The Ties That Bind

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Maxim let the man go slowly, wary of any move he made, but eventually he was free to hold pressure on the bleeding gash in his arm, poorly 'bandaged' by an article of clothing meant more to soak up the blood than anything else. When he was sure Muscles wouldn't move, he pulled out his phone and called the agency, requesting quiet medical assistance even while he crouched down and checked on the man on the ground to be sure he wasn't having any trouble breathing. It took only a short exchange to have the necessary cogs in motion, and when he was done he moved Aether over to where Madeline still stood just to keep the two parties separated.

"Why don't you put this away now," Maxim suggested, holding his hand out towards the knife she still clung to but without attempting to take it from her, all the while keeping Muscles in his peripheral. For her, one of his own, his voice was much gentler. They would talk about what had actually happened later. "And let me take a look at you. I want you and Aether going with the medics when they get here."

When he turned his eyes to Aether the young wolf tried to sign that he was fine, but ended up only wincing and holding his hand close to his body when trying to do anything but keep it relaxed sent pain lancing up his arm. On second thought, he'd probably broken a finger on someone's face.
 
Muscles seemed to know when he was beaten, sitting cross-legged and keeping pressure on his arm. He glared at them, but kept still and quiet.

Madeline was also keeping an eye on muscles, though she didn't think he was going to be any more trouble. The one Aether had taken down, seemed well and truly out for the count.

When Maxim mentioned her blade, she blinked a little, glancing down at it as if she'd forgotten she was even holding it. Her grip on it tightened for a moment as her gaze flicked warily to muscles for a second, clearly she was reluctant to hand it over.

She carried it for situations like this and if she hadn't had it, then she would be knocked out, possibly dead right now after all.

After a brief moment of hesitation, she reluctantly passed it over, being careful to pass it to him by the handle so he wouldn't cut herself.

She could only hope he'd give it back to her later, she'd need to clean muscles blood off it. The idea of being without it made her feel very vulnerable, especially after this crap.

She made no argument about seeing the medics, even though she'd been worse off than this before, she was a little concerned about her head.

She turned her head to look at Aether, her gaze full of guilt and shame, but also concern for his injuries and gratitude. "I'm sorry.." She said with some effort, her voice quiet and hoarse. "But thank you."

She knew it didn't change anything and that he still didn't like her, but still, she was grateful for his help.
 
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Aether, standing a bit aside to keep an eye on their attackers but remain close, hadn't been paying Maxim or Madeline much attention since they weren't threats. When she spoke up he looked at her with some surprise on his face, and almost shyly away again. Without his jacket he felt smaller, more vulnerable, like he could be seen through. Without it, it was easier to see the scars from his past, peeking up above the neck of his shirt, and out the bottom of his sleeve, a long trail of claw marks from the fight that had nearly killed him. Perhaps it was obvious by the way his fractured, quickly bruising hand hardly bothered him, the young wolf only holding it up near his heart to keep it from swelling too horribly, but he was not unused to injury. Unable to sign and unwilling to pull out his phone, all he could manage in response to her concerns was a nod.

Maxim glanced at Aether to be sure he was all right, but given the younger wolf wasn't trying to sit down and wasn't standing strangely or wobbling on his feet he had to assume he wasn't horribly injured or confused. He knew how to handle himself, and knew how to judge injuries. Madeline was more the alpha's concern.

"How are you faring?" He asked, looking her over and reaching up to steady her with a hand on her arm, eyes searching hers for any sign of concussion. "Focus, look me in the eyes. Feeling dizzy? How's your breathing? Throat's not swelling shut?" The marks there, at least, were obvious. Given the evidence around him he had reason to worry over her ribs or extremities, small scratches and bruises on her exposed skin evidence enough of the fact that she'd fallen to the ground at some point.
 
She noticed his scars but her gaze didn't linger on them, not wanting him to feel self concious or that she was being nosy about them. She had scars of her own, though not as bad as his, or as visible.

She turned back to Maxim when he touched her arm, doing her best to focus like he asked, though it was surprisingly difficult as she felt very out of it.

"Hurts.. but I can." She answered in response to his question about her breathing, "dizzy, faint, my head is killing me.." She listed her symptoms calmly, it still hurt to talk so she wasn't going into detail but it was obvious she had a concussion.

Each breath hurt her throat and side, as she had the sinking feeling muscles had kicked her hard enough to fracture a rib. She closed her eyes for a moment, fighting off a wave of nausea.
 
Maxim nodded and kept a secure hold of her, not wanting her to topple off her feet. "All right, hang in there. Aether. Get her to the parking lot and have her sit on the curb. I'll follow soon."

Aether nodded, walking obediently to Madeline's side and positioning them so when her arm was over his shoulders he could hang on to it with his good hand and keep her from falling over. He nodded towards the direction of the parking lot to get her moving and did his best to take her weight as they walked. If he needed to, he thought he could get her on his back and support her with one arm, but it would be more difficult than just walking.

While they turned to walk off, Maxim gave Muscles a pointed look. "Stay put or I let you bleed out on your own." He warned, and stepped into the bathroom just long enough to rinse off Madeline's knife, wrapping it in enough paper towels to keep it from sliding him before sticking it in a pocket, then came back out to get them. "All right. On your feet. Ambulance will be here any minute."

The man still lying dazedly on the ground was beginning to come back to himself, but not enough to get up and move around on his own, and Maxim wasn't going to wait. Rather than try to rouse him, the alpha pulled the man up onto his shoulders in a fireman carry and started to walk. Muscles had lost a decent amount of blood but Maxim didn't think he'd taken such a beating he couldn't walk on his own.
 
She was still a little worried about Maxim being on his own, but she knew he would be fine. The fight seemed to have gone out of the two men, as they had apparently accepted their defeat.

Even if they were still on their feet, she thought Maxim was more than a match for them.

She was going to protest about needing Aethers help, she could walk on her own and she was embarrassed enough. However Aether was already at her side, and with how dizzy she felt, she reluctantly had to admit she needed the support.

Still she did her best not to lean on him, walking by herself as much as she could, not wanting to be even more of a burden than she'd already been.

Once they reached the curb, she sat down gratefully. Placing her hands flat on the ground on eiether side of her, bracing herself as she fought not to faint.

"Thanks." She said softly, thanking him for helping her yet again.


Muscles had briefly considered taking off when Maxim left him alone, but he dismissed it quickly. He felt pretty woozy, and his friend was still here.

Not that he was loyal, but his friend would no doubt sell him out if he ditched him. Besides he wasn't sure he'd even be fast enough to get away.

He got to his feet and walked when he was told, staring daggers at Aether and Maddie but keeping his distance, not wanting to antagonise Maxim further.

"Hey so.. we can just forget all this right?" He spoke up quietly, doing his best to sound reasonable and magnanimous. "I mean my guys hurt pretty bad and so am I, I'm sure you guys don't wanna deal with assault charges so why don't we just call it even?" "I mean we weren't doing anything anyway, just talking."

Madeline looked furious at that, but said nothing, just tensing and letting out a deep breath.
 
Aether could've scolded her for trying not to let him help if he didn't need his hands to do so. He settled for rolling his eyes and holding her arm down on his shoulders firmly enough that she had to give him at least a little of her weight, and kept walking. Once he'd gotten her sitting down he nodded to show he'd heard and just stayed standing next to her, on guard both for the man Maxim had been left alone with and the soon to be approaching ambulances. If he guessed right, they wouldn't come with any sirens or lights, to draw the least amount of attention.

Maxim, calmer for the moment, led Muscles to where the others were in order to stay together, and once they arrived set the man he'd carried down to sit on the ground nearby. It wouldn't be long now before the proper transport and a couple of agents showed up, and once that was done he was going to have to go and tell the others he needed to meet Madeline and Aether at the hospital. He was still figuring out how to sugarcoat what had happened just enough not to completely ruin their day together when Muscles talked, and when his eyes slide the other man's way they were no less furious than they had been before.

"Tell me," he said slowly, ice in his voice still despite being a bit more contained than he had been previously, "Do I look like a fool to you?" He let it sink in for a moment, the deadly warning in his tone quite clear. "My people don't start fights for shits and giggles, and you can't tell me for a moment that you can't also see the bruises on her throat. We're going to get the story straight and you're going to accept the legal burden for your own crimes. Unless you would rather face retribution from me instead."

If the man had any brains whatsoever, he would realize which was the better choice. He could go to jail for a little while, or he could be put in a full body cast instead. If he ran, Maxim would just run him down. At least his friend was bleeding from the nose enough to stay quiet and pitifully take his lumps.
 
Muscles seemed flustered when he mentioned the bruises, shaking his head a little. "That was self defence.." He said sulkily, as if he wasn't twice her size. "She tried to blind me!"

"Because you were ganging up on Aether, fighting two against one." Madeline spoke up calmly, not looking at him. Her focus was on how she felt right now, and not just physically.

This whole thing had brought up some memories she'd done her best to forget, not to mention how bad she felt for letting herself get into this situation in the first place and accidentally dragging Aether into it as well.

She was also worried about whether she would get charged for assault, it was self defence but she had used a weapon and they were unarmed.

Aside from that, she worried about how Maxim and the others would react to this. As far as she could tell these guys weren't after her bounty, so it wasn't really her fault, in that way anyway.

Still she hadn't been observant enough, and because of that Aether had gotten hurt and Maxim had another mess to clean up, great for their impression of her.

Muscles seemed ready to retort to Madelines comment, until he got a good look at Maxims thunderous face and perhaps for the first time in his life, wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
 
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