Schroedinger's Jackson

Posted on Wed Jul 25th, 2012 @ 2:13pm by Jackson Banning V & Cassidy Wilde & Lieutenant Zachary Chase

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: Archadia III

The building was a typical, industrial warehouse - crates of goods were stacked along the walls and in rows. Some stacks had just one crate; others nearly reached the high, uninsulated ceiling. Along one wall was a row of doors. One led to a cold storage room; another to an office, piled high with paper records of what was in each crate - both the crates that were currently in the warehouse and the crates that had once passed through the warehouse. Between the office door and a third door, there was a small table and two uncomfortable plastic chairs. One chair was occupied and the table held a solitary game of cards.

Behind that third door, in a dimly lit, windowless room, lay three bodies. One was just starting to smell - the dead man had, after all, lost control of his bowels when he’d died so suddenly and violently; another was unconscious and bleeding from wounds. The third, a female, was just starting to revive from a shock she’d taken earlier.

Laying on the hard, cold floor, Cassidy’s consciousness returned as if someone dropped her. She jerked slightly, a holdover memory from from her last waking moment of the chaos that had broken out and then the brief, but sudden pain that had hit her just as she’d turned and seen Chase bearing down on her. After that? Everything had gone black.What the hell had happened?

Remaining still, she took stock of how she felt and her surroundings. Her body was slightly sore from getting zapped and stiff from being on the floor. Why was she on the floor? Cracking her eyelids open enough to peek through her lashes, she saw the underside of a table a few feet away. It was fairly dark. Several smells hit her at once. A mustiness she associated with old buildings or storage rooms, a rather foul smell that was way worse than anything Iggy had produced from having consumed beer and cockroaches...it was more...fresh in nature. The other odor was the unmistakable coppery metallic tang of blood.

Pushing herself up, Cass glanced around. Even in the dark, she couldn’t miss the bright print of Jackson’s shirt as she spotted him on the floor. “No!” The word came out as a desperate whisper. Shock and fear slammed into her. Scrambling over to him on her hands and knees, she reached out shaking hands and carefully rolled him onto his back. Immediately she saw the blood. Her heart ceased to beat for what felt like an eternity before picking up a mad gallop in her chest. He couldn’t be...

Reaching over, she pressed her fingers to his neck, praying she’d feel a pulse. Finding what she was looking for, Cassidy choked back a soft cry of relief. Now wasn’t the time to lose her head and get hysterical. She needed to see how badly wounded Jackson was, but a glance over at where Chase lay prone on the floor reminded her to be cautious. Better to be safe than sorry.

Standing, she approached slowly, giving Zach a wide berth and staying out of reach, but once she got closer, the blast mark on his back seemed a pretty good indicator Mr. Chase would not be giving her problems anymore. Still, didn’t the bad guys always jump up or come back at least once when it appeared they were dead? They did in books, old horror movies and holofilms. Berating herself for being stupid at a time like this, she knelt down and tentatively checked for a pulse. Nothing. Leaning closer, she tried to check his pupils, but it was dark enough in the room that it made it hard to tell. The vacant, empty stare should be evidence enough, but she wanted to be sure. What to do? Biting her lip, she tapped a fingertip directly on his eyeball. It was a trick she remembered seeing a veterinarian use when he’d put a horse down at the Kentucky Horse Trials once after it had broken its leg misjudging a solid fence. There was no reaction from the security officer. Oh yeah, he was a goner.

Moving closer and trying to ignore the smell rising from the dead man, Cassidy searched his pockets for anything that might be useful. Her eyes widened when her fingers closed around something small and hard. Very carefully, she pulled it out and looked down at it. As soon as she saw it, she knew it was what he’d used on her. A small taser/stun gun. Score! He didn’t really have anything else on him, except a few tiny vials of some sort of liquid. Unscrewing the caps, she carefully smelled them, but they were odorless...unlike the recently departed stiff in front of her. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she closed the vials and put them aside. The last thing she took from from Zach was his belt. It might come in handy.

“Poor Mr. Chase, karma’s a fucking bitch, isn’t she?” She didn’t have one iota of sympathy for him.

Taking the stun gun and the rest of the things she pilfered off of Chase, she moved back to where Jackson was and looked down at him. He still hadn’t come around. That had her worried. So did the blood on his shirt.

“Time to see what’s under the hood.” It wasn’t like she hadn’t already seen him shirtless, but she spoke in case he could hear her and it kept her hands steady as she unbuttoned his shirt. Pushing the fabric off as far as she could, Cassidy gasped. He’d been shot twice. Once on the upper right side of his chest and a few inches over, on the muscled part of his shoulder.

“Oh Jackson...honey, what did they do to you?” Cursing under her breath, she leaned close and inspected the wounds. The smell of burnt flesh and blood assailed her sensitive nose. Around the outer edge of both wound sites, the skin was charred, blood seeping from them slowly, but steadily. Judging from the amount on his shirt and the rate it flowed, he couldn’t have been shot too long ago. He should have lost more blood, but if the charred tissue was any indicator, she’d venture a guess that part of the wound must be cauterized.

Moving on from there, she checked for other injuries. After a few minutes, she was satisfied the two deep wounds were the only ones bleeding. Driven to action, Cass got up and started searching around the room for anything she could use to stop the bleeding. Her efforts were rewarded with an older, but serviceable first aid kit. Pausing near the door, she took a deep breath and lowered her mental blocks. Reaching out, she detected one person just outside the room. Hopefully, he’d stay out there for now.

Returning to Jackson’s side, she opened up the first aid kit and dug through it. “Dammit,” she grumbled under her breath. No dermal regenerator. Just the bare bones basics. Some bandages, ointments and a can of...could it be? Holding it up in the dim light so she could see it better, the long nozzle on the can, along with the images on the side, told her she’d struck paydirt. Elastopolymer foam wound dressing. It was an antiseptic, mild pain relieving analgesic and wound packing/dressing all in one. The foam, when injected into penetrating type wounds, such as punctures, bullet or stab wounds, expanded and applied much needed pressure to slow and/or stop bleeding. It was just what she needed for him.

Shaking the can, she was kind of glad he was still out cold. It wasn’t going to feel good when she injected this stuff into his wounds. As carefully as she could, she guided the tip of the nozzle into the worst one, the one on his chest.

“I’m sorry Jackson...this is gonna hurt like hell,” she whispered, her gaze flicked to his face for a second before she pushed the button and shot foam into his wound.

Deep down in wherever Jackson’s mind lingered, his body felt what amounted to a blazing inferno in his chest and suggested to his blacked-out brain that he wake his ass up. Now. He didn’t move but a stream of slurred curses slipped from his lips. Everything was still dark, however.

“Where the fuck am I?”

Cassidy blinked. “Fuck if I know. Hell?” She was a little too out of her element to care about manners or language at the moment. “Hold still, I’ve got one more to go,” she murmured, moving to the wound on his shoulder.

“I hadda wake up now,” Jackson mumbled. Then through gritted teeth he spoke again. “Go ahead.”

Nodding, she inserted the nozzle and filled the hole with the elastic foam as fast as it would come out of the can. “All done.”

“Isn’t that what they said to Louis XVI after the blade fell?” He gave a short, hoarse laugh. “I bet he felt better than I do right now, though.”

“Very funny, Jackson. Good ol’ Louis didn’t feel anythin’ afterwards because he was dead,” she shot back keeping her voice low. “Thankfully, yore head is still firmly attached to yore body.” She was silent for a second. “You were shot, twice. Yer lucky to still be alive.”

“Shot?? By who? And what -- Where’s Zach? And what is that smell?”

“Yeah, shot. Unless ya think that fire in yore chest and shoulder is normal. I don’t know who did it.” At the mention of the security guard, Cass made a face. “Zach is over there...as for that smell? Umm...that would also be Zach. He’s dead.”

“Dead.” Jackson repeated her slowly as if he had trouble understanding the word. “What the hell is goin’ on Cass? He was supposed to be bringin’ me here to see you, though he was mum about why you were here, then said I was bein’ kidnapped, then....nothing after that.”

“Did it strike ya as odd that he knew where I was, but wouldn’t tell ya why I was here?” Frowning, she reached over and scooped up the items she’d taken off of Chase. “I’m here because he brought me here after he zapped the ever lovin’ hell outta me with this.” She held up the taser. “He kidnapped me, Jackson...and then he used me as bait to get you here.”

“So what’s he want with us?” Jackson attempted to sit up but up on that idea immediately. His breath came in short gasps as he lay back on the floor.

Immediately concerned, Cassidy moved closer. “Lie still. Lemme check somethin’.” Pushing her long hair back, she leaned over and put her ear against his bare chest on the right side. Looking up at him, she listened. “Easy, darlin’.” Grumbling under her breath for a second, she shut up and tried to listen for anything unusual. Pops, crackles or wheezes would be seriously bad news for him. She whispered a prayer that his lung hadn’t been compromised and that it was just pain that stole his breath.

“Not like I”m goin’ anywhere fast. I take it we’re stuck in here with the catch of the day?”

Sitting up, she looked down at him and frowned. Was he still drunk? Most likely. Getting shot didn’t affect a person’s blood alcohol level. “For the moment we are, but I don’t plan on gracin’ them with our presence for long,” she muttered, a determined edge to her voice as she spoke. “It’s my fault yer in here...” She was quiet for the span of several heartbeats. “...so I’m gonna get ya out.”

“How ya figure that one, Cass?” He watched her face a moment but his eyes were unfocused. “As I recall it, Chase is the reason we’re here.”

Sighing, she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. “Because if I had been payin’ attention...if I had just trusted my instincts, I woulda known sooner that he was up ta no good.” She cursed under her breath. “I shoulda known better. He wanted me to chug down my drink too badly...and now I know why.” Picking up the vials she had found, she showed them to him. “I started feelin’ a little odd after ya left the table, but I wasn’t sure. I’m almost positive he put somethin’ in our drinks.”

“Well, don’t look like he’ll be talkin’ now, does it?” Jackson closed his eyes, trying to draw in another deep breath. He wasn’t successful. “Well...look at it this way. They’ll figure out soon enough that somethin’s wrong and start lookin’.” His voice faded to a whisper.

“Jackson?” Worried, Cassidy leaned down close to his face, cupping his cheek. “I shoulda taken the chance when I had it this afternoon. I know my timin’ sucks, but right now...where we are sucks more.” She brushed her fingertips over his temple. “I should have told you how I feel about you. I should have kissed you when you said you were the sweetest sugar ever discovered.” Too little, too late if they couldn’t get out of here. With nothing to lose, she told him how she felt.

“I love you Jackson. I know I shouldn’t because it’s not what you want, but I do.” Closing the small distance between them, she kissed him, wishing more than anything she could trade places with him. His lips remained still against hers. Warm, but unresponsive. “Don’t you dare die on me, Jackson Banning...or I swear to God and all his saints above, I will drag you kickin’ and screamin’ back from death itself just to kick your fucking ass!”

A hint of a smile tugged at his lips, then vanished. “Bossy....woman....” His voice was little more than a faint breath at her ear. “I need to......” But whatever he’d been about to share was not to come for now. He fell silent and the weak pressure on her other hand vanished as his own went limp.

*********I
Jackson Banning V
Owner & Swiss Cheese


Cassidy Wilde
Hostess & Pouring Her Heart Out
The Nexus Club

Zachary Chase
Recently Departed From This Life & Odorific Dead Guy