Lifting the Lifter

Who: Jackson and Laura
Where:Corner grocery
When: Midday

Laura, in her boots, pea coat, and cap, had walked into the little store behind a woman who had a toddler on her hip as if she belonged with them. She followed down one isle, and then broke off to go look at comic books, as any young boy would, until the clerk quit watching. Then she strolled down the isles, slowly, as if bored, pocketing a can of spam, an apple, a packet of animal crackers, and a candy bar. She was eying a loaf of bread and thinking of how to get it under her coat when she noticed the store was getting a little more crowded and someone was bound to see something. She had enough for lunch, and it was time to go.

Jackson was on Lunch, so he'd decided to stop by the grocery store and pick up a few things for the apartment. This consisted of bacon, insanely strong coffee, and mouthwash. Work was being one of those days - paperwork days, avoiding Jakob and Danny, and doing his best to be nice to Lu. She was sweet, even if she did keep forgetting he took his coffee black. However, even being on lunchbreak did not make Jackson remove his cop hat, so when he saw the shifty kid trying to sneak out with bulging pockets, he clapped his hand down on his shoulder and said in a low growl, "Whatever you got, put it back, son."

Laura froze as the big guy's paw landed on her shoulder. Her eyes went wide and she stared straight ahead at the door, which was only about two big steps away. If she could move fast enough, maybe he wouldn't get hold of her and she could make it out onto the street. Staying might mean someone would call the cops, and that would mean jail, the orphanage, or home. None of those possibilities appealed to her in the least, so she ducked that shoulder in an attempt to get out from under the man's hand and charge at the door.

Jackson was anticipating the bolt, and kept his grip firm on the shoulder as the kid tried to wriggle away, "You're shoplifting right across the street from the precinct, genius, you think cops don't shop here? Running ain't gonna be wise. I can see PC Jones in the line right over there - even if I hadn't of nabbed you someone would. So how about we go back and put back whatever scummy magazine or packet of smokes you've tried to filch, huh? Let's go, hustle," he said, pulling the kid with him as he marched back into the store. He wasn't being loud about it - he appreciated it was some 12 year old boy who could probably be convinced to knock that shit out - but he wasn't going to let it drop either.

The kid twisted in his grip, but his talk of cops right there in the place put a stop to that. What the hell? She hadn't done anything to this guy. Even if he was a cop or something. Didn't he have killers to go chase? Laura was starting to shake as she was guided back into the isles. First thing out was the candy bar. Then she took the apple and the can of spam from her coat so he'd know where it belonged. Hopefully the son of a bitch would just let her go if it was put back, since he wasn't calling the cop over.

"You're stealing food?" hissed Jackson, slightly surprised, "Well hell, kiddo, why didn't you say. I'll buy you lunch. You homeless?" he asked in a pretty straightforward fashion. He didn't approve of stealing, even if it was to feed a hungry child - there were charities and soup kitchens to prevent them robbing, after all - but that didn't mean he wanted the runt to starve. "Healthy shit, not Animal Crackers and Spam. And don't let me catch you pocketing anything, because I don't have the patience for any dicking around, boy, and they'll feed you good if you spend a night in the cells so we'll be killing two birds with one stone, huh?" he said, with a wink - he wasn't joking about a little cell time to scare the kid straight, but he said it in a friendly enough way that it was obviously meant to sound like he was.

Under the circumstances, Laura didn't consider any mention of cells to be a joke. A night in the cells would end with standing in front of a judge, who would either send her someplace for delinquents, or send her home where she'd get beat good before she could run away again. The offer of a meal was tempting. Very tempting. Maybe she'd stick around long enough to eat, or maybe agreeing to it would give her a chance to run like hell before he talked himself into turning her in. She looked up at the man, not bothering to try to hide her fear, because that's what it seemed like he was going for. He thought she was a scared little boy, and she wasn't about to let him know she was anything different. "Yeah... I was looking for work, but I couldn't find any."

"You were looking for work? Don't tell lies, you're too young to work, and I don't think stealin' potted meat is an occupation you oughtta be aiming for anyhow," the kid's voice was squeaky as a girls, he couldn't be older than about 11, "What's your name anyway?" asked Jackson, picking up a loaf of bread, a lump of cheese, and a couple of apples to give to the kid.

She gave Jackson a sullen glare. It was about as intimidating as being hissed at by a kitten. "My name's Frankie and I'm not a baby. I'm stronger than I look and I can carry stuff and shovel walks." Yeah... Frankie's a real go getter. Not a career criminal. No reason to haul Frankie to the police station. Telling lies was what she did best. Her stomach rumbled, which was probably helpful, under the circumstances, but still a little embarrassing.

"Carry stuff, right. In your pockets and out the store, huh?" Jackson squinted down at the kid, looking at him properly for the first time. He was pretty girly looking in general..."Frankie like Frank, or Frankie like Francesca? Take you hat off, let me get a look at you."

"Go to hell, mister." It was a gamble. He could just haul her across the street or up to the counter. She had put back all the things she'd taken, though, so it wasn't like he could prove it really, even if he did try that. "I told you I was looking for work, but I didn't find any... and I told you my name. I'm not going to start taking anything off for you to get a look." She couldn't. She sure as hell couldn't take off her hat there in the middle of a store. Implying something dirty was usually enough to get an older guy to leave her alone. Unless he really was a pervert. This one didn't seem like one, though.

Jackson rolled his eyes. Cheeky street punks. Good lord how he didn't miss them from working the beat. Jackson had bigger and more important things to deal with - and this little snot was probably just some runaway who couldn't mind his manners. Jackson was close to feeling like he oughtta take the kid to the station and have one of the nice desk girls in missing person take a look at him. Or quite possibly, her. "C'mon, wiseguy," he said, slapping coins down on the counter and keeping his fingers biting into the kid's shoulder, "I'm tellin', I ain't asking," he slung the plastic carrier of groceries a little further up his arm as they frogmarched out of the store, and used the free hand to grab at the kid's cap.

"Jesus, mister!" She squirmed as she resisted his grip, and stumbled a little on the way out the door. Twisting and ducking her head, Laura tried to avoid having her cap snatched off for the second time that day, and gave him a quick glimpse of the mark at the back of her neck before curls scattered across it. "Mother fucker!" She gave him an absolutely filthy look, shaking her head to clear her hair from her face. "You're hurting me." She looked about hoping for bystanders who might come to her rescue without dragging her to the police station.

"Girl. Okay then. So what's your real name? And I ain't hurting you, goofus, I just don't want you to run off on me. You kinda look like a runner, and I don't have the time for this bullshit, so we're going to the station and we're gonna get one of my nice colleagues to compare you to all missing kid mugshots, how does that sound?" said Jackson in a firm but cheerful manner, pressing his other hand on her other shoulder so he didn't have to clamp his hands down so hard, and steering her towards the station. This could be someone else's headache. He had enough of his own. He was hungover and red cheeked from Eris' slap and generally having a shitty day, and he had a lot of prepping to do for the big raid tomorrow. His attention was not on this. Kids messing around and playing hooky was far from the top of his priority list.

Laura was actually hurting herself a little trying to get away from him. Then he grabbed her other shoulder and started shoving toward the station. The girl leaned back and tried to plant her feet. "What the hell? What do you want, mister? Shit.. stop... what do you want?" Everybody wants something, and with the way he was pushing, there must be something he wanted.

"You gonna make me carry you?" He said in the tone he used with Jenny when she was being difficult. Bemused, exasperated, but pretty firm, "Told you what I want, gonna check you out against the database of runaways. Can't have street kids causin' trouble and damned if I'm gonna deal with you, I'm a Detective, sweetheart, I don't have the time - so you can march across the street, or I can carry you. You can't weigh more than this bag of groceries."

"Stop, alright! I won't be on that list! Come on... gimme a break!" Maybe she shouldn't have told him to go to hell. It was possible that she had been reported missing, but she doubted it. Or maybe she just didn't dare hope for it. "You can't take me in there." There had to be something this guy wanted. She couldn't let the ape pick her up, or there was no hope for getting away. She reached up to undo the top button of her coat, thinking that she might be able to stick her arms up and drop out of it, leaving both the coat and the cop behind.

"I can't, or you don't want me to? Quit tantrumming," said Jackson, still exasperated, "You ain't in trouble, alright? Just gotta see where it is you belong. Don't give me a hard time about this one, I have got like a million better things to be doing," What was he, mall security? But she could be someone's little girl, and if she wasn't there could be some orphanage somewhere scouring for her. She was too young and too obviously an idiot to be fending for herself. Shoplifting in the little grocery across the street from the Station was either wanting to be caught, or needing it. Jackson sighed loudly, reflecting his annoyance, and moved to scoop his arms around the small girl's waist. He probably had a good foot and a half on her, and he was definitely stronger. If she didn't bolt he'd sling her over his shoulder with a really minimal amount of effort.

As Jackson's arms went around her waist Laura put her arms straight in the air and went limp. The idea was to use her weight to slip right out of the baggy coat and fall to the ground, where she could, hopefully, scramble away before he could catch her. She couldn't go to jail right now. Not with the things that were happening. And if they didn't lock her up, they'd toss her in the church orphanage or something. She sure as hell didn't belong in the church. She just needed to wait for things to calm down so it could all go back to normal... if she didn't get locked up someplace. Shoplifting was something she normally did more for fun than anything else. She usually had a little money and a warm place to sleep, but if this guy knew how that happened, he'd probably be even more determined to bring her in. For now, she just had to get away.

Jackson pulled Laura upwards and over his shoulder - or rather her coat because the girl wriggled out like some sort of fucking worm and fell in a heap at his feet. He did not have the fucking patience for this bullshit. Fucked if he was going to chase her - maybe on a different day, but no, there was too much on his god damned mind. He'd put a uniform on it, put out there was some skinny ass runaway in the area. She'd probably be back.

Laura landed on the street at Jackson's feet, oversized shirt pulled up around her armpits and hair everywhere. She scrambled on all fours, moving away from him as fast as she could before yanking the shirt down over her scarred back as she began to run like the devil himself was after her. For several blocks she just ran without looking back to see if she was being followed. She went through a couple of alleys, over a fence, through a shop, and out onto another street before she stopped, heart pounding and breath coming in ragged gasps.

Fucking cop. She was on the street, hungry and without her coat and cap. But she was still alive and not in a cell. Now she had to figure out how to stay that way.