No One's Born Broken

[abrightboy]

For tinstar.



Gil came and went. Dani came and went. Ainsley came and then left with their mother, who refused to even hear him out about telling the truth. He stared through the window at the motionless man in the bed for some indeterminate amount of time, his hand clutching his phone in his pocket.

Finally he let his eyes leave the figure through the window and he took his phone out of his pocket. He stared at that for a long moment, then scrolled through his contacts until one name rolled onto the screen: Raylan Givens.

He looked through the window, then looked at the name. Then he pressed it.

Comments

[abrightboy]

Malcolm all but leapt out of the car and raced after the man, three piece suit and all, running down the unkempt lane the man was trying to follow to escape.

He managed to catch him, tackling him into a tree before getting his arm behind him to pin him there.

Only then did he look around for the Marshals.

[tinstar]

Tim was first, marching a girl about 15 years old in front of him and the train of insults echoed out in front of her, to no real effect on the Marshal moving her towards a central point.

"Catch a live one, huh?" he called over the space towards Malcolm, looking around for Raylan. They hadn't heard any shots, which was a good thing, but their worry wasn't worth much with a pissed off and red eye'd Raylan coming up from the back. The kid he had, also couldn't be but 15 had a few black eyes himself and a bloody nose, but neither of them looked like they were in a talking mood.

Raylan frowned slightly as he walked his guy forward. "Malcolm? What're you doin' here?" He looked over at Tim. "Didn't realize back up needed back up."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm grinned at him, hoping that giddiness could be mistaken for the thrill of the chase.

"Funny story, I..."

He was cut off by his prisoner suddenly bringing his head back in a sharp backwards head but that sent Malcolm to the ground, trying to get up and go after him through stars in his vision that left him sprawled in the dust, trying to push himself upright.

Luckily, he'd looked over at Raylan and avoided a broken nose, but he'd probably suffer a bruise to his cheekbone.

[tinstar]

By the time Malcolm hit the ground, Raylan had his gun out and was shoving his guy towards Tim. "STOP THERE OR I'll SHOOT."

The seemed to think that Raylan wouldn't and a few steps later, Raylan fired, catching the man in the leg and sending him down with a cry. Raylan's stride kept going as he stopped by Malcolm, squatting down to look at him in his face and judge the damage. Ahead of them, the man was swearing. "You fuckin' shot me!"

"Well I would say I'm glad to see ya, but not you've got a shiner to match mine. You okay?"

[abrightboy]

At the suspect's protest, Malcolm, who'd got himself to sitting up, looked over at him. "He did warn you. You must not be from here, if you thought that he wouldn't."

When Raylan crouched down, Malcolm looked up at him with a wry smile. "I'm fine," he insisted, gingerly touching said shiner with his fingertips and wincing slightly. "Anyone who talks as much as I do has been hit in the face before," he pointed out with a bit of a laugh.

[tinstar]

Tim watched it all passively, only forcing the kids to sit down so he could rest one hand on his gun, just in case.

"You're not allowed to do that man!" The guys said in his own defense. Raylan clicked softly. "Aw shut up," he said as he stood and ambled over. "It's just a flesh wound. Builds character. Keeps you from running again too." He was lucky he only got shot in the fatty part of his calf.

"Now, you gonna tell me where I can find your buddy, or are we gonna have to throw the book at.." He half turned to look at the kids. "What are they, your niece and nephew? Cousins? The boy can't run for shit but he doesn't hit bad."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm, meanwhile, got to his feet, dusting himself off fairly uselessly. He was too dusty for a bit of dusting off to do any good.

"Niece and nephew," Malcolm told him. He could see from the man's face that Raylan had nailed it the first time.

The man looked at him oddly. "How the hell do you know?"

"You told me," Malcolm said simply, and the man gave him a dirty look. "Answer the deputy's question," he said in a calm but firm voice.

[tinstar]

Tim at least had a smirk at Malcolm's dusting attempts.

Raylan lifted his eyebrows with a soft Huh of surprise, in a 'fancy that' tone as he looked back down at the man. "Shame to see them in jail for the next five or six years over some shitty little paper forgin'. Not that they look like they're gonna come out much better than you, but you could save them a couple years."

That was reasonable, right?"

The man glared at both of them from the ground, hands gripping his bleeding calf. "Last time I seen him, he was runnin' pills up to Lexington."

"And when was that?" Raylan prompted.

"Day or two ago."

"And any idea where he might be.. right now?" He was starting to get annoyed with the dance.

The guy stayed silent and Raylan lifted his eyebrows expectantly. After a second, Raylan nodded, face scrunching up like he'd decided something as he reached down and hauled the man to his feet, earning a frantic -"Wait, fine. He's been stayin' at my sisters."

"Address?" Raylan asked, lips having vanished in their tightness. The guy spilled and Raylan's everything instantly relaxed. "See? That wasn't hard, was it? Get you Uncle of the year award at least."

He turned around at looked at Tim. "You got an extra set of cuffs?" Tim pulled them and chucked them underhand to Raylan who caught them in one go. "Never leave the house without a spare pair," Tim said dryly, letting people who might wonder what that meant with no real hint.

[abrightboy]

"That's a good point," Malcolm told Tim. "I might have saved a cranium to the face if I'd had some."

He looked at Raylan. "He's telling the truth, if you had any doubt. Are we going there?"

[tinstar]

Tim nodded his agreement, eyebrows lifting in a faint show of sympathy. Though he showed so little, a faint show was a vast step.

Raylan cuffed the guy, who was busy sputtering about how they hadn't called an ambulance yet and this goes against his rights - Raylan interuppted him. "Keep talkin' and you'll ride in the trunk on the way."

He looked over at Malcolm. "Yup." But his eyes were full of questions just for the profiler. "You alright riding around a little longer?"

If Malcolm said yes, which Raylan had no doubt he would, he asked for Malcolm to put their big guy in the car, and to possibly try to not get hit again while he went to go deal with the kids.

[abrightboy]

Of course he said 'yes'. Raylan had given him an option to participate, even though they were in Harlan.

He took the cuffed, limping suspect and brought him over to Raylan's car, giving him a little shove when he seemed to want to try twisting away from Malcolm's grasp. He got him into the backseat and shut the door on him, looking over towards Raylan to see if he was ready to go and took a glance at Tim, to see if he was saying anything to Raylan and what sort of reaction Raylan's face was having to it.

[tinstar]

Raylan and Tim were talking amongst themselves, all hand gestures from one save one glance given to the man standing next to his car. They nodded at each other and walked the kids to Tim's truck, sliding them into the back seat before Raylan sent them off with a slap on the car door.

He headed back towards Malcolm, long stride making shorter work of it, until he was in talking distance again.

"'M afraid that coffee and the rest of your tea has been confiscated as supplies in case either of the shitheads try to claim abuse." He smiled crookedly. "You expect it to be hot when you got down here?"

Goddamn he was glad to see you, Malcolm.

[abrightboy]

Outside the car, the prisoner could see them, but at least he couldn't really hear them.

He smiled self-consciously at Raylan's remark. "Well, I wasn't really expecting to come down here. I tried to surprise you at your office but almost everyone was there except you." He paused. "I didn't realize they had suspicions," he admitted with a wince. "I might not have tried the bringing everyone coffees and saying 'hi' gambit if I had, but I didn't know where you live..." He paused and glanced around, then looked at Raylan. "Tim assumed I was here to see you. He guessed right away. I hope I didn't... cause any trouble."

Raylan's face was a balm, but he had been wriggling under the guilt of the problems he may have caused the Marshal for most of the drive to Harlan.

[tinstar]

"They're Masrhals. There's no helping it. Neither confirm, nor deny." He glanced off towards the car for a second. "We can talk about this more when we've got a door between us and no perp in the back. Arlo's maybe, if we can get the locals to take this weight off our hands." He sighed and started towards the car.

"C'mon. Sooner we get going, sooner it gets done."

[abrightboy]

He didn't seem angry, but Raylan had a way of simmering that deep inside when he wanted to and Malcolm wasn't sure he'd always be able to tell. He looked uncertain for a moment, but they had a job to do; he nodded resolutely and got in the passenger side of the car.

"How far is it?" he asked.

[tinstar]

"Fifteen minutes if I don't speed." Raylan slid into the driver's seat. "8 if I do."

The man in the back spoke up again. "You ain't taking me to a hospital?" Raylan's eyes lifted to look back at him through the review. "I'm only gonna tell you this once, but keep talkin' and you ride in the trunk."

The man thought about it and with a shift of his throbbing leg, he decided to not dare the man in the hat.

Raylan threw them into reverse and down the road.

--

Tim arrived all of a minute before they did and stepped out of his car, staying on the drivers side as he waited for Raylan to get out. Raylan looked over at Malcolm and jerked his head a little, silently asking him to get out of the car with him.

"What's the play?" Tim asked Raylan, glancing at his backseat and almost proud to see the guy still sitting there.

Raylan adjusted his hat. "Well, I figure one of us stays here, the other two go see if little Tommy boy is home. If he's not, we hand these three asshats to the locals and have someone sit on the house."

"Who's goin'?" Tim asked. Raylan shrugged with his face. "Hell, I already shot one guy today, hate to hog all the fun. You got an Avon face?"

Tim smirked.

[abrightboy]

"I could go," Malcolm volunteered. "Be a lost tourist. Talk him into coming out and giving me directions." He looked from Raylan to Tim. "I have the accent for it." He looked from Tim to Raylan. "And the tie."

[tinstar]

Raylan gestured in invitation and Tim headed that way. "Don't worry, I'll let you do the talkin," he assured as they made their way up and knocked on the door. Raylan moved to the drivers side of Tim's car to watch without giving them away by existing.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm knocked. At first there was no answer. He tried again, a little harder.

A woman came to the door.

"Hi," Malcolm said brightly and a little apologetically. "We're a little lost. It feels like we've been driving in circles for hours. Did you know the GPS doesn't work out here?" he noted.

She just looked at him.

"Can you tell us how to get to Lexington?" he asked.

She sighed heavily and stepped out onto the porch, pointing down the road and giving directions.

"Thank you so much," he told her. He looked apologetic. "Listen, before we go, can I use your bathroom? We've been driving around here for ages."

"Piss on a tree," she drawled.

He looked physically pained at the prospect, smoothing down the front of his suit.

"Look, I'm..." He glanced around distastefully, easily falling into his Rich Boy hat. "I'm not going to urinate on a tree like some sort of barnyard animal. I'll give you a hundred dollars if you let me use your rest room, providing it has indoor plumbing."

She cocked an amused eyebrow at him. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a hundred dollars, holding it out to her. She considered it, then took it and tilted her head towards the door.

"Thank you," he said gratefully, heading inside.

She pointedly shut the door after him, remaining on the porch with Tim while calling after Malcolm "Down the hall, second door on the right!"

Malcolm headed in that direction, but stopped out of her line of sight, listening for any sounds in the house that might tell him where the suspect was.

We can hotstep it to when local pd has arrived to collect everyone?

[tinstar]

Tim was ever a silent statue during the whole exchange, only giving the lady a toothy smile that never sat quite right on his face when it wasn't fully real, a little too tight in the corners, once the door shut.

"Nice place you got here."

"Get fucked," she retorted, sensing the sarcasm.

Inside the house, a late 30's something man was listening to the exchange and heard the profiler come in. It was panic or smarts that had him creeping out the back door, with only a faint sound of the wood on wood as it fell shut behind him. Guns being what they were, everyone had them and this guy was no different. Gun in hand, he crept around the dying bush that provided him the only bit of cover he could get to get around to the far side of the cars..

Where he was unlucky enough to surprise Raylan quick enough to get an elbow to the face. It led to a small scuffle and an errant shot that had Tim quick stepping over with his weapon.

"CLEAR," Raylan called, breathless as he pushed up from the ground. "Fired off into the ground, no one's hurt." He took a few deep breaths. "Okay, well no one's dead."

[abrightboy]

The sister was pissy but smart enough not to draw on Malcolm or the Marshals as Malcolm slipped by her with a polite 'excuse me' and headed back to the car.

It didn't take local police long to get there and collect the criminals. Malcolm stayed near Raylan's car, watching everyone work.

Watching Raylan. Trying not to look like he was watching Raylan.

Waiting for Raylan to come back to the car.

[tinstar]

It was better and easier for things like this to move through local PD. Their courts set it up for the higher courts and Raylan's case was almost closed. A little threading together once he was back in the office but that was tomorrow.

Tonight was promising the EMT's and Tim that he was fine and heading back towards his car with a finger at Malcolm before sliding into the driver's seat.

"I cannot tell you how incredibly long this day has been," he sighed as Malcolm slid in beside him. "Do you have a bag in Lexington? A room somewhere? I notice you don't have a bag."

[abrightboy]

"I got a room. In Lexington. Because we were going to look for a place in Lexington and I didn't know if I'd be able to stay... at the place above the bar." He paused and looked over. "I should have called," he said with a faltering smile.

[tinstar]

"No, I'm glad to see you, call or not," he said emphatically as he pulled away from the scene and got them on the long road ahead. "I'm sorry I wasn't in the office when you showed up. If I had known.."

He would have made it a priority to be there.

"But a hotel room is good. No heavy thumps til 2 am.. Though that might be about the time we make it there, it feels like." It wasn't that late, but Raylan was tired in more ways than one.

"Everything okay?"

[abrightboy]

"I think I gave us away," he said quietly. He looked at Raylan. "Did Tim say anything? Are you going to have problems?"