Shots

Consulting Investigator

"You let a cop wear one of our vests? Titus is gonna kill you." MB shook her head as she held up the article like it'd been lying in radioactive goo or something. Her voice had no inflection, same as always.

"Who's Titus?" Halstead was just going to keep asking questions until he got some satisfactory answers, Evie knew it. Despite the constant barrage, her new respect for the detective's skills in action took precedence over annoyance, so she decided she could probably give him some answers.

"Ask something else," MB countered immediately, getting impatient with Evie's struggle in taking off her jacket. "I just got this for you and you've already got blood on it. Are you kidding me?"

"Sorry," Evie replied, unable to keep the lazy grin off her face even though her shoulder was burning. "I'll just wrap myself in plastic next time so as to keep my clothes pristine."

Voight and Dawson were watching them with critical eyes, like they had Intelligence x-ray vision or something. The latter had offered to call up a second ambo for Evie, but she'd refused. Given that she was the most injury-prone person most people have ever met, it was a miracle she'd gotten off with something so superficial.

"What does MB stand for?" Halstead asked next, leaning his gun on the truck he'd also been up against before moving over to assist in Evie's medical attention. In addition to his endless questions and scrutiny, Halstead was the sort of guy who had your back. It was a good thing to know, Evie mused.

She wasn't somebody who'd just automatically reject willing helping, so she let him support her for a second while MB divested her of the vest that was more like a corset after all that running. Evie's head spun for a moment while her body greedily sucked in air. Halstead lowered her onto the curb so MB could inspect injured shoulder. "Thanks," Evie said tiredly, the adrenaline of the morning having worn off some minutes ago.

"What does MB stand for?" Dawson prompted, now rather invested in the situation, apparently. "It's not like, Most Bullets or something, is it?"

Halstead rolled his eyes.

"Mockingbird," MB answered promptly, even though she'd been acting like nobody but Evie existed at the moment. She never showed it, but Evie knew she was proud of that name.

"Ow," Evie hissed, more as an automated response than out of actual pain as MB prodded her shouder. There was a dull ache in her muscles from being slammed against a brick wall and she wasn't actually sure where the bleeding was coming from. MB supplied her with the answer.

"Don't get shot next time," she rejoined in her signature monotone. MB was so businesslike at all times, which helped immensely with the job, but didn't endear her to many. Still, Evie knew she had a big heart along with that sharp tongue.

"So how long have you been chasing the Ouroboros gang?"

Evie supposed she really should have seen that question coming, but it took her by surprise anyway. MB glared - in monotone - and finished bandaging her shoulder. "Should maybe get stiches," she threw over her shoulder as she took her supplies away.

Halstead's question was quickly followed by Voight and Dawson offering up their own.

"A long time, then?"

"You have a history with them, or something?"

"Yeah," Evie ventured, levering herself up from the sidewalk, pulling on her coat to try and stall for time. It wasn't that cold out, but the questions facing her were hard ones to answer. Not so much because she was unwilling, but rather because there was a lot she couldn't really say. Unwanted shivers coursed through her body, an annoying reminder that slight blood loss was still enough to wear the body down regardless of how well she dealt with pain.

"You should probably go to the hospital," Dawson said reasonably, but she still wanted to punch him. While Evie thoroughly believed in getting medical attention when the situation called for it, she was already such a frequent flier there.

"What, and have Will give me the same lecture he always does? No thanks. I'll go when I actually get shot!" Evie called the last part in MB's direction. She was ignored, which was to be expected.

Halstead had retrieved his gun. "You know Will?"

Evie removed an empty cartridge from her belt to hand to MB when she returned. "What, doesn't he talk about me all the time? 'Yeah, this girl, man, she comes in all the time and one of these days she's not gonna be able to say that the other guy looks worse...that scares me.' I heard him telling another doctor that last time. You can tell him I'm sorry I worry him but I'm just too fond of him to stop coming."

Halstead nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm not gonna tell him that."

Evie shrugged, then winced, screwing up her face for a second. "No extraneous shoulder movements. Gotta remember that."

"You won't," MB intoned from her spot to the left, accepting the cartridge.

"I am aware, thank you, love," Evie aimed a kick in her direction.

Ocher and Nyx, the two kids that had initially responded to the scene with MB wandered over hesitantly. "So, Val wants us back and uh, we're gonna go. Are you coming with?"

Evie shook her head. "I gotta go see Chaucer first. You go and I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." They both skittered away, not being really comfortable around cops. Surprisingly, none of said cops tried to stop them or ask them anything. It was a small thing, but Evie could appreciate it. MB stopped in front of her and held up a finger.

"I will go and get stitches later, after I see Chaucer, MB."

She didn't move. Evie know this was about her well-being, but MB was so difficult sometimes. She could appreciate this sort of behavior so much more when MB was being stubborn about really anybody else.

Trying again, Evie grimaced and rephrased, "I will go now and see Chaucer later?"

MB finally moved away, a very small, yet very satisfied smirk appearing on her face.

"This is why we leave you at home when we go on raids!" Evie called after her, still planning on going to go see Chaucer first. He had already found what she needed and all she had to do was pick it up. It would take a few minutes and then she could go bother Will. Maybe. If there weren't so many other people involved, Evie would just drop in at Robin's clinic later that evening and skip the hospital altogether, even if it was likely to be crowded. But that wasn't really an option here, so she didn't bother bringing it up.

Voight, Dawson and Halstead were all still standing there looking at her. No doubt they had a million questions and Evie really couldn't blame them for wanting answers but she also had a million things to do and if she arrived home without getting her shoulder properly attended to, MB would kill her. There had to be a way to get everything done and at least partially satisfy everyone.

"Listen, boys, it's been fun, but I got things to do, okay?" Evie stuck her gun into her belt and smiled winningly.

"Why don't you come back with us? If you know stuff about Ouroboros, then you can help with our investigation. Plus, we need your statement about the gun deal and this bust." Voight sounded like he didn't expect to be refused.

"Isn't this your day off? That should give you plenty of time," Dawson added.

"Yeah," Halstead jumped in, "and I can take you to see Will first, if you want, since uh--"

"Since he's your brother, yeah I know," Evie finished for him.

"I was going to say since your friend seemed so insistent," Halstead protested, suddenly almost adorable. He seemed to be that guy who swung between being huggable and punchable.

"And you can tell us a little more about being a, what did you call it?" Ruzek appeared kind of out of nowhere to ask. "A consulting investigator? I noticed that can be shortened to CI. Coincidence?"

She had to go and involve real-deal cops and now she was dealing with the blowback. Granted, she almost always had to eventually, but the powers that be were generally happier when she involve no blues at all. Evie did like poking that bear once in a while, though. "Fine. But I'm driving my own car."

"Cool," Ruzek smiled. "I call shotgun."