tall man and back again, knowing something was wrong, knowing she wasn't all right, but dammit, he didn't have any proof. There had to be something he could do...
And like a gift from God, it came-- a flash of light sparking off metal at Dr. Kendall's back.
What happened next happened, for Zack, largely on autopilot. He reached out, grabbed Dr. Kendall's free arm and jerked her hard towards him, away from the man. She fell forward; he caught her and swung her away, towards the door, shouted "Run" as the receptionist let out a shrill scream and ducked behind her counter. The man swung his gun up, aiming for Zack.
The problem with being out of uniform was that he didn't, at least today, carry a gun.
Zack dove sideways and took shelter behind the row of chairs for visitors. He heard the cracking of shots behind him and the snap snap snap of bullets into wood. None of the wet meaty sounds of bullets into flesh, thank God. The receptionist was under cover (and hopefully calling 911), and Dr. Kendall must be safely out the door by now. She was smart. She would run.
He peeked between the chairs, trying to get a look at the gunman's position, and saw only a flash of black hair before somebody shot at him again.
Dammit, he had a meeting at Central in ten minutes.
He was definitely going to be late.
