Chapter Text
He really had to stop getting himself into these kinds of situations. It was getting ridiculous.
The weather was nice, a bit too hot for his liking, but it was expected from the middle of summer. The sun hung high on the midday blue sky, barely a cloud in sight, allowing the warm rays free reign over the land. The streets bustled with life as if the entire city was out and about. It was quite a nice day, an amazing day even- for most people that was.
Here he stood, Apollo Justice, defender of the law, balancing the handles of two overflowing bags on each arm. His eyes fearfully zeroed in on a potential fifth bag that was being unfolded- empty at the moment but with the company he was in, that would not last very long.
"Really, Trucy, how many more props do you need for your next show?" The attorney wailed. His arms tingled under his skin and he was afraid they might fall off. He needed his arms. They had his hands attached to them, and his hands were needed for pointing at witnesses at the stand.
The girl in front of him stopped and whirled around with a hum on her lips. "Oh, we're all done with the stage shopping!" She exclaimed with a wide grin on her face, bouncing up and down on her heels. Her smile grew even wider when she regarded one particular plastic bag- the heaviest of them all.
"Then-" Gosh, his arms really were going to fall off, he gulped, "-then what is that one for?" He nodded to the bag Trucy had unfolded.
"They are for snackies! Snacks are an important power fuel for all magicians! I need to stock up on them if I want to be at my ready for next month's show!"
Apollo dropped the bags. All four of them at the same time. He had enough decency to let them down gently- there were some fragile things inside of these after all.
It brought a frown to Trucy's face, who skipped over to her fallen friend, "What's wrong, Polly?"
"Need... a break..." Apollo huffed, leaning back and taking a few deep breaths. For a moment, he tried to ignore that he was taking a rest in the middle of a busy shopping street, successfully creating a roadblock for all the other pedestrians as they tried to push past him.
It was moments like these he wished Athena was here. At the very least he could dump a bag onto her. No- actually- scratch that, he was glad she wasn't with them. If she was, then he would have to worry about much more than only four bags of clutter. A shiver ran down his spine when he remembered the last 'shopping trip' he accompanied her to.
He wondered briefly how Athena was doing at the moment. She was tasked that morning with cleaning the office while Phoenix was away running some errands. She initially protested against it, claiming that she would die if she had to spend all day in the cramped office space scanning over files, but Phoenix slipped her 20 bucks, and all of a sudden she was merrily sweeping the floor. Apollo had scoffed witnessing it. He had never gotten a tip when cleaning the toilets!
Trucy managed to drag him back onto his feet and together they moved themselves and the bags to a side alley that had a small public park at the end of it.
Apollo let himself collapse on one of the benches with an exhausted moan. His arms were sore and the heat was getting to him. "Next time," He took a deep breath, "Let's not go shopping during the hottest day of the week."
He turned his head to the side where Trucy stood, hovering over some flowers and chasing a ladybug. She was dressed in her full magician attire, cape and all, seemingly unbothered by the hot burning down on them. How that was possible was a mystery to him, he blamed it on her age and having way too much energy. Meanwhile, he sat in black shorts and a short-sleeved, red button-up shirt on the bench waiting for his arms to regain proper blood flow.
Apollo took a deep breath and tilted his head up to the sky. A lonely cloud passed by overhead. The lovely smell of flowers was swept up by a breeze from the nearby patch and carried over to him. The breeze itself was nice, refreshing and cooling him for a short moment before the blaze set in again. The black van of a construction firm was parked not far from where the bench was, the employees probably also taking a short break to enjoy the weather.
In the distance, he could faintly hear the sound of children playing on the adjacent playground, with the sweet melody of an ice cream parlor not too far off. That last part even made him perk up a little.
"Hey, Truce, how does some ice cream sound?" Apollo asked, lowering his head to look for the young magician. He couldn't spot her at first, but that was due to her being entirely covered by a crowd around her that all stared and laughed with excitement.
"One, two, three, aaaaand- Tada!"
"Wow that was amazing!"
"My house keys, you- you made them disappear!"
"Show us another one, please!"
Apollo chuckled lightly.
Nowhere and no one was ever safe from Trucy's spectacles. He would never admit it to her directly, but it was charming. It brought a smile to his face.
Gathering up the strength in his legs- his arms needed another minute- he got up from the bench and walked over.
The people around them were kind enough to let him through without much shoving and he quickly reached her.
"Oh, Polly!" She chirped when she saw him, "You're all rested up now?"
"Y-Yeah, I think I'm good to go," Apollo replied, a little bit of embarrassment slipping onto his face. Had he really been sitting that for that long? It couldn't have been more than 2 minutes.
Trucy quickly thanked her audience for their participation, announcing in a quick side sentence that she has a public show in the coming month and that they all were invited. One of the pedestrians stayed a second longer to ask for his house keys back, only for Trucy to reveal he had them in his pant pocket the entire time. Waving quick goodbyes, Trucy skitted back to the bench with Apollo to gather up their bags.
As Apollo bent down to pick up the weights, he noticed something in his surroundings had changed.
The nice flower smell from earlier had faded, or rather, there was a new scent that was overpowering what was meant to be a sweet note.
Apollo had never been fond of smokers. He had nothing against the people themselves, and quite frankly, he never tried it before to judge how good these things tasted. It was the smell that made him scrunch up his nose and shake his head in despair. He had some tolerance to the sensation, but this was just nasty.
That was the second time that day he was confronted with the strong smell. He had noticed it before, after exiting a store with Trucy that they spent a bit longer inside of. Just seconds after leaving the building, a cloud of tobacco came over him and he felt like dying on the spot. No one around him was smoking at the time, which had him confused, but he shrugged it up to the person having passed by already and discarding their used stump somewhere on the ground.
He pulled the collar of his shirt over his nose and picked up the bags he had left on the floor. Trucy was kind enough to take one of them too, so his poor arms weren't entirely dying this time. Just a little bit. One of them was.
"Hey, Polly, where are you going?"
Apollo looked up after taking a few steps away from the bench. Trucy had also moved, although in the opposite direction of him. "The store is down this way."
"Oh," Apollo lifted his less burdened arm and rubbed the back of his neck, "Right, you must have not heard me. I was thinking we could grab an ice cream cone and enjoy the weather before finishing up here."
"You are taking me out for ice cream?" The enthusiastic shout came just before Trucy tackled Apollo in a hug, almost causing them both to crash to the ground. They stumbled but caught themselves in time to not fall. Trucy wouldn't let go of him for many moments to come.
Once the initial shock wore off, Apollo straightened up and put a hand on Trucy's shoulder- still clinging to him. The girl had a big wide grin on her face, and her eyes sparkled with joy.
For all the pain his arms were in, he wouldn't trade this for the world. Spending time with Trucy- heck, spending time with anyone at the office- filled his entire chest with warmth. And that smile, it was brighter than the sun itself!
He used to believe that just two years back, when he was working under Kristopher's wing, he knew what affection felt like, but oh no, he had been wrong. So wrong. This, this right here, was what it was meant to feel like all along.
Apollo found himself grinning back and patting Trucy on the shoulder as he gently pushed her forward to get their merry way.
"But no word about it to Athena or Mister Wright," Apollo said, "Lord knows I have not enough money to clench their sweet tooths."
Trucy chuckled, "Daddy told me he feels old whenever you call him Mister Wright! 'I'm not turning grey yet!' he said 'I'm only thirty-four!'"
"Ehh, well-" Apollo looked in the distance, a black van of a construction firm driving by, "-habits I guess. And besides, in court, everyone is calling him that."
"Actually, I think only the judge and some clients ever call him by his real name. I don't know why, but the prosecution really struggles with it sometimes."
"Oh, tell me about it."
"Hehe, Forhead."
"HOLD IT!"
For a moment, they both halted, looking at each other intensely. Then Trucy burst out laughing, and Apollo couldn't help but join in.
"But really," Trucy said once the laughter stifled, "You should try calling him by his first name. He would appreciate that."
"I can try," Appolo semi-promised. This was his boss after all. Sure, they had gotten pretty close outside of the courtroom, but Apollo didn't want to risk intruding. Phoenix already did so much for him, the least he could do was address him with respect.
Eventually, they arrived outside the ice cream place.
The trip had been prolonged by another short break due to protesting arm muscles. At least his plan was coming along nicely. Eating the ice cream will force them to take another break, his arms will be saved!
Apollo told Trucy to take a look at the flavors already while he dug through his pockets and bags to find his wallet. He had thrown it in somewhere between all the store-jumping, and he sort of had forgotten where it was now. It had to be in one of these though, he was sure of it! And so he unpacked almost everything in a hopeless attempt to find his beloved item.
...Or not? Was he losing his mind? He... he didn't accidentally drop it somewhere, right? RIGHT? He put it in the bag. RIGHT??
"Hey, Polly!" Stressed out of his mind, Apollo looked up at the call of his nickname. Trucy waved something in her hand, "Looking for this?"
"When did you-? And how??"
"A magician never reveals her secrets!"
"This is less magic and more thievery!"
Giggling to herself, Trucy pulled Apollo by his sleeve towards the display glass with all the colorful containers of cold deliciousness.
"I'm paying!" She hummed happily, before telling the employee her order.
"Yeah, paying with MY money," Apollo protested, snatching his wallet back the moment Trucy was distracted enough for him to do so.
"You invited me out, this means your money is my money."
"Please tell me when this was ever agreed on."
Apollo sighed, then turned to order himself. Trucy got three scoops in a cup while Apollo decided to settle with one small ball of vanilla in a cone.
"Vanilla?"
"There is nothing wrong with appreciating something simple!" His face flushed bright red, be it from embarrassment or offense. Pouting for a moment, he took a step back from the ordering platform and looked for a place to sit down at.
The parlor was packed to the prim- not greatly surprising regarding the weather- it was a miracle they even got up to take an order. He tried stretching his neck to see if there were any free tables behind the front customers, but alas, his height failed him once again.
Apollo lowered his head with a sigh and began rounding some tables in hopes of finding one that was still free.
It was Trucy who noticed the smell first this time around. She put a hand to her nose and tried to wave the unpleasant odor away, mumbling something under her breath that Apollo couldn't hear. A moment later, the strong tang of cigars hit him too.
He coughed and turned his head in the other direction to catch a clean breath of air. Third time that day, fate really didn't want him to linger in the same spot for too long, did it?
Trucy and he silently agreed to postpone their break until they found a proper place with better air circumstances to sit down at. And so, they picked their bags back up and started wandering. There was a good chance that the smell had left the park bench from earlier, and it was in the direction they had to head towards anyway, so this was where they went.
Luckily enough, the smell was gone.
Apollo dropped onto the bench and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he can get to his half-melted ice cream with a soggy cone. Amazing!
"Man," Apollo put his head back and closed his eyes, "What a day."
"What a day indeed," Trucy sat down next to him. A sweet melody escaped her lips as she hummed a song that sounded vaguely familiar.
"Isn't that from Klavier's new single?"
"Oh, you recognize it?"
Apollo shot her a side glance and raised an eyebrow, "Yes? He wouldn't shut up about it and kept pressuring me to listen."
A snicker, "You must have listened to it a lot if you can recognize the song from just a few notes!"
"I, uh... I listened to it once or... or twice..."
"You're face is going reeeeeed~"
"IT DOES NOT!"
"You're blussshiiinng!!"
"I AM NOT!"
Quickly, before the situation could further escalate, Appolo reached up and pulled Trucy's hat down and over her face, blinding her for a short second in which Apollo regained his composure. "See? No blushing!"
"Suuuuuuuure," Trucy smirked at him with raised eyebrows while fixing her hat. It reminded him somehow of that one picture with the cat and the knives that Athena had as her phone lock screen.
What followed was an awkward, one-sided silence coming from Apollo, and Trucy rambling on about whatever came to her mind next as they both finished their dessert. Apollo finished first and started chewing on the cone bits, letting his mind wander.
He couldn't enjoy much of the summer weather the previous couple of weeks, not with him constantly nose-deep in a case. He got his client a clean, not-guilty verdict just three days ago and spent the days following finishing up the remaining paperwork. In the end, all the sleepless nights and missed meals were worth it to have the accused mother of three reunite with her children in front of the courtroom, crying happy tears that their family won't be split apart.
Apollo had fond memories of that day, and due to it being so recent, they were fresh in his mind. Phoenix had wrapped an arm around him and congratulated him on a job well done and Athena announced big and loud that they should get victory dinner. Victory dinner turned out to be ramen from the noodle shop down the street. It was great ramen. A bit salty though.
A small smile spread across Apollo's face and he lifted a hand to trace the clouds passing them by. His chest was light and warm. The weather was great...
Maybe he could take the day off tomorrow and do a well-needed self-care trip. It's been a while since he did anything other than work or helping out Trucy in her shenanigans.
He could... do whatever people his age do to let off some steam. Was karaoke still in trend? He could ask Klavier to come along and- What was he even thinking? Damnit Trucy, putting ideas in his head! Nope! Once he was back at the office, it was paperwork and case files for him. He had no active clients at the moment, but he was sure he would find something lying around for him to take a look at.
"-ly! Polly, are you even listening to me?"
A harsh jab to his rips brought him back to the now. Apollo doubled over and coughed. Was she trying to kill him?!
"W-What? What is going on?"
"So you weren't listening! How rude!" Trucy got up from the bench with a stomp, her hands curled into fists and resting on her hips, "And here I was spilling out my heart to you!"
"Spilling out your- what?" What did he miss?
"My new magic trick!" Trucy threw up her hands, exasperated, "I just told you about the big finale and you weren't even listening! I am NOT repeating myself!"
"Sorry about that," Apollo scratched the back of his neck. Trucy 'Hmpt'-ed at that and crossed her arms. Her bad mood didn't linger long- it rarely ever does- and so, after just a quick moment of pouting, she reached out and pulled Apollo from the bench. "But now snack time?"
The older nodded, "Now snack time."
"Yay!"
Once again, they scopped up their bags and prepared to leave.
Apollo made double sure they had everything and triple-checked his pant pocket so that his wallet was exactly where it was supposed to be.
They left the small park area and headed towards the alley. Trucy walked a little bit ahead of him, much faster than he was. Since she had loaded all four bags onto Apollo, it was not difficult to get a head start.
Dragging behind, Apollo rubbed his wrist against his nose. He had just passed a black van that had the logo of a construction firm on its side. Man, the entire thing reeked! It even made its surroundings catch the bad odor. It was awful.
He hated the smell of...
...Cigarettes?
Apollo whirled around to face the van.
The vehicle was empty from what he saw, the engine was off.
Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that formed deep in his gut. A plunging pit grew deeper in his stomach the longer he stared. Something inside him twisted and every limb of his was tingling. The weight of the bags was nothing anymore. Nothing was anything anymore.
That van.
He noticed it near the park earlier too, but he was certain it had been parked at a different spot, a few meters away from where it currently was. A mistake easy to miss, but it was all Apollo saw.
"...Hey... Hey, Trucy?" Apollo said slowly. He moved a bit faster to catch up to her, and he didn't stop once he reached her, instead putting a hand on her back and promoting her to also speed up.
"Is something wrong?"
"We should leave, now."
Trucy looked up at him in concern- or rather, confusion, "Now? To the snack store?"
"No, the office."
They both entered the alley with fast steps.
"What's wrong, Polly?" What little calm she had slipped in favor of more concern, and Trucy glanced over her shoulder and back to look for any abnormality. Her brows were furrowed and she stuck close to Apollo's side.
Then, before Apollo had as much as a chance to answer, a shadowy figure appeared at the end of the alley, and they both stopped.
Carefully, Apollo took a step back, pulling Trucy with him.
The shopping street, the park, the ice cream parlor, all of these places were filled with people- Witnesses, as he now realized. This alley was right in the middle of them, front and back constantly exposed to the steady flow of pedestrians- but the alley itself? It was empty. Should be empty.
The person moved towards them, and as he came closer, some of his features became more visible- a middle-aged man who was much taller than Apollo, and bulkier too. His walk was casual, nothing suspicious other than the fact that the man was wearing a black mask to cover his face and that the temperature of the alley dropped by 20 degrees.
Apollo took another step back and gently pulled Trucy behind him.
They could turn around and walk back to the park... take the longer route around the block to get to the shopping street. His arms could handle it.
He was about to turn when the faint sound of something clicking into place reached his ears, and suddenly Trucy clenched onto him with her nails digging into his side, a shrill gasp escaping her lips.
Apollo didn't move.
How could he? His entire body was freezing up! Even his fingers felt like they were turned to solid ice. His eyes darted quickly between the man coming toward them and the person behind them, brandishing a gun.
Both his exits were being blocked off.
They could try to make a run for it, but how far would they come? Was the gun real? He had a run-in in court once, where someone from the stand drew a gun, just for it to be revealed to be an imitation, a fake, solely for the purpose of intimidation. As much as he prayed for this to be the case yet again, he wasn't willing to put his life in danger to test his theory. Even less, he wasn't willing to risk Trucy's safety for it.
Trucy...
Apollo tried his best to keep her pushed behind his back. He had turned to the side, so that his back and front were facing either side of the alley walls, and the mysterious newcomers were to his left and right. The second guy wore a mask too. A bit less tall and bulky than guy number one, but nothing to laugh at either. They were getting closer, and with every step they made, Apollo felt his heart beat a little bit faster. It was racing, and his blood rushed to his head, deafening his ears.
If only a single person from the street- or the park- would turn their head, take a quick glance at the alley, he might get an opening to run or call for help.
Apollo swallowed down the threat that was building in his throat.
Or it would cause these men to panic and do something... bad...
Neither of the two individuals said a word as they came closer, and it seemed as if Trucy had lost her voice to speak as well.
Choirs of steel, don't fail him now.
"H-Hey-" Apollo put up his hands, including bags, in a surrendering pose, showing he was not going to fight back, "-We are not looking for any trouble. If it's money you w- Gah!"
He choked on his own words, and his heart skipped a beat or two when the second man placed the barrel of his gun against his chest. Point-blank. A shot like this and he was a goner. Dead. Just like that.
Trucy called his name- he thinks she did, it was hard to hear anything, everything was getting dull- the only thing keeping him present were the fingers digging painfully into his side.
He felt like he lost control over all of his senses. His ears and mouth certainly weren't working, all he could smell was the stench of cigars, and his body was only one big cube of ice right now. His eyes worked, to an extent that was. They caught a glimpse of paper that the non-pistol guy pulled out of his pocket and held up next to them.
The thug continuously looked from the paper over at Trucy, then back, then at Trucy again as if he was studying her features. Apollo could feel a deep growl grow inside of his throat, any every piece of him wanted to tear at the man and bark at him to stay away from her. But his body wasn't moving. Frozen, he watched in horror as a glimpse of the paper caught his sight.
It was a picture.
A picture of Trucy.
His brain powered down for a moment.
It took a second, then booted up again.
And everything connected.
They were after Trucy.
He didn't know why- he didn't care why.
Trucy was in danger. He made that association, and the next second, the man with the picture reached behind him and the harsh nails in his side vanished with a loud shriek and a terrified yell.
"Hey! Stop-"
The gun pressed harsher against his chest, successfully shutting him up.
He was frozen in place as one of the assailants dragged Trucy away from him.
He had to do something. Anything. He couldn't just let them take her.
W-What were they going to do to her? He didn't want to think about it- couldn't afford to think about it. He- he had to stop them!
Someone must have noticed the commotion in the alley, because at the opening that led to the shopping street stood a woman, fear written all across her face as she dropped what appeared to be a slushie. Her mouth opened to screech, he assumed, still deaf to the world. The scream apparently was loud, loud enough for even those who were at the opening leading to the park to hear it and look up.
He wasn't sure what in his brain made him move, but before Apollo could gather up his thoughts, he was ducking away from the pistol and dove right for the man hauling Trucy away. The bags he had been holding dropped from his arms, unkindly so, something shattered inside at least of of them. Three of the bags were discarded, the remaining one Apollo held on to tightly in his hands as he pulled back and swung, slamming it right into the assailant's chest.
The masked man leaned forward and gasped.
Precious fractions of a second were granted to him. Apollo intended to use them wisely. He took Trucy by her wrist and sprinted.
Trucy, as startled and distraught as she was, did not need to be told to run. They dashed for the park opening, as this one was closer and would lead them to safety faster. Whatever the reason for attacking them was, these thugs couldn't be desperate enough to pursue them with that many people around, would they?
No time to debate that, they were almost out. Almost away from this entire mess.
In the haste, Apollo only made one small mistake.
He looked back.
The picture guy had recovered from the attack and glared at them furiously, the other one...
Apollo shoved Trucy as hard as he could.
That little bit of extra distance propelled her out of the alley stumbling. Relief washed over him knowing she was safe.
Then his hearing came back.
And everyone was screaming. At the shopping street, the park, everyone was scattering, pushing and running away. Apollo... Apollo hit the cold hard ground with a gasp. Heat began to warm up his freezing body from his right leg upwards.
There was no pain when he knew there should have been. Being shot usually hurts, or so he was told. But he felt nothing, there was no pain, only numbness. He watched as the red splotch around his calf bubbled and became bigger. The wound itself was relatively small, only the size of a bullet after all, but it was bleeding badly... He... should probably go to the hospital...
"Apollo!"
Screw the hospital. There was no time.
Apollo whipped his head back faster than he could perceive, panic sinking deep into his bones. "RUN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, his words echoing loudly in the alleyway, "GET TO SAFTEY! RUN! TRUCY, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"Apo-"
"RUN DAMNIT!"
Hesitation. Then she was gone.
Apollo watched as the blue cape and tophat got lost in the crowd of panicking people. He tried to see where she was going, but quickly lost track of her. She was gone. She was safe.
Apollo's smile didn't last very long. Soon, a foot connected with his chest and made him roll over the ground, coughing. He tried to get up, just for another kick to send him down again. Apollo groaned and pulled his limbs as close to him as he could to protect his chest from further assault.
"SHIT! FUCKING MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!"
The next kick came to his face. The one after that hit him right in the cheek.
Apollo didn't count the kicks he was given, or the curses that rained down upon him. He curled up as best as he could.
"Staph it!" A shout from above, a heavy accent of some sort "We need ta leave!"
"Damnit, we fucking needed her! The boss is going to fucking kill us!" Curse-guy shouted back. With his hearing flickering in and out, Apollo could pick up the distant panic lingering in the streets growing more quiet. By now, the entire city must know about this affair.
The two men argued above his head.
Apollo didn't bother with it too much. The ground was nice. It was cool and comfortable, and his body was heavy, so he didn't want to move. Why should he? They were after Trucy, but she was gone, hopefully far far away from the alley. Then again, something in the back of his mind was telling him to get away. His leg was busted up- still bleeding, still not in pain- so running was out of the question. Should he crawl? Would he make it far?
Apollo threw out one arm and tried to pull the rest of his body along. He made it a single inch.
"Then we take him."
A foot nudged him in the side. Apollo continued to crawl. Another inch.
"Him? That idiot's not important!"
Third inch.
"Da ya wanna go back ta te boss with empty hands? He is one of his underlings, yee? Better than nothin'."
"Fine, fine!" Rough hands grabbed him. He was no longer on the ground. Apollo grunted and turned his upper body, throwing out his hands to punch the man, scratch him, do any harm at all. None of his attempts landed. He was, however, rewarded with a very successful punch to the stomach. Apollo doubled over and wheezed, air having left his lungs. Next thing he knew, he was on someone's... shoulder? His vision was too blurry to accurately describe where he was, but he was definitely being moved.
Their steps were fast and heavy.
Apollo could vaguely make out the black van getting closer. Colorful spots in the corners of his vision told him there were still some people around. Witnesses. Good. He... might need those.
The back of the van opened.
He wanted to gag, maybe even throw up at the wave of nicotine and ash that flooded his nose. It was the strongest it had been so far, and it was quite literally suffocating him. He tried and failed to breathe through the stench, coughed, and gave up when he was unceremoniously thrown in.
Landing painfully on his shoulder, Apollo hissed. He tried to straighten up.
His assailants... kidnappers? Wait- wait, he was being kidnapped... How was he only getting to the conclusion now? Why? He had nothing to offer-! He was... Apollo's eyes shrank and he looked at the two individuals, who stared back with unreadable expressions peaking out behind the masks, before throwing the door closed, forcing darkness upon him.
"Hey! No!" Apollo yelled, scrambling up and throwing himself at the door. He banged at it, tried to open it- nothing. "Hey!"
Oh, nonononono, this wasn't happening! They were after Trucy! For whatever reason, he didn't know. Why take him? Who even were these guys? What... what were they going to do to him?
Apollo slammed himself against the door once more. It only gave him a worsening pain in his shoulder. Speaking of pain, it seemed like his leg was starting to come back to him. Apollo looked down at himself after he noticed how warm it had gotten. He couldn't see much through the pitch black, so he tried feeling for it. His leg was warm and wet, sticky and smelled like iron. He was still bleeding.
He felt around a bit. There was an entrance wound, but no exit one, meaning the bullet was still in his calf.
Simultaneously with making this discovery, a wave of dizziness hit him.
So, the adrenaline was finally wearing off... Or was it that the blood loss was getting to him? Whatever the reason was, the floor of the van felt more comfortable than anything he had ever laid on. The rhythmical humming of the engine lulled him further to sleep.
It... was going to be okay.
He was going to be just fine...
If only the van wasn't smelling so bad...
Fucking cigarettes.