No Good Turn Goes Unpunished [Open]

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

It was a matter of quick thinking, really. Sergio supposed he didn't have much hand-to-hand combat experience; hell, there were plenty of good reasons why he was generally a mounted officer when on duty, especially within The City – and the fact that he was fairly scrawny was one of them. But the thief had been caught off-guard – he'd obviously thought he could've mugged that old woman and darted off into an alleyway and out of sight and be done with it... He certainly didn't count on there being an off-duty police officer no less than five steps away, that was for sure. It had all happened incredibly quickly. The man had assaulted the woman, tugged the purse from her grasp with ease and made towards the opening between two buildings. He had then found himself knocked to the ground himself; Sergio had only five seconds to think at most, but he'd known damn well in that time he couldn't tackle a man both taller and more muscular than himself to the ground any other way. He'd shot forward, and had headbutted him in the stomach. Thick-headed jokes aside, it had worked, remarkably; enough passers-by had come to the aid of the old lady and a couple of other guys took the opportunity to restrain the thief. Police and an ambulance were called and though the woman had taken a fall, her purse had been returned to her and everything else was all resolved within the hour. The only problem was, Sergio's head hurt now. He supposed he had overdone it, but he really didn't think he'd had a choice... Had the headbutt been any lighter, it might not have keeled the guy over and doing it in the first place would've proved completely pointless. He had left Portobello Road now, where the incident had taken place, and headed a few streets down where considerably less people were. Sighing, he rubbed at the top of his head – and winced because of it. Dammit, all he'd wanted was to take a walk...

TAG: OPEN

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Deleted]

Amelia had been texting and listening to her music as she walked amongst the throng of pedestrians when suddenly, a whirl of chaos beat on swift and heavy steps. The blonde glanced up to see the distressed expression of a man who appeared to be in quite a hurry. Aside from his suspicious haste, the bag he had in his arms made him definitely look out of place. When sirens ripped through the chorus of the song, Amelia managed to piece it all together. Yet what was she to do? Though she was athletic, she was no where near as strong enough to obstruct his path. No, she affirmed, I have to do something. I have to stop him.

The moment he was near her was the moment she shoved herself against him, shoulder first. She bounced off of his body like a ball and she felt as if she just hit a truck. Amelia stumbled backwards, her earbuds falling from its place, and then felt the impact of the tree behind her in a soft thud!

It was just in a flutter of a half breath and he was already several strides away from her, pushing people aside to create his path.

She exhaled. At least she did something, albeit it was not much. Her resolve to see justice be served was strong, as she willfully followed to see the chase until the end. Thankfully, with the help of many fast-thinking people like her, the thief was later captured with rueful expression on his face when seized. It was a fifteen minutes well worth it because it made her swell with pride to see the good prevail. Amelia had a minor part in the pursuit but she was still glad that she still had a mind sharp enough to act when necessary. She left before the commotion died down and walked off jump back in her car to her sweet old red '65 Ford Mustang convertible. It was considered to be a bit too flashy, or so she was told, and it was 'too American', others joked. It still didn't change the fact that it was her baby and her dearest companion that she managed to bring along from the States.

Amelia drove with hard top down. She still felt a little daring from the previous episode of excitement. A little air and a couple of stares and gazes were considered good enough factors to bring down the energy. Down an empty street, she noticed a man in uniform look.. awfully pained. Since she was at a red light, she was able to recognize him as one of the policemen who had been directly involved with the runaway from earlier. Well. It was still a red light. She might as well give out a helping hand while she could.

The blonde lifted up her sunglasses and rested her arm on the window rim. "Excuse me sir--you're one of the officers that handled earlier today's situation right?" She gave him a smile in case he didn't know what she was saying. "Are you alright because you look kind of... hurt?"

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

Everything had started to blur in front of his eyes. He'd ducked his head down between his knees, glad he was seated, even if only at the side of the road, because he was pretty sure that were he stood up, he'd have fallen over. It was unpleasant, blood rushing in his ears and swirls and sparks making his vision hazy, in addition to the now searing pain. Sergio continued to rub his head, but managed to take his hand away for a moment to look at it, narrowing his eyes to try and clear his vision. He wasn't bleeding, as far as he could tell – thankfully. The guy he'd headbutted had probably just had a hard stomach. After all, he'd only really knocked the wind out of him and left him confused; it wasn't like he'd particularly harmed him much more than that. All things considered, Sergio was pretty sure he'd hurt himself doing what he'd done more than he'd hurt the guy. With his head as it was, he didn't notice the car that drove past and halted at the nearby red light. He'd actually been too preoccupied to notice any of the cars on the road, it wasn't like he was sat there purely to watch them pass or anything. In fact, he didn't even look up when he heard the window of the car rolling down. He only looked up when he heard a voice. There was a blonde woman in the drivers seat, asking if he was alright – at least, that's what he heard. With his head as it was, he was surprised he hadn't heard her talking gibberish. “Yeah...” He replied in a grumble. 'Kind of hurt' was a bit of an understatement, actually... Not to mention, now he'd been questioned by a citizen about it, he felt kind of feeble having gotten injured so easily in public and in uniform, even if he was off-duty. “S'just... My head.”

TAG: AMELIA

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Deleted]

Amelia made a weak smile when he admitted his injury with a bothered tone. The realization popped her little chain of thoughts. She was in a car, stopped by the light, and talking to a cop on the street. It could be said that this was a pretty weird situation. However how weird it was, Amelia wasn't going to stop being from doing what she thought was right. He obviously did not look too well, and her compassion to help others only made her feel inclined to do something for him. All she hoped was that he was not going to think she was creepy or anything. That was always the underlying fear; she was still uneasy about the thought of people rejecting her. Her intentions are almost always pure and true, but her past actions had sometimes netted misunderstanding. It came easy for a lawyer to clear up miscommunication, but for an American young lady living abroad, confronting rejection could make her feel very little.

Well, what she did know was that he been serving justice as much as she. That conclusion made her feel a little more motivated to insist on helping him. Since Amelia had always considered herself a go-to good Samaritan, she decided that this situation was a good opportunity to reach back out to the community. Although her spontaneous acts of goodwill were mainly done in Texas, her comfort zone, this confrontation was going to be a little more nerve-wrecking for being out of the bubble.

Amelia gripped the wheel and then slide her hands down the side. There was no point in anything without trying first! All of those things she had done made people happy. Maybe this one might end up on a good note too.

Just to settle herself for the opposite situation, she supposed that potential wayward or polite request for solitude would be on him. Forcing help upon others was beneath her.

"Do you need to go to a clinic or anything, officer? You don't look very good," Amelia turned to take a quick glance at the glaring red light. She pursed her lips and then addressed the man once more, "If anything, I can take you there, or to your car. I think I saw what you did back there with that whole fiasco. I don't know. You might want to get checked."

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

Perpetual tiredness, his own mannerisms and now, injury, made Sergio respond a little more brusquely than he should have. “I'm fine.” The words were almost spat from his tongue, a sense of 'I don't need your help or your pity' within them. There was a slight chance he'd feel guilty about it, a little later on, but then and there his head was simply aching too much. Regardless, he attempted to heave himself up to his feet, wincing all the while; in the end, he couldn't do it, the grey tarmac and curb beneath him beginning to blur and spin. All of a sudden, he felt like vomiting. He dropped back to the seated position, grabbing at the part of his head where the pain was the worst... He wasn't fine at all, and no curt lies could cover that fact up. A few things went through his mind, at that moment, actually... How pathetic it was, that he'd gotten hurt from an assault on that criminal, but also the deeper reasoning behind it. Had he taken his medication that morning...? Unlikely, not that he was in much of a state to properly recall it. He shut his eyes, fuzzy lights forming behind the lids. He started to shiver, his forehead cold and clammy in his hands. Was she still there? He hadn't heard the car move. Exhaling through his nose, Sergio mustered enough energy to slowly peer up at her again. “Just... S'fine. I'll live.” He added, dismissively, knowing damn well he wasn't fine in the slightest... But he'd been hurt worse before; he was sure a knock on the head wasn't going to kill him. Now, if only he could get rid of that shaking sensation and stand up without losing his balance, he could be on his way...

TAG: AMELIA

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN

[Deleted]

Amelia frowned, feeling both worried and displeased from his behavior. She quickly affirmed herself to not give into the desire to leave him. It was probably the pain that was making him act this way. Most of her previous clients had treated her worse. Instead, she turned her head over her shoulder to make a quick check. There were no cars behind her, alright.

She pressed on the emergency lights button and then put her car on park. Screw the green light, whatever. In the chance this man was seriously hurt, the only lights that would shine would be the flickering red from the ambulance.

When she saw him shaking, she immediately opened the door to step out. "Sir, you're not okay." Amelia said, ready to reach out out for him if anything. She feared that he was going to fall. Though he donned the police uniform, he looked ready to break like any regular person. But she had to be careful. This wasn't America, but she'd rather not be sued for this in a different country.

"Let me take you to the hospital, please." Amelia offered. "If you could take a look at yourself, you'd see why. You're shaking--it could be a concussion or some internal bleeding. Whatever it is, it'd be against my nature to leave your condition out in the street."

She was probably talking too much for the poor man to bear, especially since he appeared to be having a headache. It was a force of habit to dish out her proposals thoroughly. Either way, she wasn't going to be swayed off the decision of helping him. Amelia was willing to stay out here with him if he didn't trust her. She could just pull out her phone to call the ambulance as an alternative.

Still, there was a desire to personally assist him. He was a hero today, and if there was anything she admired, it was people who put out their neck for justice. Amelia had an inkling that she was going to be late for her meeting if this stretches for too long, but her mind was too busy to check her watch. The meeting will have to wait then. There were more important things going on.

[Deleted]

A FALLEN STAR, AT LEAST I FALL ALONE

'No' meant no. Or, that was what Sergio was trying to convince himself, anyway. 'Don't let up, don't show you're hurt even if you know it.' (Not that there was any way he could hide what was already blatantly obvious whatsoever). 'You're not okay'... Was that what she had said? He should have been able to tell. But he couldn't, because of the clouding over in his vision, the buzzing noise in his ears, and the sudden and horrid urge to vomit. Why was all this happening, just because of a knock to the head? And why now, of all times...? It occurred to him, in the last few seconds before he had to scrunch his eyes up because the pain was just too much, that if he didn't get up and continue like nothing had happened, there was a good chance the station would hear of it. They already had their doubts about him and his health... The prospect of losing his job because of it was too much. With that in mind, he attempted once again to lift off the pavement. “Can't...” He mumbled, his teeth clenched. He was barely three inches off the ground when he fell back down with a grunt. Cracking one eye open a little, in a bid to get his bearings back, he tried once more, managing to get to a (very shaky) squat this time, using the curb as support. A little further, now, and he'd be back on his feet, he was sure of that... The blonde woman, her car, and the rest of the street around him – they were all just distanced blurs to him, now. It was almost like he was trapped in some kind of bubble. “Can't go to... Hospital...” He continued, though he wasn't too sure if the words coming out of his mouth were actually making any sense, to her.

TAG: AMELIA

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GS AND BTN