Title: Life and Limb
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 1400 words
Content notes: Injured animal
Author notes: I think! This is how Ascot and Caldina meet in the spies!au of loosely connected snippets.
Summary: "Don't get closer," he ordered, keeping his voice low and steady. "You'll scare her. And what's bravery got to do with anything?"


oOo


"Well, aren't you brave?"

Ascot looked up from where he'd been holding out the end of a sausage to a dog which was cowering behind the dumpster at this far end of the alley from the fancy restaurant he'd nicked the sausage from. The dog's steady growl had covered the sound of the woman walking up - she'd stopped far enough away she hadn't scared the dog, fortunately, but he didn't trust anyone wearing that that much sparkly, fancy shit to have any sense whatsoever.

Besides, what the hell was someone who looked like she should be eating in that fancy restaurant doing in this alley, watching him?

He'd have run, but the dog wasn't in good shape, and he was going to leave her unless he had to. She looked like she'd been hit by a car.

"Don't get closer," he ordered, keeping his voice low and steady. "You'll scare her. And what's bravery got to do with anything?"

With an amused huff, the woman stuck out one hand - one hand with enough diamonds on it they flashed even in this shit light - and waved a hand at him. "You aren't afraid the dog is going to hurt you?"

"It'll be my fault if she does." He shrugged, but apparently his looking to the side and talking to someone else was calming - the low growl was turning into a whimper. "She's someone's pet who got out and got lost and got hurt. She ain't gonna survive if I leave her here. So, you go back that way and get lost, lady."

"Sweet story, kid, but there's one problem - this alley's my getaway route, and I need to use it before anyone back there realises they're missing something." She shook her hand at him again, and he blinked at the repeated diamond glittering.

"Oh. You're a thief."

"Sure, honey. And right now, I need to go that way." She pointed to the end of the alley beyond him, where a tiny gap led onto a busy shopping street. "Just let me walk around you, that's all."

"You'll scare her, and she'll run back out of here and probably straight into the road," Ascot said, urgently. "Or she'll hurt you - and I guess maybe me too - trying to get away! You can't!"

Both hands went on her hips now, and the woman's voice went flat. "Kid, that dog needs a vet, from what I can see, and probably an operation to set that leg, and that means anesthetic. That's always safest without food in the stomach, and how're you going to pay for the emergency treatment?"

Ascot swallowed, the hand holding the sausage pulling back, the dog's little whimpers tugging at his heart. "I- she's got owners. If I can just get her to the vet-"

"And if they don't have the money to pay?"

Leaning back, Ascot glared at her hard as he could. "I'm not giving up on her just 'cause of any maybes! Or because she's not convenient for your law-breaking!"

For a long moment, silence filled the alley, bracketed at both ends by the sounds of the roads. Then the woman snorted, shaking her head.

"Okay, kid. If we work together and get me out the alley without startling her, I'll get it sorted, okay?"

"...What?"

"The vet. I'll take care of it - any of the baubles I've lifted tonight should cover it. And I'm good at getting people to trust me - I'm sure it can work on dogs, too."

She wasn't going away - not the way he wanted her to - and she was only going to cause trouble if he didn't let her through. He didn't believe she actually meant to help, but he looked at the dog, and her, and sighed.

It took two tense minutes, but he moved out of the way and watched anxiously as she spoke softly, and moved surprisingly gracefully, given the heights of the heels on the boots she wore.

However she managed it, she did - she vanished out the end of the alley with a nonchalant wave, and Ascot went back to trying to calm the poor injured dog enough he could get closer and see the extent of the injuries. Before a bunch of cops came looking for a thief.

He wasn't expecting to hear that voice back again with a different accent to the one she'd used on him - and a different outfit, too, or at least a different coat on top.

"She's down here!" the woman said, voice full of worry - enough the dog's head came up. "Poor thing - my brother, Gerald, he stopped while I tried to find the closest vet who was still open - oh, you will help her, won't you?"

"We'll do our best, ma'am." A guy carrying a hefty case was with her and headed towards Ascot

Ascot raised a hand, uncertain, and the dog whined again, creeping closer to him as the vet - because this guy looked like a vet as he got closer, he had a name badge on and all - came to crouch by them.

"Hi, Gerald," the vet said, and it took Ascot a moment to realise that meant him. "I'm Daniel. Your sister says you heard this dog from the street?"

"Saw her tail as she limped down here," Ascot said, gruffly, voice getting rough as the vet turned a torch toward the dog - the fur matted with blood down her flank, the leg at a bad angle. She was a golden retriever, by the look of her, and turned those big brown eyes upon them both, growling softly at the same time as she tried to wag her tail.

It was the tail wag that made Ascot sit back. This guy was probably decent if she trusted him.

The vet was talking softly to the dog, and turning his torch on his bag.

Five minutes later, the vet was carrying the dog out of the alley, sedated now, while Ascot followed with his bag - and, much to his surprise, the thief followed along with him.

"What're you still doing here?" he muttered, as they headed along the high street - the vet was apparently just at the end of the road. "Don't you have a getaway to get to?"

"Well, who is going to start looking for a thief sat at the back of a vet's place, waiting to hear about a dog they brought in?" She grinned at him. "They think I'm Kathrine, by the way. I pawned one of the broaches, I've got cash to cover whatever she needs."

"Why?"

"Dunno." She shrugged. "I like you, kid. And I've got this job coming up where I could use a second pair of hands. Yours look steady enough - want to learn how to get rich folks to donate their goods to us?"

Ascot flushed. He knew he looked like he'd been sleeping rough - he hadn't made it to any of the public showers in a while, and his clothes were only passable because they were mostly mud-coloured anyway. "I'm not a pity case," he muttered. "Don't need a handout. Just don't want to go to jail."

He had broken a few too many laws in the last few years, and he didn't fancy finding out what would happen if he got picked up by the authorities.

"Oh, trust me, you'll earn every penny if you decide to join in." She stopped at the door to the vets, and dropped both the accent and the smile. "Think about it, while we wait to find out about the dog, okay?"

He looked at her - really looked, and she was younger than he thought. Older than he was, but…

She'd found a vet.

"What's your name? Not Kathrine - the real one?"

Beaming at him she patted him on the shoulder. "I'm Caldina. You?"

"...Ascot."

"Pleased to meet you, Ascot! Now come on - there's a drinks machine in here that does coffee or hot chocolate. I bet they both taste the same. Wanna find out?"

He nodded and followed her in. And if anyone looked sideways at 'Kathrine' and her brother 'Gerald', who looked nothing alike and like several million pounds should separate them from ever meeting - well, it was a vet's, and they were paying for a dog to get emergency treatment. No one said a word to them.