9614/Just another Shot

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Just another Shot
Date of Scene: 16 October 2019
Location: Midtown, New York
Synopsis: Punisher deals with with local trash in the middle of his other campaigns. In his escape, two friendlies approach with offers of help, in their own ways, with a cat watching. Yes, a cat.
Cast of Characters: Punisher, Morrigan MacIntyre, Ivory, Samuel Morgan




Punisher has posed:
It's been a while since anyone's heard anything about the Punisher. A month ago, there was a manhunt for him along the coast that turned up empty, except for a couple beat cops put in the hospital with minor injuries. Only a select few would have any new information beyond that at this point.

So when bystanders outside the four story apartment complex in midtown suddenly hear a window breaking and a white male in casual clothing screaming just before he lands against the concrete pavement in a heap, it's a bit of a break in the routine.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan was running a few errands, not out of the ordinary for the Doctor. She'd gotten a call from a colleague that left her heading to Mount Sinai's midtown location, another thing that was not out of the ordinary. She's sipping a coffee as she goes because it's getting a bit chilly outside already. What is out of the ordinary is the sound of glass breaking and the solid thunk of a body hitting the ground.

The redhead didn't see it, but she was heading that way anyways as people are starting to try to see what is going on.

Ivory has posed:
Ivory was out in NY on foot, having chosen girl shoes for the night, and not only that, pretty much a girly outfit, so not in tune with what they usually wear. A mid-thigh long green tartan skirt, leggings, a white blouse, sportive flats and a jeans jacket. And they have opted to wear earpins for a change: the Hala Star. Officially given to her by the captain herself! Well, as lapel pins, but Ivory turned a pair of them into earpins.

As they stroll along the streets of the big aple, they seem to generally just be out for a good time, even as the weather was getting bad and winter closing in fast. Then... A sound she had thought never to hear again. A shriek followed by a wet thump, combined with cracking of bones. She stops in her tracks, staring at the heap, then looking up. Were the Foot around again?!

Punisher has posed:
The perp is out of sight. For now... maybe it is the Foot?

At least he was, until another body is thrown out the apartment window. This time, people on the street are a bit alert... but there's no sign of who's actually throwing people out the window.

Then, the gunfire starts. Some sort of semi-automatic gun starts to fire up there, on the second story.

Guns probably mean it isn't the Foot clan. This time.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan's about ten feet from the group of people that started gathering when the next body goes flying out the window and she reaches forward to pull a lady out of the way of the corpse.

When the gunfire starts, she looks a bit concerned, "Get off the street!" she hisses to those standing around. Not wanting to see anyone shot. She herself ducks out of the way for the moment, not wanting to get caught by a stray bullet.

Ivory has posed:
Ivory starts to look for cover as the second body drop and soon gunfire starts, she dashes do the closest cover, hunkering down. It's a large wastebin she has chosen, squeezing herself into a corner to try not to be seen. The silly thing is, it's pretty much under the building that the people came flying out...

Punisher has posed:
The gunfire lasts about twenty seconds, before it stops.

About ten seconds later, and another window breaks, this time in the alleyway.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan doesn't see anymore bodies dropping...and she doesn't hear anyone else threatening to go in. The woman gives a look to her watch, "Fuck it." she mutters. Then she hears a window break, but it's not in the front of the building.

The redhead sneaks along the wall and then heads down towards the alley and the sound where the last window broke. Apparently there is no fear...or she's making sure others were not hurt.

Ivory has posed:
    Ivory meanwhile shivers. Crazy. Automatic weapons? Bodies thrown out? That was SO not their stuff. Neither of them liked it. And hiding... they could hide even better.

A couple moments later, the shivering girl was gone. Instead, a white persian cat was sneaking out from the corner of the junk container to try to get to the corner of the street. A white cat, picking up blood on the feet as they pass the bleeding bodies. It stops, looking at its feet a couple moments, then dash forward again...

Punisher has posed:
When both Ivory and Morrigan go around the side to the alleyway, they're greeted with... nothing. At least, until they look up.

Up at the second floor of the fire escape is a man in a black trenchcoat, white skull vest, and a gear web harness filled to the brim with gear and weapons. A moment later, and he's over the railing, gripping it, before dropping to the first floor... then down to the ground in a practiced manner.

Morrigan will immediately recognize the Punisher in his 'work' gear. He just did a hit, it seems like.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan stops short after she looks up and sees someone coming down. The white skull on the vest would make other people run, but, she didn't think he had any reason to shoot her at the moment. "Don't think anyone called the cops yet." she mentions as she brings her hands to where they are out in front and she's not armed.

"You got any bullets in you?" the Irish woman asks. Strange question.

Ivory has posed:
    Leaving red footprints, the white cat's paws marred by the liquid lead it to the alleyway, a short moment after Morrigan. The critter gets to a halt and tilts the head a litte, eying the two exchaning a couple words in one direction, sitting down on the hindlegs. A pose so known from an egyptian statue. Watching carefully... and then it lifts the right paw to sniff at the blood left at the foot. Can persian cats wrinkle their foreheads?

Punisher has posed:
When Punisher looks up Morrigan as she comes up to him. There's no recognition in those eyes, but he doesn't immediately go or a weapon. Plenty of civilians around, and this one has her hands up in a show of no hostility.

His trenchcoat flutters in the wind just slightly as he turns to regard Morrigan, "Who wants to know?" Punisher grates out in inquiry.

The cat is ignored, obviously. Cats are cats, and are not threatening to Frank.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan eyes the cat with a bit of an amused look, it was going to get bloody or dirty out here. She then looks back to the man with the skull on his vest. "I'm a Doctor and someone that's benefitted from you being a really good shot before." she tells him. "The name is Morrigan." she adds. "Don't want to try to rope you and turn you over to the police or anything like that. Not my thing." she states.

"And you can absolutely tell me no you don't need help and I will go about my day." she states after a few seconds.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    He shouldn't be wandering around here by himself, especially not at this time of day. Not at all, really, but certainly not this time of day. It's interesting how quickly things came back to him, now that he was loose in an urban environment, with nobody watching over his shoulder. Nobody watching his back either, but that was incidental. What mattered was the mission. The secondary objective had been achieved smoothly, with far less trouble than he had expected. Turns out ATM's are susceptible to his influence, and that was 200 dollars in his pocket. Only two hundred, he didn't want to be greedy.

    The primary objective was still ongoing, making sure that he knew the area, knew the alternative routes and understood the nature of the area they'd be visiting, be that tomorrow or the day after. As much as Sam-Bean wants to trust Andrea's security, there's no substitute for doing the CQR yourself. Dressed in combat boots, cargo slacks, a grey hoodie, cheap denim jacket from the thrift shop and an unadorned black cap to hide his hair, he hopes to be as anonymous as possible. It's very much with the thought of not being caught out or recognised in mind that the kid walks into the mayhem.

    Hoping to just not be associated with whatever's going on that involves two corpses out in the street, he turns into the nearest alley. A wrong turn, it would turn out, because quite aside from a white persian cat, it also happened to contain the Punisher. Crap. "Well shit..."

Punisher has posed:
"I don't hurt innocents if I can help it." Punisher confirms for Morrigan. Anyone who'se been in the crossfire of one of Punisher's missions will know he takes great pains to keep the assholes he's shooting from taking hostages or anything of the sort -as Morrigan can testify for herself- so he simply gives a good once over on Morrigan, "Doc huh. Usually your type doesn't like me. Guess you've got your own code, then."

Then, his attention is on the newcomer... and while Punisher doesn't go for a pistol, Samuel can definitely see the slight frown as he looks in his direction.

For Samuels part, he can see some serious gear on Punisher. Most of it being military grade. There are at least three wireless signals going elsewhere from him too, scrambled.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
"That's what I've gathered." Morrigan gives a bit of a chuckle to that. "Yeah, Doc. Don't really have a problem with what you do. You aren't gunning down innocents. So..." she shrugs. "I'm not a pacifist, but I can't shoot people either." she shakes her head.

Her violet gaze goes to Samuel when Punisher turns his attention to him and the Scottish woman seems to wait to see what is going to happen.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    A shark understands a shark. And really, it was Sam's fault that he was paying attention so much on his surroundings that he was neglecting to scan with the /other/ senses. All training has its limits. It's a mistake he won't make again. The frown is noted. Frank can easily see the newcomer shift his stance ever so slightly, just the angling of the right foot and the shifting of weight. Whoever this is, he's ready to fight if necessary, but is choosing not to start the engagement at this time.

    There's really no great leap of logic required to connect the dots. Two corpses on the street, man in alley with high tech military grade equipment... For his part, Sam doesn't put his hands up. He keeps them visible, but that seems to be just incidental because they weren't in his pockets when he turned into the alley. At the same time, he's not trying to go for a pocket either... hands that have been bandaged, like those of a boxer in training that spent a bit too much energy on the punching bag. "Your handiwork out there, I take it?"

Punisher has posed:
"They were in the way of my real objective." Punisher informs Samuel in that grating tone. "If they're lucky, they might live. I just kicked them both through the window." Punisher glances towards the second floor and headnods in that direction. "I was after a bookie in there. He's... not around anymore, for sure." Punisher looks back to Samuel, and he can see the cold rage in those eyes.

It's very easy to see how the man formerly known as Frank Castle keeps up his war, even after all these years; that rage is so calmly controlled, it's easy to see why the global underworld is so /terrified/ of him.

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan seems to take a step back, so that she isn't between the two men that are in the alley. She gives a look to Samuel, though doesn't know him, or what his story is. There's a look back to the big guy in the vest though, "You good? No bullets or stab wounds?" she chuckles.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Sam looks up there as well, with a half-interested expression, but turning so that he can keep the Punisher in the edge of his vision. No fool, this one.

    "I'm going to guess... up the fire escape, into the back window. Found there was three guys, not one, went in dynamically, took care of the guards. Then... what, double tap to the target, or full Mozambique drill to make sure? Down the internal hallway, through the alley window. I'm guessing you have an eye in the sky warning you about police cars. Not too hard to do if you have the frequency of their trackers."

    The kid looks back, with eyes that are slightly too blue to be natural, but an expression that is devoid of anything of substance. "That's how I would do it, at any rate." With a stolen pistol or a revolver to make the ballistics tests interesting. And he can't help himself... he begins to worm his way into the man's communication equipment, being careful about it, only to hit actual defenses. Impressive. Now he's even more intrigued, but not suicidal... there's a time and place for everything, and this is neither the time nor the place to push his luck. "I suppose you'll want to be going soon then?"

    With the obvious threat out of the way, or at least quantified, Sam gives Morrigan the once-over, a glance from head to toe to see how dangerous she might be.

Punisher has posed:
"Through the roof, actually. They had sentries in the hallways, too much chance of windows limiting mobility. I can just kick in a door." Punisher replies casually to Samuel, like he's talking shop; shop in this case, being assassinations.

Of course, Punisher does assassinsations on a constant basis, he probably has this down to muscle memory by now.

Then, he looks to Morrigan, "They didn't get a chance to shoot me. They're a local group that needed to be dealt with. Bookies are a dime a dozen... but he was something else."

Morrigan MacIntyre has posed:
Morrigan doesn't register on the threat level chart. Not yet anyways! She gives a dip of her head to Samuel, "Hey." she greets. Then she looks back to Frank and there's a nod, "Understood. Umm...guess I better be getting the hell out of dodge then." she nods to that. She pulls something out of her pocket, offering it to the guy with all the military gear, "If you ever get in a bad bind or something and need a doctor." she offers as she turns to head off.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "Make sense. For your build, at least, less for mine. At least for a little while longer." It was, somehow, liberating to talk about these things openly again after years of having to take care not to frighten others. And Sam really would need to think about the realities of growing older and taller, especially how they related to his 'other' skills.

    Morrigan might not register on the threat scale, but she does get Sam's interest when she reveals to be a doctor. "A doc? I'll keep you in mind, I've got your number." The joys of being a technopath. And while he does have medical care available to him, there might come a time he doesn't want to have to explain certain injuries to Chris or Shannon. Nobody needs to know that he's out and about. "Be careful."

Punisher has posed:
The object is examined, and Punisher nods, putting it in a trenchcoat pocket. "I'll take a look." He replies, before he's running to the other end of the alley.

Soon, he turns the corner, out of sight.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Never take your eyes off the prize... As Sam is nodding his goodbye to Morrigan, the Punisher bolts. "Ah dammit!" Within moments he's in pursuit, made easier by the fact that he can still sense the man's electronics. With a signature that unique, he stands out like a neon needle in a particularly barren haystack. It occurs to him that it's no the best idea to go chase an assassin, but it was the first person that actually spoke his language that he'd spoken to in years. Years! His footsteps ring out, secure in the knowledge that he'll know well in advance if the object of his curiosity stops to ambush him, splashing through the alley and around the same corner.

Punisher has posed:
He's actually about to reach for a non-descript van parked perfectly so he can just turn the corner and get into it. There's a sudden frequency burst to Punisher's what Samuel can only guess is his commlink, before Punisher turns around and brings his hand to a pistol on his gear web.

He doesn't shoot when Samuel comes around the corner, but Punisher definitely seems like he's ready to start shooting if he tries anything.

"Somethin' else on your mind, son?" Punisher inquires.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Failure in the calculation: while Sam might know exactly when someone is waiting for him around the corner, it doesn't mean that he's safe if they're far enough away. Guns are a thing, something he mentally reminds himself of as he looks down the alley, perfectly outlined where he stands. If the Punisher were to draw, it'd be almost impossible to miss the teen. "Yeah..."

    He takes a few steps closer, keeping his hands visible with the palms facing front just to be absolutely clear that he intends no violent nonsense. "Two things, actually. Possibly three, but we'll see about the first two. I think the mundanes missed it, but you never actually said what group that bookie was working for. Or why you needed him gone bad enough that you went through a whole building of armed guards just to get to him. Kind of makes me wonder what kind of bookie gets put up in a safehouse like that anyway. As for the second thing... I haven't had a chance to talk to another professional in years. Call it professional curiosity."

Punisher has posed:
"My reasons are my own. Suffice to say he was a problem. Also, he only had the bodyguards. Going through the roof just made my breach easier." Punisher replies. "Professional?"

All around them people are recognizing the Punisher easily from the news photos, and are either running, or steering clear.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Glancing around at the reaction being cause, Sam grimaces for a moment. It's a subject he normally needs time to work up to, but now time is very much of the essence. "I used to be in a similar line of work, a few years back." Which would make him one of the most dangerous kinds of warriors, a child soldier. "Let's say I have reasons to not like what I see around me, and want to even a few scores. A few pretty big scores. If your tech guy is as competent as I think he is, he'll have my picture by now. Tell him not to run it in an open database, or he'll trigger an alert that he doesn't want to trigger. Look... I have a good idea who you are. And if you ever need someone to watch your back, or get you into some place even your guy can't get you into, you'll find me pretty happy to help." It's an evening of helpful offers, it seems, of two very varied natures.

Punisher has posed:
"I go all over the world, kid. Went to Russia to get that asshole Trask back to the US, even." Punisher informs Samuel, "you sure you want to get mixed up in that?"

Ivory has posed:
    At some point, the white cat must have moved. Because where it had been, only set of the smeared bloody footprints remained, the spot otherwise empty. Instead, the white critter - how can such a bright colored creature move so silently unless it was a cat? - had relocated to the entry of the alleyway, stopping there and watching back over the shoulder, occasinally dipping a paw into a murky puddle to get the blood off it had ran through.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    Hah. Setting one foot outside of New York is enough to have Sam dragged back into custody and never see the light of day again. But that's not something he's going to share with the most notorious crime hunter alive. Would give entirely the wrong idea. "Russia's a bit outside of my action radius. But let your tech guy pull up my resume, let me know what you think. And now, I think, I'm going to blow your getaway if I keep you talking. Might want to get going while the going's good."

    And of course, a cat is watching. A cat is always watching...

Punisher has posed:
The cat is given a glance, before Punisher looks back to Samuel, "I'm sure he'll be interested." Punisher grates, before he slaps his fist into the door... and it automatically opens for him. A pressure mechanism, maybe? The whole van /SCREAMS/ military grade technology as it is.

If Samuel didn't know better, he'd probably feel like the inside of that van was some sort of command center or battle tank. The back of the van as it opens certainly confirms the 'command center' part, looking like the inside of a SWAT command center in the back. "I'm sure I'll see you around."

Ivory has posed:
    The hiss of the automatic door opening is answered by a little hiss of the cat, muscles of the small predator tensing. A moment later it catapults forwards, out into the streets. Out into the safety of the city. What did it understand of the woes and fears of human? Oh, this one knew them all, was a human in disguise. Might rat on them some time. That's if there was a chance that people would belive them. But for the moment, the 'cat' had more urgent things to do. Find a spot qute some away and out of sight to turn back human. And not get run over by a speeding car.

Samuel Morgan has posed:
    "One way or another, I'm sure of it." Sam agrees, taking a few steps back into the shadows. He's impressed with the set up, and only when the doors on the van close does he allow some change in his otherwise imperturbable expression. A sigh. Of relief. Of released tension. Of hoping against hope that he didn't mess up his one and only chance to make an impression on the Punisher.

    He might just fail in that now, stooping down to be nose to nose with the white cat he saw earlier. "Who's a good kitty?" There's some kid in him still...

    He watches both the Punisher and the cat leave with a shake of his head. Time to get back to the mission... he dusts off his clothes and turns the corner, away from the crime scene, angling vaguely towards Times Square.