Displaced

Night air, cool and seasonable for the aging time of year hung amiably above the city that should be sleeping. The wide wheel of the suburbs lay quiet and lightless around the still bustling hub of the city, where two different species of people moved. The slumbering fringe of the metropolis housed day trippers, families engrossed in the routine of everyday life. Alternatively, people hasten purposefully within the central urban environment, every one immersed in their own plans. Not all of them were benign.
The furtive scrape of stalking shoes whispered in an alley. She inhaled sharply, and whipped around defensively, to find nothing lurking in the milky glow of dim lamplight but garbage on the ground. Dark eyes narrowed suspiciously, as she hitched her purse a little higher, and scanned the shadows for anything skulking around. Nothing moved, and she sighed softly. This was not any place she really wanted to be. The city disconcerted her, made her feel out of sync with the millions of others scrambling around like ants in a farm. She didn't feel like an ant, she felt like a sore thumb. She'd only come to visit her best friend from high school on a whim, hoping to surprise her at the little bookshop she ran at closing time, only to get horribly lost in the labyrinth of the city. Then had come the flat tire, and of course, her cell phone wasn't in service, although she had five bars in her own small hometown.
'Damn...' She muttered to herself, flicking a raven curl from her eyes, and turned back around to ru Gn directly into a body as hard as a wall. Before a breath, a gasp, a scream could break from her lips, a hard hand clamped over her mouth, and the other arm snaked around her back to clamp her tightly against the broad chest. Something hard dropped from her person to clatter to the pavement unnoticed. Her eyes filled with unbelieving horror as they widened, staring at the strange, ugly face leering at her as he backed her against a dumpster. Breath laced with whiskey and something rotten washed over her face as he leered,
'Hello, sweetheart. You look lost... why don't you let me help you...' He laughed, a horrid, rough sound, and dropped his hand from her mouth to maul her breasts, laying his lips over her own to stifle the scream that finally broke loose from her throat. It came out muffled, more of a whimpered moan that seemed to drive the man into more of a heated search of her body. She struggled vainly, caught between his unyielding form and the metal barricade at her back. He stuck his tongue in her mouth, simultaneously tweezing a nipple cruelly, and she instinctively clamped down on the slick probe invading her mouth. She bit him hard, and actually snipped off a peice from the side of his tongue. He pulled back with a surprised roar, blood dribbling down his chin as she spat out the piece of flesh in her mouth, and let loose her lungs with an ear shattering scream. He cut it off with a hard blow to her cheek, and she sagged to the side. He struck her again, enraged that she had actually BIT him! Blood spattered against the dumpster, but this time it came from her own face, her nose bleeding, as well as a split in her lip. 'You lil cun'! You bi' me!' She closed her eyes, tears leaking from them... suddenly realizing that she may not see the light of tomorrow. The man grunted, and the wet sound of flesh on flesh came from inches away from her face.
She cringed, and pried her eyes open as the man grunted again, to find him on the ground under the angry fists of a slimmer man with red hair. The new comer fell upon the squat gorilla with a fevered passion, fists sinking deep. The ugly man wormed free and ran, sprinting faster than one would think he could, and disappeared in the murk. Coppery hair in disarray, breathing heavily, her savior straightened and turned to her, hands with bleeding knuckles forming a soothing posture as he bent over her to help her up. 'Hey... are you all right?' He asked, voice soft and smoky, a comforting quality lingering over it. 'I'm Lt. Horatio Caine, with the Miami - Dade Crime Lab. Can you stand up? Do you know that man?' His expressive eyes searched her over, sorrowful and seemingly regretful over what had happened to her. Unshaking fingers moved aside the tangled black curtain of her hair, not touching her skin. His brow furrowed, and she began to sob. He hesitated, then pulled her against the warm lapel of his jacket, uncaring of the blood dribbling from her nose, and simultaneously fished a cell phone from his pocket. Flipping it open, he spoke in the same hushed tones, his free hand stroking the silky mass at the back of her head, and gave the local authorities his location, with instructions to bring EMS. He'd no sooner hung up and slid the phone back in his pocket, when the sound of footsteps echoed over the muffled hitching of her sobs.
'You're both going to pay for that!' Slurred, the threat still carried the implication, and Horatio whipped around, his hand going for his gun as the shot rang out. The slug buried itself in his lower left abdomen, and the gunman noticed the gun in Horatio's hand the same instant. 'Shit, a cop! You're dead, bitch, I ever see you again!' He threatened, glancing around for other police, before turning heel. Newly shot, the Lt. staggered around the dumpster and returned fire, emptying his piece before slumping against the garbage bin. The gun clattered to the pavement, and he wheeled around, hands clapped to the welling wound on his side.
'Don't worry... help will be here soon....' His knees buckled, and she moved to catch him. The weight of his body staggered her backward against the slimy wall of the alley, and she'd forgotten completely about her own meager injuries. Gasping, she pressed her hands against his own, trying to add the pressure and slow the bleeding. His eyes rolled to meet hers, and he wheezed with dry humor. 'I didn't get your name...'
'Revelle Arden... thank you Lt. Caine... you saved my life..' I just hope I can save yours, she thought as lights revolved at the end of the alley. The sound of running feet and hurried voices grew louder, and she looked up in time to blink in the bright beam of flashlights, and heard disembodied voice gasp, 'Oh my god! What happened here?!' Hands rolled him off of her, and she looked at her own blood stained fingers, helplessly. He breathed to a woman leaning over him as they put him on a stretcher. 'Keep her safe... take her to my condo until I'm released.'
The woman nodded without hesitation or question, chocolate curls bouncing, and turned to Revelle as the stretcher was loaded into the ambulance. She stepped forward, extending a hand, and spoke with a softly accented voice. 'Hi... are you okay? I'm Yilana, and I want you to come with me, okay? What's your name? Can you tell me what happened here? Who shot Lt. Caine?' She bombarded her with questions as she led her to an unmarked car and opened the passenger side door for her.