Smack the Dog

Chapter 34: Run Rabbit
Author: Foofy
Summary: The rescue party begins, although it’s debatable who requires rescuing the most.

*

It was going to be something innocent. It had to be. For fuck sake, there were plenty of reasons why someone didn’t turn up when they were supposed to. Illness, for one. A piece of dodgy chicken could go miles when it came to general sickness and bed rest. Okay, so it might not entirely explain why Dave couldn’t get to a phone, but at least it was a start.

Or he might have forgotten. Okay, that was more unlikely. Should you forget things like filming there were normally half a dozen people employed to ensure your mind was firmly back on the task in hand. Besides which, Dave was extremely dedicated to his work, his general lifestyle and pretty much everything else in this world.

Or perhaps something had come up, some family emergency somewhere. He might be on a flight back to Australia at this very moment, unable to use the mobile because of restrictions. And all the payphones would be out of order due to … well, evil children running wild or the attack of the koala bears.

Or he was locked in the toilet.

Or he had been kidnapped by that little plastic duck in the bathroom. He *knew* it was up to something.

Or...

Or…

The phone to Sean’s place was really not being answered. Sean had already tried three times, the last one leaving a frantic message in case for some reason the man wasn’t picking up. He was only faintly conscious of the other two watching him as he paced up and down the kitchen with the phone clamped to his ear, waiting. Viggo had wisely given it back at the first request. Ha! Sean was stealing command again. Bloody hell.

Orlando had switched off the heat to the oven and had his hand on Viggo’s arm as though checking he wasn’t about to disappear on him. Sean was faintly reminded of the films where the innocent couple are confronted by a criminal in their living room and they spend the time simply watching and lending support to each other in times of stress. There was a distinct quiet dignity about it all. But that wasn’t the important thing right now. The important thing was the fact that the fucking phone wasn’t being picked up.

Oh, Dave was going to be so much the dead person when he found him.

Finally the silence and pacing managed to get to Orli.

“ Have you tried Karl?” he suggested quietly as Sean began to swing past on his next pace. Sean glanced up at him as though he had almost forgotten the other two were still there, nodded once and started to redial. He got to the third number before pausing. Orlando sighed and held his hand out for the phone, swiftly entering the number before passing it back. Sean noted briefly the look Viggo gave him for knowing Karl’s number off by heart, but at that moment the phone answered and Sean had to concentrate on what his mouth was doing instead.

“ Yeah?” Well, at least Karl wasn’t dwelling in a sea of anguish and confusion after his little encounter at the Viggo household. The man sounded as refreshed as one who had spent the last week in the best Health Spa known to man.

“ Karl, it’s Sean,”

“ Can’t keep away, huh?” there was a grim amusement in his voice. “ What do you want?”

Sean allowed a pause to develop before answering, mostly because there was so much he wanted to say but couldn’t quite work out the way of saying it without sounding like a paranoid idiot. On the plus side, Karl did know how much Sean had to be paranoid about.

“ Have you seen Dave today?” It was said as casually as Sean could, but even so the tension suddenly seemed to flow through the phone as though it had turned to ice in Sean’s hand. Apparently these words had not assisted Karl’s own paranoia. Sean was about to ask whether he was still there when Karl finally spoke, a low voice as though expecting Viggo to be listening in.

“ Leave Dave alone. He doesn’t deserve whatever Viggo has planned for him,” Karl’s voice was cautious and warning at the same time. Sean shook his head automatically, forgetting that the only people who would be able to take this on board was his mini audience by the doorway. Vocal chords were engaged.

“ Is he there?” Sean persisted.

“ Well. No.” Karl sounded extremely grudging about this type of confession. There was another slam to Sean’s insides, as though someone had decided to use it as a target to exercise their sledgehammers. “ Why?”

Sean deliberated for a few moments. Apparently a few moments was all that was needed to get Karl onto full paranoia setting, warp factor 8.

“ What’s going on, Sean?” Karl was suddenly all fear and all aggression all at the same time. It would have been quite impressive had Sean enough room in his mind to focus on that. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Viggo clearly take the car keys out of his jeans pockets and look at him meaningfully, although the older man did resist jangling them in a parental fashion. Obviously Sean’s expression had been enough for the other two to know exactly what Karl’s answer had been.

But back to the conversation in hand. Hell, he had to tell him something. You can’t just ask questions and then hang up.

Probably.

No! You couldn’t. It wasn’t right, and Dave was his friend after all. If their roles were reversed, Sean had a sneaking suspicion he would have seriously hurt Karl should the bastard not have informed him immediately. Sean sighed and accepted the inevitable.

“ Dave didn’t turn up to the set today, apparently,” Sean’s voice was apparently so eager to come out that his words were all a rush. “ We don’t know where he is. He’s not answering any calls,”

Silence on the other end. Sean wasn’t entirely sure Karl hadn’t fainted, apart from the fact that there hadn’t been any heavy thud sounds from the other line.

A few more moments. Sean wasn’t sure whether to hang up.

“ No one’s heard from him since yesterday?” Karl was back and sounded croaky.

” No. We’re about to go to mine now,”

“ I’ll meet you there,” And the phone clicked as Karl hung up, not bothering to hear Sean’s version of whether he wanted the man there. Sean found himself staring at the lump of plastic in his hand as though having no idea of its purpose. Orli carefully removed it and put it on the kitchen table, his hand soon back on Sean’s arm.

“ I think Viggo better drive,” he said soothingly. Sean snapped out of his trance and glared at him.

” Don’t treat me like some sort of idiot, Orli,” he snarled. However, Orlando obviously didn’t care about Sean’s bad mood as he started to steer him out the door and towards the car.

*

The front door to Sean’s flat was unlocked. As Sean put his hand on it, the door swung slowly open in a foreboding way as though a coffin lid slowly opening to admit the living corpse of Count Dracula. It even squeaked in a menacing fashion, not that Sean could ever remember it squeaking previously. David would have de-squeaked it in an instant if it had.

Sean took a shaky step through the door and surveyed in silence the mess of his temporary home. The side table had been smashed into several pieces, one piece still propped upright by the sofa in a way that looked like it was trying to cling to life. By the white mess on the floor it appeared that a plate had smashed and been stepped on, the small pieces turning even smaller. The place looked as though a mini whirlwind had taken place inside these walls, although it was very particular about what it touched.

Sean found his feet couldn’t continue, the disobedient bastards that they were. His eyes slowly travelled round the room, only focusing on the rumpled bed as Viggo stepped past him to crouch near it. The blankets seemed to be heaped together in one mass, as though someone had jumped out of it in a hurry.

However, someone obviously hadn’t jumped that far.

” Dave?” Viggo’s voice was low and urgent. Sean suddenly found command of his feet again but, apparently, not command of his stomach, and stepped forward at about the same time as Orli slid past him and moved further into the room, staring down at the bed with a look that wasn’t far off the normal expression found on actresses in horror movies.

After a few steps Sean finally found himself at Viggo’s shoulder, staring down at the bed. An occupied bed.

Viggo glanced back at them. At least Sean could take comfort from that expression. It spoke of order, of policies and correct procedures, and certainly didn’t look as though Viggo was going to start panicking on him. Faced with that Sean’s stomach began to calm down, his heart beat begin to return to something approaching normal.

It would be alright. It had to be.

” Orlando, get a glass of water,” Viggo ordered briskly. Orli nodded and was out to the kitchen in a shot. Sean could hear the noises of cupboards being opened in the search for a mug or a glass. Sean dropped to a crouch by Viggo’s side, staring at the prone figure on the bed anxiously. The anxiety managed to step up a notch at the sudden realisation that the red pattern that was on the sheets hadn’t been intended by the sheet designer.

“ Oh god,” Sean whispered to himself.

“ He’s breathing,” Viggo had obviously seen how ill Sean felt, blue eyes resting on him briefly before turning back to the man buried in the blankets on the bed. “ Come on, Dave,” his voice had returned to that of a teacher soothing a pained child, or a voice that was intended to calm a frightened kitten that was hiding behind the sofa.

Nothing. Not even a groan. Dead to the world.

Viggo carefully pulled back the covers, touching the drying patch of blood on the younger man’s temple before checking his heart beat again in case it had decided to disappear on him whilst he wasn’t paying attention. At the feel of Viggo’s fingers on his throat, Dave suddenly started to stir with a moan. And they were back to the horror movies, this time Night of the Living Dead.

“ David?” Having jumped up at the movement, Sean was back and already putting his hand on the younger man’s own, eyes scanning him worriedly. “ Can you hear me?”

“ nnnnnmph,” Dave managed to move himself slightly. Tired and disobedient eyes finally opened with the speed of a tortoise, and eventually focused on the worried blonde in front of him. “ Se’n?”

“ Don’t try to do too much, Dave,” Viggo took the glass of water from the returning Orlando, and looked back at him. “ You look like you’ve had a nasty bang to the head,”

This was good advice. However, it was completely ignored. Dave looked at Viggo in confusion as though not entirely recognising who he was, winced as he moved his head and slowly sat up, one hand moving to rest on his forehead. Sean had almost been expecting a creak of muscles as David moved, a zombie come back to life in order to cause chaos and to feast off those foolish enough to be around.

However, if Dave was in the mood to start massacring people and eating their brains it was apparently going to be put on the things to do list. He really wasn’t going anywhere. The Australian focused back on Sean, and swallowed a few times to clear his throat.

“ What .. are you lot doing here?” he asked finally, looking from Sean to Orlando and then, more grudgingly, to Viggo. Viggo passed him the glass of water which the younger man accepted with more pleasure.

“ What happened, Dave?” Viggo’s voice was deliberately neutral. It was the type of voice that policemen must use almost constantly.

“ Happened?” echoed David, his voice steadily growing stronger. “ Nothing happened,”

There were three identical looks of disbelief at this little statement. Dave sighed and took a long swig from the glass, his mind obviously working. Sean folded his arms stubbornly and looked at him with an expression he hoped was more serious than grumpy.

“ Dave, the room’s smashed up. The lock’s busted. Your head looks like it’s met up with a baseball bat in a dark alley. You miss filming-“

There was a groan from the figure on the bed. “ Ah, shit,”

“ Don’t you ah shit me, what the fuck happened here?” exploded Sean. “ Who did this to you?”

It took quite a bit to ignore an angry Sean, but Dave managed it without much ado. He looked towards Viggo thoughtfully and a little ruefully, and sighed again. His voice was becoming stronger by each syllable, no longer sounding as though he was startled. Now it was just quiet resignation.

“ It seems that I owe you more apologises,” he said quietly. Sean stared at him, then at Viggo who seemed to be accepting this nonsense with no problems whatsoever. The expression on Viggo’s face didn’t look as though he was simply humouring the younger man either. The whiff of something bad was strong in the air. Sean looked from one to the other, and then at Orlando who was now sitting on the sofa watching them.

“ Okay, what’s going on?”

Was what Sean was meaning to say. However, these words had not managed to originate from his own throat as the new arrival managed to beat him to it. Sean glanced behind him just as Karl stepped across the threshold, a dark thundercloud showing where a face normally was, his eyes fixed on the bed. Sean looked back in time to see Dave flinch. Actually flinch. Sean didn’t realise the Australian knew how.

“ They called me,” Karl said in answer to the unspoken question that hung in Dave’s eyes. “ And what the fuck have you got yourself into?”

Dave’s eyes slid to Sean briefly, before returning to Karl. There was a noise of what appeared to be understanding, if understanding was also pretty damn pissed off at the same time. Sean frowned.

“ What?” he asked impatiently. Yet again he was ignored. So much for the new age of information sharing. Karl moved to crouch by the bedside, Viggo moving without a word to allow the younger man access. Sean glanced at him as Viggo moved to stand at his shoulder. There wasn’t a pleased expression on Viggo’s face. It was odd. It was strangely determined, focused. And, thankfully, it didn’t seem to be against him either.

“ Should we call for an ambulance then?” Sean was keen to get the proceedings into an area that he was familiar with. Incidents happened. You called the police or the ambulance or occasionally the fire service. You did not just sit around hoping it went away.

Did you?

David sat up slightly straighter, although he was swiftly pushed back down again by Nurse Karl who was beginning to tend to him. Wary light blue eyes fell on Sean.

“ No ambulance. No police,” Dave was obviously determined.

“ You’re just going to let them get away with it?” came Orli’s contribution from the sofa, the young man displaying some rarely shown anger. Dave didn’t look towards him, neither did he bother to comment on the ‘them’ part. Any hope that Sean held that this was simply a case where Dave had been overly clumsy melted away like a snowflake in sunshine.

Obviously the assumption of ‘them’ had already been accepted as reality by other people as it was Karl who finally answered Orli’s question. Karl himself didn’t bother to look back, although a lot of this was probably due to him having his hands full with tending to Dave, completely ignoring whether Dave wished for this attention or not. Dave suffered the poking and prodding with wary acceptance of his fate, although Sean was quite certain he could see the impatience already building in the Australian.

“ I can sort it,” Karl’s voice was grim as he worked. Viggo made a point of shifting his body weight in response to this. It was slight, but it was noticeable and more the point it was almost menacing.

“ That’s what you said last time. And now the boundaries have shifted,” Viggo’s soft voice, the one he normally used when he was attempting to keep calm but influence people as much as possible. “ I’m not sure I’m happy with this,”

“ Vig, trust me on this,” Karl stared back at him angrily, his hand dropping away from Dave briefly. “ I can deal with it,”

“ You want me to just step aside and hope you can cope?” Viggo’s voice was neutral, but they could all hear the distain just wanting to be released. Karl’s eyes narrowed.

“ For what it’s worth,” he replied shortly. “ Yes,”

Viggo gave a snort of laugh which stated his opinion on the matter. Sean could see Dave’s eyes flickering from Viggo to Karl then back again cautiously. Having noticed, Karl made a soothing noise in the back of his throat and put his hand tenderly to Dave’s forehead again, smoothing away the few damp strands of hair that had fallen over his face. Dave put up with being treated like a five year old with patience, although the watchful look didn’t quite escape his expression. Karl pointedly didn’t look back at Viggo as he worked.

Orli was sitting on his knees on the sofa, watching this display.

“ What happens if they did it again?” snapped Orlando when it was obvious no further plans were being made. He looked towards Viggo for some help. “ Come off it, he’s battered enough as it is-“

“ They stopped as soon as they saw who I was,” said David finally, with an obvious amount of reluctance. Sean frowned at him, then looked at the smashed remains of his room. *His* room. Not Dave’s. They must have been tracking David from Viggo’s to be able to work out that he would have been here tonight…

Or did they?

After all, this wasn’t Dave’s house. They stopped as soon as they had worked out it was ‘Daisy’. Sean was beginning to suspect that they might have mistaken David’s form to be someone else entirely.

Someone, say, who was supposed to be there.

Sean raised his shocked eyes to Dave.

“ They weren’t even after you?” Sean asked in a hoarse voice. Good god, did he cause pain and suffering to everyone he met up with? Sean was obvious a jinx to everyone else in the entire world. It would be nice if just once he could meet someone who didn’t look like they should have a doctor on call 24 hours a day to deal with the Sean effect.

Sean was aware of Orli’s gaze on him, slightly confused by his comment. Viggo shifted his weight onto the different foot and said nothing. Dave nodded once in answer, and winced as Karl’s hand gently touched the cut to his head. Sean could see the look of realisation creep over Orlando’s face.

Finally Viggo spoke.

” Sean, I don’t want you or Orli out without someone with you,” he said quietly. Sean stared at him, incredulous at the order. Okay, so it might be dodgy out there. There might be people after their blood, or at least after a few good squeaks of pain and discomfort. But to have to have an escort or babysitter if you wanted to pop down the pub or go shopping? For god’s sake, you did not get that when you were over forty. It just wasn’t *dignified*!

Meanwhile Orlando was still pondering things in his mind.

“ But why did they go for Sean? They don’t know him!” said Orli slowly, glancing towards Sean as though expecting the answer to be written on his t-shirt. Well, it might well be. Sean was beginning to suspect that someone had painted ‘kick here’ on his back.

However, Orli’s words had managed to remind him of something else to cringe about. Sean groaned to himself.

“ The bar,” he muttered under his breath. He was aware of Viggo giving him a look that spoke of wary acceptance of their situation. It wasn’t a look made in accusation, but this didn’t help. Sean had an overwhelming urge to shuffle his feet in response. So that was the reason why Dave wanted to apologise to Viggo some more. On the plus side at least it meant the Australian wasn’t getting a fixation about saying sorry to everyone he met.

Orlando’s look had managed to progress through surprise, annoyance and back to thoughtfulness. He turned to Dave once more, the New and Improved injured man taking another sip of water. Dave’s blue eyes turned to Orli in query which promptly glazed over at Orli’s next sentence.

“ For fuck’s sake, we have to go to the police,” Orlando had obviously decided to aim the plea towards the walking wounded instead. “ Look at you!”

Apparently Dave was well aware of what he looked like as he didn’t even hesitate in shaking his head, albeit slowly and carefully as though it might drop off at any moment. On the plus side at least head injuries tended to look worse than they actually were. It was the melodramatic part of the body, obviously.

“ No police,” repeated Dave steadily, just in case his careful shake was a little too careful and the meaning had been lost.

“ Why not?” Orli was torn between being incredulous, angry and sulky.

“ Would you like to tell me how you’re planning to escape media attention if this came out? You’d get reporters camped on your doorstep for months to come.” Dave sighed. The glass lowered. “ All it takes is just one slip, one rumour to get out and … well, I’m sure you’ve considered the consequences before,” A hard glance aimed itself at Karl, who flushed slightly.

Orlando was silent, the anger wiped off his face. His eyes darted to Viggo as though seeking assurance. Sean however was less happy about keeping quiet. This was his whole social life being put on hold unless Viggo was there to hold his hand and make sure Sean was safe, sound and bloody frustrated. Not a chance in hell.

“ How were you going to sort this?” Sean addressed Karl directly, ignoring the slight frown that appeared on Viggo’s face at this. Karl shrugged slightly.

” Threats, mostly. I didn’t go as far as I could have last time, and then it only covered Viggo’s wellbeing. You might have been a useful loophole. I never specified that you weren’t to be touched,” Karl’s eyes flickered briefly to Sean and then back at Dave. David was attempting to get out of bed, which was promptly foiled by a careful push by Karl on his leg. Karl shook his head once. Dave scowled like a twelve year old.

“ I’ve got to speak to Peter, remember? They’ve going to be pissed off as hell that I didn’t turn up.” David managed to rein in his anger to a mere simmer.

” I’ll do that too,” replied Karl. “ Just get some sleep, Daisy,”

” Sleep?” David started to shake his head then apparently realised this was not a good idea. A brief look of pain crossed his face, Dave’s eyes shutting. “ No. I’ve got things to do.”

” Do them tomorrow,” ordered Karl briskly, and with a voice that suggested that should orders be ignored certain people were going to be tied to the bed.

“ Is it something we could do for you?” offered Orlando from the sofa. “ We’re reasonably reliable, honestly,” He gave him a cheerful smile which almost hid the nervous expression in his eyes. David sighed and smiled to himself ruefully.

” So I have a room of men at my beck and call?” he said softly. “ I suppose I could get used to this. Ow!”

The ow had been inserted due to Karl locating a new source of pain on David’s body. The blanket was twitched aside by Karl, much to the general disruption of Dave who was not happy about this development. And it was not difficult to see why, either. Sean shifted forwards, staring at the dark purple area on David’s thigh in shock. Karl was also not looking happy at this new discovery. Dave suddenly found himself running out of places to look which wasn’t going to meet someone’s horrified gaze.

“ Where else are you hurt?” Sean re-folded his arms. David opened his mouth to comment and simply had to make do with another pained noise as Karl managed to roll him over into a position where he could check him over properly, David choosing not to fight this inevitable situation.

Obviously at some point last night David had had a chance to get out of his clothes. That was a better thought than the idea that the damn things had been ripped from him at least. A pair of boxer shorts kept his modesty. They didn’t, however, manage to hide the bruises which were on his right shin and thigh. The bruises were dark enough to suggest that it had only been a matter of luck that blood hadn’t splashed all over the room.

“ Oh, Dave,” groaned Karl.

“ Oh, Dave nothing,” snapped David, who was uncharacteristically tetchy. Sean could see the look of embarrassment hidden in the anger. Hell, he himself had written books on the subject. However, Dave’s tetchiness wasn’t yet finished. “ I’m not dying. I would have been at work today but the time just slipped by me. You don’t need to worry about me, start worrying about them!”

Viggo, the main part of ‘Them’, shifted positions again. His expression did not suggest that help was either wanted or required.

“ You sure you don’t want to see a doctor?” Viggo asked finally.

“ Yes,” Dave sighed. “ Shall I write this down for the next time someone wants to ask that so I can save my breath?” There was a soft growl, followed by another sigh. “ Sorry. I know you’re trying to help. Just, honestly, I’m fine,”

Karl gently touched Dave’s leg. There was a brief moment where Dave struggled to keep in the yelp, his expression looking as though he was trying to swallow something huge. Sean glanced towards Viggo, who was rubbing his chin with a hand. His eyes showed he was deep in thought. That thought looked like it was going to be unpleasant to someone.

“ You’re not thinking of going after them, are you,” murmured Sean. Viggo’s eyes flickered to him but the older man didn’t say anything. Oh, ye gods and little boarlets. Sod the Black Gate, apparently Aragorn had better targets to use the sword on.

“ You can’t,” hissed Sean. Karl glanced round at them, surprised.

” He can’t what?”

“ Nothing,” Sean amended quickly. Karl’s eyes narrowed. David took the opportunity of Karl’s distracted attention to slide off from the bed and seize hold of a pair of trousers which were on a nearby chair.

“ Viggo?” Karl raised an eyebrow. However, there was no chance at all of this actually working on Viggo. The man had a Protection–From–Eyebrows ability that was incredible. Almost about the same size, in fact, as Karl’s Optimism Ability.

“ I assume you wish to speak to them,” Viggo said calmly. Karl’s eyes narrowed further.

“ You assume correctly,”

“ Excellent! And I will be there with you,”

“ I don’t think so,” Karl stared at him, and laughed once to himself. “ They’d eat you alive, Viggo. Look, you want to go in all guns blazing. Fine, I don’t mind that. Just give me a chance to try to intimidate them first, eh? We might have been banned from going to the police, but *they* don’t know that.”

They stared at each other from across a few paces. Sean sighed to himself and walked to settle himself gingerly by Orli, who shifted positions to allow him room to sit down. Dave had managed to get himself almost entirely fully dressed, and was now ignoring the little argument in the room to gaze with weary acceptance at his head injury in a nearby mirror. The injury was brightly coloured. It was raised. And it looked painful.

“ Perhaps they can shoot the wounded Faramir scenes instead?” suggested Sean at the expression that was across Dave’s face. Dave began to shake his head but changed his mind.

” They’re not doing Minas Tirith for a while yet. The set needs to be sorted,” There was another heavy sigh. Apparently David had been storing them up for a special occasion, although Sean assumed that being beaten up in what you assumed was a safe home was probably the nasty side of special.

Meanwhile, the staring match continued. Viggo rubbed his chin again idly, his eyes never leaving Karl. There was no doubt as to the anger that was flooding through the older man. However, Sean was a little more shocked at the sheer fury that was apparently racing through Orli at this point in time. The younger man was quivering against him, and no fear nor temperature caused this.

“ It’s okay, Orli,” Sean tried a soothing measure, the words low in the room. However, soothing was apparently off the menu as Orli stared back at him.

” Okay? How can it be okay? We’ve got a bunch of psychos on our case and this is okay?” Orlando seemed to be almost insulted by their presence. “ They came after you, Sean! Look what they did to David, and he’s someone they actually like!”

“ Like is a little strong. Try put up with,” offered Dave, who was busy poking the bruise in the manner that some people will with an injury, just in case it disappears on them or they were just reminding themselves how painful it was.

“ They stopped when they worked out it was you, didn’t they?”

“ Oh, yes. It was just the one hit, and then it was clear who it was. Unfortunately I was flying into a table at the time though, which was a little more problematic,” Dave hissed under his breath. Orlando was already moving as the Australian swayed on his feet, the younger man catching hold of Dave’s arm to steady him. Dave gave him a grateful smile and looked back at the mirror. Some people were just born focused.

“ And they already went after Viggo,” Orlando continued with the conversation. “ Okay, so they didn’t get off without a scratch, but they have more numbers than we do, don’t they!”

“ Actually-“ Dave began but Orli cut him off in his agitation. Viggo and Karl seemed deaf to the whole thing, as though if they looked away from each other’s glares it would immediately lose them the argument.

“ We have to do *something*, Sean!” Orlando protested at quite a high volume for this flat’s walls, staring angrily at the blonde as though Sean had suggested that they take out the resident psychos for tea and cakes.

“ Actually…,” Dave tried again, and sighed lightly as the argument continued.

“ I’m not suggesting we don’t do something, I’m just concerned how we do it!” Sean objected.

“ ACTUALLY!”

The room stopped to look at him. Dave recovered his breath and smiled at them winningly. It was a slight pity about the whole injury business.

“ Actually,” he continued in a much more level voice. “ I’m not sure about the numbers. Okay, I wasn’t really focused on their conversation after my head struck the table, but from what I remember there was a hell of a fight. A quiet one because of the neighbours, but it was still long. Mike and Kurt walked out.”

“ Yeah?” Karl glanced at him in interest. He looked back at Viggo with an expression that spoke of victories being won. “ So there’s already confusion amongst the ranks. So I can handle it,”

“ Given your current record for handling things, this does not fill me with confidence,” replied Viggo dryly. “ I’m coming,”

” So am I,” added Sean. Viggo’s eyes flickered towards him. Sean already had his best stubborn expression on for the purpose, knowing that there would be objections a mile high from Viggo. His arms were folded. His eyes set and unwavering. Even tanks did not have this type of determination in the face of battle.

Karl seemed even less pleased about this than Viggo, which was actually quite impressive.

“ I dunno, Sean. You were supposed to be the target last night. Targets should not saunter into their oppressor’s bars,”

“ Why not?”

“ Common sense, but let’s call it tradition, eh?” Karl shook his head. “ No.”

Viggo smiled softly. “ You appear to be under the misapprehension that you are in control here, Karl. We’re coming, whether you like it or not. It’s one thing to come after me. But when they start on my partners as well, I take offence to that.”

Sean was too busy staring at Viggo in shock and surprise at the ‘we’ aspect of his speech to fully appreciate the level of Karl’s slowly simmering anger until the younger man spoke through gritted teeth.

“ I’m telling you-“

“ And I’m telling you. You don’t have a choice,” Viggo glanced towards Orli, who had a mutinous expression on his face. “ Orlando, you stay here with Dave,”

“ Unless you have an urge to come along too,” Karl commented sarcastically, glancing towards Dave with undisguised annoyance of the situation. Dave, who had settled himself on the sofa in the meantime, shrugged at them.

” I have no real desire to go play Rambo. Just as I know that whatever I say on the matter will be ignored. So have fun and try not to cause any injuries, there’s good boys,” Dave patted Orli on the leg and smiled at him in a way that indicated that he knew exactly how frustrated Orli was feeling about being left behind. “ Orli here will defend us from any attacks, right?”

There was a brief battle across Orlando’s expression about whether to object. Finally and with great reluctance, he nodded.

” Well,” Karl glanced at the other two and sighed. “ Let’s go get our throats slit,”

Sean only hoped that was a phrase rather than a prediction.

*

It was still taking a while for their current position to fully sink in. Well, not what they were about to do. That was pretty much clear cut, as much as an unexpected dangerous situation gets anyway. What Sean was actually having difficulty in coming to terms with was the simple fact he had been included. Hell, Viggo was actually sitting next to him, having refused point blank to allow Karl to drive. Having seen the speed Karl normally arrived in a car park, Sean thought this was probably a damn good idea in normal life rather than just when they were on a war party.

For that was indeed what they were on. Sure, it wasn’t likely that there would be any fighting – or at least there had better not be – but there was no mistaking the fact that this was a fight for territory. Oh, and the ability to walk down to the corner shop without the fear of being jumped upon whilst you were innocently grabbing a newspaper, unless the jumpers happened to be the media.

Sean glanced at Viggo who was driving silently, a look of mild concentration on his face as though listening to an internal monologue. Seemingly without looking, Viggo patted Sean’s thigh in what Sean could only assume was encouragement, before both hands were needed as a junction approached.

Obviously the silence was not to everyone’s liking.

“ Let me do the talking,” Karl said as they approached a now familiar road. Sean could hear the soft snort of amusement from Viggo at this idea. Karl growled. “ I know these men, Viggo. You screw this up, it’s your arse on the line, not mine. Sean, you understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Sean cursed being brought into this debate. Silent backup, that’s all he was.

” I guess,” he said casually. This was obviously translated into “yes, definitely” in the world of Karl, who immediately turned back to working on Viggo.

“ You see, I’m only-“

“ I’m aware of the risks, Karl,” Viggo manoeuvred the vehicle into a parking bay and switched off the engine. “ If I allow you the opportunity of speaking, I assume you’ll stop this incessant whining?”

” I’m not whining!” Karl was momentarily outraged.

“ Well, now you’re shouting. I’m not sure which is worse,” Viggo unfastened his seat belt. Karl fumed in the back.

” Viggo, just because we did … stuff… last night does not give you the right to start ordering me about! I’m not one of your mindless slaves!”

Sean, who presumably was one of the ‘mindless slaves’, turned to face him slowly without bothering to hide how pissed off he was at that little description.

“ Mindless slaves?” he echoed softly. Karl hesitated, the mouth obviously working faster than the mind. There was the briefest flicker of guilt which was soon smothered over with a neutral expression.

” Well, okay, I guess I can understand why you listen to him all the time, but hell, I’m not under his control now am I?” Karl had a distinctly stubborn look. “ I’m not jumping just because you say so, Vig,”

“ I’ll bear that in mind next time there’s a pothole you’re about to walk into,” replied Viggo mildly. Sean shot Viggo a suspicious look. He was almost too mild. Perhaps he was saving it up for those in the bar. And speaking of the bar…

“ Look, much as I love a good argument, surely we’re arguing with the wrong people at the moment? Enemy is that way,” Sean interrupted them. He was momentarily surprised at Viggo’s additional pat on his thigh before the older man opened the door and got out, shutting the door after him. Either his thigh was particularly cute today or Viggo was purposefully being affectionate towards him. Neither of these options made much sense.

He met Karl’s exasperated look, the younger man still obviously suffering from Viggo Attention Disorder.

“ Sean,” he said in a low voice. “ If I tell you to go, get Viggo out of there without question, okay? I can read this lot better than either of you can.”

“ You really expecting there to be trouble?” Sean stared at him. Karl shook his head.

” Hopefully not. But then again my expectations have differed to reality recently,” Karl glanced towards Viggo, then back again with a rueful expression. “ Last night was .. interesting. I might look as though I’m sitting comfortably, but I can assure you this is only through sheer willpower. How the hell can you stand it day in, day out? I’d want to kill him after a while. Fuck, I’d expect him to kill *me* after a while, thinking about it. You really trust him not to go nuts on you?”

“ Yeah. Suppose I do,”

Karl laughed to himself, and started to open his door. “ Love is blind, eh?” he commented. “ Looks like it’s numb as well. Cute,”

“ Karl-“ Sean turned to snap at him but he had already left the vehicle, leaving Sean alone in a car with the L word still ringing in his ears.

TBC