"It's a better idea than going to prison, where there's sure to be people who don't like you, compared to me, who hasn't decided if she's a person who doesn't like you." she chuckles.
"And besides, are you really that much into spite that you'll refuse the help of someone who has no real reasons to judge you yet?"
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He paused a moment, pretending to consider the offer. “Mhm. Okay. So give up my freedom to go into hiding with someone I barely know. What a fantastic offer.” He chuckled and pulled his fedora down further over his face. “Darling, do me a favor, and mind your own business. Don’t go around worrying about random men you find on the street, alright? I’ll be fine.”
Charlie nods.
"Yup!" she nods.
"Oh dear god. . . I know what this is now. It's your fragile, stupid male ego, isn't it? You don't like that a girl came in and saved you." she snorts.
“Oh, good gracious. This has nothing to do with you being a girl, love, or my ego. This has to do with me doing what’s best for me and what’s best for you. And that decision involves choosing not to involve myself with someone I just met.” He tipped his hat at her. “Have a nice night, sweetheart.”
"Mm. Sure. Well, stop thinking about what's best for me, and actually consider accepting my help. Take a risk every once in a while. Even if you don't accept my help, I can just follow you. Or if I lose you, I can track you down. After all, my work can very easily be moved elsewhere." she shrugs.
He grinned. “Well, I find it very flattering that you find me so charming, but I’m afraid what you’re planning on doing is called stalking, sweetheart. And I’ll be sure to alert the authorities if I catch you anywhere near my house.”
Charlie snorts and looks back at the prone bodies in the street.
"I don't, actually. And as for alerting the authorities? Many people have, but I'm very knowledgable about escape routes in this city."
“Mm, sure, you are, love. And how do I know that, if I did go insane and agree to this ridiculous deal, you wouldn’t kill me? After all, you did just murder… what? Four men?”
"I don't kill. Sure, I may have hit all of them in some area of the crotch, but that doesn't mean they're dead, their souls have just temporarily migrated to a higher plane of existance while their genitals try and perceive just how much pain they're in." Charlie snickers.
“Hm. Well, you better get out of here before they come back to reality and find us here. Sound good?”
"Maybe you should follow me." Charlie shrugs. "After all, you're not really being left with much choice. I did just take out a group of men bigger and heavier than me by nearly a foot and 200 pounds. You really think I couldn't just kidnap you? I'm offering you safety by your own choice. But I'm just as willing to give you safety forcefully."
“My question is why would you even want to kidnap me? I serve no purpose to you. I’m just a man with a big ego, remember?”
Charlie pauses.
"I get the feeling you're more than that, though. You can be a man with a big ego and still be just useful enough to offset that." she eventually replies.
He snorted. “Look, lady, I’m not being your tool. You can try to kidnap me. I don’t care. But there’s no way I’m willingly going with you to who knows where.”
Charlie sighs and shrugs.
"Suit yourself." she replies.
One foot to the groin and an elbow to the temple later, and the man was out cold.
She grabs the body and slings it over her shoulders, jogging away with it, returning to her baloon.
He woke up a few hours later and stared blankly at the ceiling of the room he was in. He almost laughed despite himself. He was the head of a gang, the ruler of a city depending on who you asked, and yet he could be defeated as easily as any other man.
He groaned and ran a hand down his face. “My throat’s dry. Someone better get me water, or I’ll blow off the heads of everyone in this stupid joint.”
Sadly, there's nobody else around to blow the head off of - not even Charlie.
If McKay were to try and escape, he'd find himself incapable of doing so.
“Good gracious, I hate everything.”
He sat up, and all his joins spontaneously groaned in complaint. Despite the pain he felt coursing through his limbs, he leaned against the wall and began working to unlock the chains bounding his wrists to the wall. Child’s play. This was all child’s play.
As soon as McKay starts trying to escape, an electrical shock strong enough to make him start to make an audible buzzing noise as the current runs through him emanates from the chains.
It shuts off a second later.
He clenched his jaw as he felt the shock and eventually gave up, leaning back against the wall behind him. Great. Just great. First he was just enjoying a night around town, stealing a few things here and there, and now he was a prisoner in the home of a girl he met only an hour or two ago.
After a while, Charlie shows back up.
She nods in approval, seeing the man was still there.
"Good evening!" she says cheerfully, unlocking the chains.
“Oh, yeah. Great evening.” He rolled his eyes as he began to rub his sore wrists. “Easy for you to say. You weren’t kidnapped.”
"Mm. . . don't think of it as kidnapping. Just think of it as. . . relocation. Forceful, sure, but it helps." Charlie chuckles.
“I still don’t understand why you went through all this trouble to kidnap me. I’m some guy from off the streets.”
"Well, those men were after you for a reason. You're a murderer, a theif, a gang leader, or some other flavor of undesirable. And for someone like me, having you around would help, and for you, having the Fixer around would definitely get you more allies." Charlie shrugs.
“The Fixer?” He snorted. “That’s not a cringy name at all. I wouldn't dare to tell you my gang name, dear, because I’m afraid it would say a lot about me as a person.”
"Hey, I didn't choose the name. I got it because I've fixed every single notable - and unnotable - balloon in this city. And some other things. Like aversions to breathing, or having any will to live." Charlie shrugs.
“So… you’re not a gang member?” He frowned. “I’m not good at fixing balloons, lady. I don’t even like heights.”
"Lord, no! If I was a gang member, my sisters would kill me. And my brothers. And my mother. And father." she snorts.
"Mmmm. . . I don't need you for that sort of fixing. I need you for behavioural fixing. Correcting bad attitudes." she hums.
“Aw, you want to fix my bad attitudes? Good luck with that.” He snorted. “I’m not interested.”