Shadowrun: Lonestar (Sigr & Dr Herbert West)

As Sara was still riding the adrenaline from the shootout and was still a bit dizzy from the impact she didn't notice at first, but soon she felt how gentle Van Hauser was being despite how rude he may seem at times. His fingers across her hair felt like they had a very different purpose beyond medical examination, but it was hard for her to not just lean into his touch and let him do, as the feeling helped her find calm, at ease. A fleeting thought about how those fingers touched her nothing like her husband crossed her mind for a split second before Van Hauser backed off and told her she was fine.

She shook her head, making her hair bounce side by side, discarding that odd idea. "Nice, I don't feel like I have one" Sara promptly said, even if she didn't know how a concussion felt like, and soon she ended up hiding her somewhat disoriented face under the helmet. It wasn't the injury what distracted her, but just that odd idea. Sara soon chalked it up to the emotions of the shootout, filing it under the normal camaraderie that appeared after a life or death situation. "I'm fine, really. The mountain of paperwork scares me more than an injury after that small bump" she joked. "I hope that our car is not too banged up" Sara added, remembering that it had taken the brunt of the impact.
 
"Shit..." Van Hauser mumbled as he turned to the patrol one. So much for that property bonus for not damaging any gear that month.

"Yeah we should probably check out how bad it is." Van Hauser said as he walked towards the car, inspecting the damage. The fender was smashed pretty bad but it looked as though all the armor had protected the engine and essential systems. There was at least that going for them. "Good news is that it looks like the cruiser is good enough to drive. Bad news is that adds more to the paperwork."

Van Hauser paused and looked at her for a moment and really considered her looks for a second then said, "I need to go talk to the arresting officers to get a report number to attach our stuff to. Looks like your first time in the Rat's Nest might involve a lot of time filling out forms." He joked. "Feel free to check the car, I should just be a second..."

That said, Van Hauser walked off to deal with business with the other officers. There was only a little chit chat as the ork found himself wanting to get back to the rookie. A few minutes later he came back to the car and sighed, "Technically we have to finish our shift out here. However, we can go park somewhere and use our tablets to get as much paperwork done until it's time to call it a day. How's that sound?"
 
"Good car" Sara tapped the messed up part as Van Hauser assessed the damages. It had absorbed enough of the impact to prevent the van from running them over, so a small, or perhaps not so small, bump on the side of it was just a minor issue that could be fixed if you looked at it that way. "Oh, sure, I'll check it" Sara assured, sliding into the driver's seat while Van Hauser stepped away. The car did start after a couple of attempts, probably due to her being unfamiliar with the model, and the direction seemed to answer properly to the wheel. Perhaps it had some quirk, and it would have to get a look to make sure it wasn't leaking anything below, but it seemed fine enough to get them back home.

"My tour around Rat's Nest got interrupted, so take your pick for a parking spot" Sara said, scooting over to the passenger seat, her smaller size and limber body allowing her to do it despite the gear. "I'll end up bored by the end, but after a shootout and being almost crushed by a van I welcome..." Sara sounded distracted, looking at the smashed van and the officers around it. "You fired at the driver and I shot the tires... did I kill the one riding back? Or was it you?" she muttered. "I've never killed anyone..." Sara whispered before being silent, the reality of the moment slowly dawning on her. It wasn't yet a direct kill, face to face, but something that came as a result of a brief and hectic shootout, but it was still an odd idea to wrap her mind around.

"Yeah, lets just park somewhere and do the paperwork so we can go home" Sara said, monotone.
 
Van Hauser nodded and got into the damaged cruiser before answering Sarah's questions. She had asked about who had killed who and he knew that it was heavy. Her first day on the job she had to discharge her weapon. There were people with contracts in other places that might go half a career without ever getting into a shoot out. They were lucky slobs but those who worked any contract in Seattle knew that things were just different there. No one went a career without shooting their weapon. This was worse than the wild west.

Once she had settled in he turned to Sarah and said, "Look kid...don't count bodies. You'll drive yourself crazy thinking about it so it's just better not to think about it beyond what you have to. For the record, you didn't kill anyone today as far as the report, Lone Star, and the rest of the world is concerned. I killed the passenger...Just understand that YOU have to go home to your husband at the end of the night. Period. If they're dumb enough to shoot at you or try to kill you...then they have to pay that price."

Van Hauser started the cruiser and drove away, giving a friendly wave to the other officers as they left. Going home at the end of watch was what was most important. It was a mantra for Seattle Lone Star.

A few minutes later they pulled into a little out of the way place and Van Hauser felt like they could realistically work on their paperwork in peace. The forms were all digital but everyone still called it paperwork none the less. They would have at least a few hours of typing up what had happened and how it had been handled. Why the made the decisions they made and what materials had been used. It was mostly so that Lone Star could reduce liability and so that Lone Star could bill the government for services rendered. The good news was that they didn't have to fill out the primary report. That was for the suckers back at the crime scene who had chased the bad guys into their zone. Van Hauser spent some time explaining that part of the documentation as they filled it out together.

When that was done their shift was pretty much over. "Guess we'll head back." He said, looking at the human for a second or two. "Hey uh..." Van Hauser wasn't the best at giving compliments, he always felt awkward. "Good job today, rook. You handled it well and you're going home in one piece. Keep this up and you'll have a happy career." Starting the cruiser up and spoke again, this time without looking at her and said, "And if you tell anyone I complimented you on your first day I'll make you do a foot patrol here in the Rat's Nest."
 
Sara looked at Van Hauser empty eyed, his speech taking some time to sink in. Of course he wanted to shoulder all guilt, all responsibility. It was nice that the one showing her the ropes worried about her, and even if with rough edges it was also endearing to see him have a softer side, an evidence of sorts showing that the job hadn't killed his spirit. But Sara was a bit tired of being cared about, being worried about. Of course she thanked the support, but she could be the strong one, the brave one. The one who cared, who worried.

Once Van Hauser stopped the patrol car, Sara had mostly come to terms with it, even if the fact would chase her dreams for a few days. "No" she just muttered out of the blue. "It's fine, if I made the van lose control, I killed the passenger" voicing it was a bit strange. "It's part of the job and their fault, so fuck them" she said, venting. "You are right on one thing, what counts is going home" she said, although it would be weird talking about it to him. How was she going to talk about it? How was the topic of being almost run over after shooting some punk's van tire off brought out during dinner? She couldn't think about that in the moment, as there was still work to do, even if it was welcomingly boring one.

Taking refuge in formalities and bureaucracy, Sara spent the rest of the time getting taught how to fill the reports, a most welcome lull after what happened. It took a while, as all paperwork did, but when it was over it was really over and she could get back home. It was an odd feeling, because she really wanted to, go back to her old normal for a while, but she was also kind of eager to return to work tomorrow. She didn't have nothing to prove, but she wanted to show Van Haused that she wasn't just a green rookie that lost the color of her face over killing a punk.

"Ah, thank you David" Sara said distracted, calling him by his name for the first time without thinking, glad that he complimented her work. "We are going home..." she added wishfully, stifling a small laugh when he threatened her to patrol the Nest on foot. "I won't tell anyone, it can be our secret" she said, getting her helmet off while leaving the Rat's Nest. Without the helmet it showed how much of a toll the moment had taken on her, the green eyes looking a bit vacant, but she was strong, she would be fine the next day, even if at the moment her red hair only made the palor of her face show even more.

Soon those same pale features were a blank canvas for the city lights to paint on as the night started to settle. A flickering rainbow neon of colors reflected on Sara as David drove them to the station. Outside the city was noise, bustle and danger. Corporate sharks and ruthless runners doing business, everything was on sale if you knew the correct answer and could pay the price. That busted patrol was the line of defense against many of those things, but they were also a part of the system, of the chain of money going around. At least inside the car there was peace and the comfortable feeling of doing the right things for the sake of other people and themselves.
 
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