when the plan goes wrong

Who: Dodge, Roach and Corey
Where: Near the shipyard
When: before dawn

There wasn't even a hint of light out this early in the morning. The darkness and looming shadows made Dodge nervous, but he was ignoring that for now. Patrick's ghost seemed to stay away and for what it was worth he seemed to appreciate the situation Dodge had gotten himself into. He did always appreciate revenge dealt out by hand.

Dodge was swathed in shadows. Out of sight if you weren't looking the right way, one hand gripping a metal pipe they found in an abandoned warehouse. It was heavy and long enough to be swung like a bat. The other boys, six in total, were scattered around the entrance to the tunnels, also sticking to shadows to the point where Dodge could barely see them from where he stood. They'd been waiting, but not too long.

The noises came first. Shouts from the entrance and the sound of scrambling feet. Dodge stepped from the shadows, summoning courage and confidence he rarely had to use for this sort of situation. When their targets stumbled out they were looking behind them and it was a full moment before their leader, Charlie turned to see Dodge standing in front of him. The man had a busted lip and a solid cut of his eye that was spilling blood down his cheek and when he recognized Dodge his face twisted into a gruesome sneer. "You lost kiddo? Or looking to join your friend?"

"Hardly," Dodge answered, and gave a slight nod. The rain of rocks, started, heavier rocks dropped, smaller rocks thrown from above where four of Dodge's smaller boys had sat, waiting for his signal. Dodge stayed out of the way of the shower but after a moment the already battered foursome opted to move out of the way, only to run into more trouble. The leader lunged at Dodge, aiming to grab his throat, but Dodge was swift, moving out of reach and holding the pipe steady for the guy to crash into it, knocking the wind out of him as the pipe connected. The impact sent shudders up his arms, but Dodge managed to bring it back around again, aiming for another blow.

Roach had been waiting for this all day. Every ticking hour had brought him closer to the moment he'd get to stand face to face with the man who'd dragged Pepper away into the night, him and all of his sonuvabitch friends. Cowards, grown men who'd ganged up on a little girl half their size. He couldn't wait to show them how it felt to be surrounded on all sides, overpowered, scared. He wanted them to know what it felt like to be a victim. He wanted them to feel like victims for the rest of their short, miserable little lives.

So he watched the rocks rain down from above with a sort of twisted excitement, his blood pumping faster, harder. And when the torrent stopped and one of them went after Dodge, Roach jumped into the fray without hesitation. They'd decided that he was too big to use a weapon, when one strong crack with a bat or pipe in his hands could split a skull open like a melon, so he'd just put loose metal washers and gears and nuts that they'd found in the warehouse on his fingers. His knuckles were still sore from his "investigation" a few days before, but it didn't matter now, not when he had the ones responsible in his hands. He'd punched one hard in the gut, taking a blow of his own across the shoulder, with something other than just a fist, it felt like. It hurt like hell and it would bruise and ache later, but in that moment it didn't seem to matter. He just turned his attention in that direction instead, metal-laden fist rising and falling, hard.

Dodge's swing was hard, but not enough, even though it did connect well with the guy's hamstring, the same place Corey had pointed out the morning before. The second impact reverberated up his arms again, leaving him somewhat reeling and he didn't recover fast enough, catching a sloppy left hook to his cheek as the guy countered. It hurt, enough to make his eyes sting a little, but not enough to rattle his head. Growling a little he pitched forward with the pipe out, catching the guy in the throat enough to push him back into Roach who was tangling with someone else nearby.

Roach and Mud were taking the guy on together, Mud having twisted one of his arms back and laying in punches with his free hand, Roach attacking his gut with blow after blow. When he felt someone else bump into him, saw it was Dodge who had a pipe against the guy's throat, Roach turned and kicked out the guy's knees, dropping him to the ground. He hooked his arms underneath man's arms, lacing his fingers behind his head, locking him there so Dodge could do his worst.

Dodge was relieved that Roach grabbed the guy because he was not one capable of matching the brute strength of the man. Once Roach had him, Dodge pulled the pipe away, landing matching blows to the man's kneecaps. When before his hit had been sure but not hard, this his was hard, enough that Dodge felt what the pipe impacted with shatter. The man screamed in agony as he slumped in Roach's arms and Dodge felt good that he wouldn't be walking again.

Roach let the man drop, looking at Dodge with a grim but satisfied smirk. When he turned to go back into the fray, he seemed to walk directly into someone's fist. Blood suddenly gushed from his nose, his eyes stinging. He reacted like a spring, returning the punch even harder, dropping the man like a sack of potatoes. He'd gotten hurt and he was angry now. He knelt down, pinning the man's calf to the ground with his knee and grabbing his foot with hands. He twisted it with a sudden jerk, until the man howled and his foot hung awkwardly, backwards, wrong.

Dodge had stepped forward to help Roach when he got hit, but then Roach had it under control. When his friend visibly and easily broke the man's leg Dodge felt bile raise in his throat. It was like Corey had said. He couldn't let them become killers. Looking around there were only two men left, but each had two boys on them. One was trying to swing at Mud with his right arm while the left hung limp. The other was on the ground while two boys kicked his ribs.

Kneeling Dodge grabbed the leader's head jerking it up so he was looking at Dodge, sneer in place. "Have you learned your lesson yet? No one is ever alone." The guy sneered, smile bloody from damage. "Fuck you kiddo," he spat. Dodge punched him in the face hard enough to knock him out.

Roach looked up, wiping at his bleeding nose with the back of his hand. Mud looked like he was handling things, but the other one... that was the one they'd beat up under the bridge, that was the one responsible. He stood, kicking the one whose foot he'd broken hard in the ribs before walking over to where Dodge was kneeling. "This him?" he asked. There was an edge in his voice that appeared when he was angry, but this was different than those times.

Dodge barely recognized Roach's voice. When he looked up the amount of anger in his friend's face scared him. "Yeah," he said slowly, opening and closing his fist from where he'd laid the punch. "He didn't seem to have learned his lesson. He might now though," Dodge said standing. His tone was confident even if he wasn't. Still it sounded like it would convey what he wanted it to. It's taken care of, back down.

"I doubt that," Roach said, glaring down at Charlie. He wasn't even looking at Dodge anymore. He knelt down, grasping at the man's shirt, lifting him up off of the ground, shaking him hard enough for his eyes to roll. "You like killing kids, you fucker?"

"Roach," Dodge said, knowing better than to step in. Roach was twice his size and one missed hit could knock Dodge on his ass for days. "Back off." His tone was stern, no longer the friend but the boss. The kid who kept the other kids in check.

Corey was watching the whole thing. She'd helped rough up the guys when they'd been chased through the tunnel in the first place, and there was a dark bruise on her cheek high up by her eye, but beyond that she was pretty unscathed. And when they'd been well and truly fleeing the tunnels, she'd left the rest of the chase to her people, and gone to watch the fight. Just to be sure, just to see how it went, to see if Dodge really had taken her advice. And Dodge really seemed like he had.

That wasn't the problem though. Nope. She could see it. The tension in Roach's shoulders, the way he held himself, everything about him screamed badness. She'd seen him get pretty bad before, seen him teeter close to the edge when he got really upset, but this? This wasn't good. Because he had a target right now. She heard Dodge crack his order down, but she was already ghosting up towards them. Just in case Roach didn't listen. Just in case. She thought he would, but she couldn't be sure and she wasn't taking the chance. Stepping into the light, she appeared on the opposite side of Roach that Dodge was, and she ticked her gaze over to Dodge for a heartbeat, before she focused again on Roach. She got closer than Dodge did, though. Corey sometimes didn't have quite enough healthy fear in her.

Roach didn't listen, nor did he notice Corey creeping up close to him, or the stern tone in Dodge's tone. This wasn't about anyone else anymore. This was barely even about Pepper anymore. "You think it's okay for four of you fucking scumbags to cart off a little girl in the middle of the night?" When Charlie smirked, dazed, up at him, blood dribbling from his lips, Roach's fist tightened and he slammed it into Charlie's face so hard his head bounced off the pavement. And then Roach hit him again, feeling his cheekbone splinter but not stopping.

"Roach!" Dodge had yelled more that once now, stepping closer, more into his line of sight. He was still worried, still careful. "Let him go Roach." He'd seen Corey step up, which meant he really wanted Roach to back off. The last thing he need what him flailing out on a girl who got too close. So Dodge tried to make himself the target.

"Stop," she said, as Corey got another step closer, close enough this time that she reached out to try and grab Roach's wrist. Because Dodge for some reason didn't seem to be getting through, and there was only so much of a beating to the head a person could take before their brains started dribbling out their ears. She was already braced, thinking that Roach's instincts were going to be to take a swing at her, mostly she just hoped she was fast enough to dodge the hit. But really--this was probably going to hurt. She just also had a plan with it even if it did.

Roach already had his target, so Dodge's attempt to get his attention went unnoticed. With the metal on his hands, with how angry he was, Charlie's face was cracking almost too easily under his assault, flying blood flecking his arm, his face. He heard the protests around him like he was underwater and ignored them in favor of beating Charlie's head in, until someone was grasping his wrist. He reacted immediately, jerking his wrist out of grip that was holding it first, then twisting, aiming a blow in the direction that the arm had come.

God damnit. Dodge knew Roach, he knew how strong he could be, even if he hadn't seen him this bad before. "Core," Dodge started when he saw her reach for Roach. It moved like in slow motion but Dodge knew he wouldn't get there in time. There was a reason he hadn't grabbed for Roach himself and when he watched as Roach's focus turned he lunged, already knowing he'd be too late.

She wasn't fast enough. But at least she didn't get a hit to the head. She managed to get one arm up and just barely turned slightly so the blow caught her just beneath her shoulder, high up on her ribcage beneath her arm. She felt metal bite into her skin, pain exploding outward there. There was a tiny part of her that was actually a little surprised. Even if she'd known it was going to happen. Still, there was a tiny moment of being stunned, as she was dropping to her side on the ground. But there was that plan she'd had. and when she did hit the ground, she swept her leg up hard to catch him right in the gut--or that was the aim anyways. Roach needed to be down. It sort of didn't occur to her that he might be in too blind a rage to recognize her and he might just keep beating her. She had a priority and that was 'let's make sure Roach doesn't become a murderer'.

By the time Roach realized it was Corey in front of him, his metal-heavy fist had already hit her. It was like a switch had been flipped: one moment he had every intention of beating Charlie's head flat into the ground, and the next the red fog was clear. His chest tightened in horror at what he'd done (he was no better than they were, hitting a girl), and then Corey's leg hit him square in the gut and he couldn't breathe.

If the gut hit knocked the wind out of him, Dodge crashing into him and knocking them both to the ground. "God damnit Roach!" Now it was Dodge pushing, pushing hard on his friend to keep him on the ground even though Dodge was barely any match for him. Looking up his eyes found Corey. He was breathless so he couldn't ask but it was there. Pleading that she was alright.

The boys landed directly next to her, and she looked up and saw Dodge looking at her. Her teeth were gritted together, and she had already reached to cradle her hand against her ribs, but she gave Dodge a nod. She was fine. She wasn't a concern right now. And to try and impress that point more, she pushed herself up with one arm, realizing she was breathing a little shallowly to avoid more pain, though she was pushing past it. Or trying to. Good fucking christ that had hurt. It felt a little like her ribs were on fire. She looked down at Roach, to see if the danger was past, but from her two second assessment she thought it was. Roach would have hit back again by now if it wasn't.

If Roach weren't struggling to breathe, he probably would have been able to toss Dodge off of him and hurry to Corey, but as it was he could barely get in any air, much less move. Whatever anger had been fueling him was gone now, replaced with complete and utter horror. Corey was laying there, holding onto herself (had he cracked a rib?) and he had done it, he had hurt her. He'd been halfway to beating Charlie to death and then he'd gone and done the same thing. "Corey," Roach wheezed, still not having quite enough air to move, especially not with Dodge actively pinning him down, putting more pressure on his chest.

Now it was Dodge's turn to want to beat Roach to a pulp, but he didn't stand a chance. Nor was it the right thing to do. At Corey's nod, Dodge rolled off Roach to the opposite of Corey, on his feet easily though he was huffing with exertion too. The other boys were staring, eyes wide and the sound of moaning from their victims were there as well. The sun was starting to rise and there was blood all around. Damnit. "Scatter boys. You know the drill. Drop you weapons in the water, down the sewers. Go. Switch your clothes that are bloody as soon as you can. Stay far away from here and don't go home until dusk. Go!" At his orders they did as he said scattering into the morning shadows. "You, stay there," Dodge said turning to Roach on the ground. Climbing over his friend he knelt next to Corey, looking at her closely. "You okay to walk? We need to get out of here."

"I'm fine." Corey said, forcing herself to her feet. She wasn't actually sure that was true--jesus Roach hit hard and--oh. Right. She saw metal glinting off of his fingers. That would explain it. Flesh and bone didn't stand up against metal all that well, really. "Don't worry about me." she said. She looked down at Roach, then reached out her hand, to help him up since she'd helped knock the wind right out of him with that kick. And Dodge was right. They needed to get the hell out of there. She'd disappear back where she came from, but she imagined Dodge and Roach needed to go elsewhere. Maybe find medical attention.

Roach followed Corey's gaze to his hand, the metal nuts coated with blood. Disgusted, he shook them off, letting them clatter to the ground. His eyes flickered up to Dodge, ashamed--they'd planned for this to go very differently, for no one to die, for things not to go this far, and he'd gotten beyond carried away, even going as far as to hit a friend, Roach's close friend, the only person in the world who knew him better than Dodge or Roach himself. He ignored Corey's hand when she extended it out to him, instead dragging himself to his feet on his own. "Let me carry you, Corey," he said, hesitantly, his voice still not much more than little gasps of air.

Dodge watched Corey move, seeing how slow it went. She was hurt, in a bad way. When Roach stood and shucked his bits of metal, Dodge found himself picking them up, tucking them away for dropping them away as his day went on. "Like hell I'm not worrying about you," he told Corey from where he knelt. There was blood on his hands, blood on the ground. God damnit this was bad. "Hate me for it if you want, but the moment fuckhead here hit you, you became one of mine. You don't have to let him carry you, but I'd rather get you to your space above ground. Then I know you're there." Dodge glanced up at Corey for a moment, knowing full well what he said would cause tension. They had an arrangement, a respect. But one of his boys, his best boy, crossed a line and now he needed to make amends in his own way. "We'll move as quick as possible," he promised, standing.

Corey stared at the two of them for a moment, aware very keenly of the broken men around them, the sounds of pain, and the lightening sky above. "You can barely breathe, you're not carrying anyone. I'm fine." she ground out to Roach, voice rough, because she was in pain and her ribs were severely displeased with her at the moment, but they didn't really have time for this. She'd been pointing at Roach, but then she pointed at Dodge, eyes narrowing. "And you--I don't belong to anyone. Even fucking imply it again, and we are going to have deep, deep problems, Dodge. And you don't want that." she told him. She was hurt, not broken, and she didn't even want to start that shit. It woudn't work. And she knew Dodge. Even if she also got that he probably very genuinely wanted to keep her safe right now, she couldn't allow that ownership bullshit to happen. Not even for a second. It wasn't how they did things. "I'm going back my way. Get the fuck out of here. Fast. Take Fourth street, it'll be clearer. Disappear. Just get clear of this." she said, turning to head back down the rubble towards the tunnels she'd just driven the human shaped rats out of.

Roach took a step towards Corey when she started to head back into the tunnel, not following her but watching her hobble away. Great. Just fucking great. He was a monster, not a damn bit better than the pricks writhing on the ground. He looked over at Dodge, except not really looking at him, his shoulders slumped, his eyes down. He was a monster and he'd fucked up everything. Good job, Roach. Good goddamn job.

"Fine!" Dodge yelled out to her, knowing full well she was right and he'd crossed a line she drew in the sand a long time ago. He couldn't help it, it was what he did. He collected people just like he collected things and he didn't like Corey being hurt. Especially by Roach. "I'm still sending someone to make sure you made it back in one piece!" he called after her. And he would. Not himself or Roach, no Roach didn't get to go. Just one of the young ones to stick their head near her entrance and make sure she was there. Nothing more. "Come on you fucking oaf," Dodge said, grabbing Roach's arm. "We've gotta go."

She made herself stop holding onto the spot on her ribs that was feeling even more like it had been lit on fire, and possibly that someone kept poking it with needles, too. Her movement wasn't the fastest it ever was, but before she disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel, she was walking as close to normally as she could make it look like. Then she was gone. She looked back, but it was only after she was safely hidden, and she went back to holding her side. Fuck. This was all going to hurt, and on a lot of different levels. She shut her eyes for a long moment, then turned to start the trek back to her nest.

Roach glanced back at the tunnel one last time before following behind Dodge. It was still a little hard to breathe, but it was probably nothing like what Corey was feeling right now. He knew that Dodge would forbid him from checking in on her, but that was as an agent of Dodge--he'd be going as a friend, Corey's friend. A horrible one, after hitting her, but at least he'd have a better chance of checking in on her. He hoped. If she didn't hate him after this, if she wasn't completely terrified of him. Not that he'd blame her. He was pretty terrified of himself right now.

Dodge was storming, pushing himself. His face hurt, his hands hurt and he still wanting to punch the shit out of his best friend. Stupid fuck head. When the reached the street he pointed in one direction. "Go that way. Stay low. You know the drill. And you stay away from her today. Consider yourself grounded. You know that that means too." Dodge gave Roach one more look and then strode off the opposite way he'd pointed.

Roach nodded, an almost imperceptible incline of his head. He wasn't up for talking right now, but maybe Dodge was right. Maybe he should stay away. He just couldn't stand the thought of her being down in the tunnels, hurt, and all because of him. Hell, she probably didn't even want to see him anyway. Definitely better that he stayed away. He looked at Dodge again, watching as he strode down the street, before heading off in the other direction, disappearing into the morning as much as he was able, huge and covered in a murderer's blood.