A/N: I couldn't have presented this to you without JohnEB87's tireless help. And with the previous chapter. Thank him for me by reading casting his stories a vote. Thanks, and enjoy.
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In the far corner of a Kroger parking lot, two Special Divisions agents threw fists at each other in the dim area beneath a broken light pole. One of them stood above the other, who was on the ground, and waited his counterpart to get to his feet again.
"Get up," Tom growled, waving his hand toward himself in the 'bring it' gesture. Slowly, Cherry Dubant rose to his feet and put his fists up, his left eye swollen shut and his face bruised and bleeding. The two stared each other down for a long, tense moment before Tom threw a hard left hook to the ribs, causing Cherry to stagger backwards and lower his fists for a moment. Tom stepped on his foot and shouldered the agent backwards. Unable to catch himself from falling, Cherry hit the ground hard and kicked Tom in the side.
Tom managed to shake the blow off with some difficulty, and turned again to face Cherry.
"Get up," he repeated, waiting for the agent to stand before tensing his body again.
"Enough kid," Cherry pleaded, panting and wheezing noisily.
"You put me in danger for no fucking reason except for carelessness. I've seen how the mailing center works. Nobody just slips up. You have to really fuck up to mess up anything. Now get the fuck up and fight me."
"No!" Cherry shouted. "No I'm done! I'm sorry for my mistake, okay? I don't know how you found me but I'm not taking this crap anymore. Just fucking leave!" The agent put his arms back and propped himself upright, breathing heavily and bleeding.
Tom ran his hand through his hair and sighed in frustration. "Fine. I'm running inside to get some stuff. If you want anything for your face or anything, tell me now."
"What?" Cherry asked as Tom turned to go into Kroger.
"I'm getting some stuff for myself. If you want anything, tell me now before I leave you here on your own."
"Neosporin, bandaids...uh, hydrogen peroxide, a bag of ice, bandages? Gauze? Asprin?" the agent said, trying to think fast as Tom walked away.
"I'll be out in ten minutes," Tom replied. He walked into Kroger and walked around to find all the things he needed, buying two of everything and heading to the self-checkout to avoid any unnecessary conversation with any of the employees. He could tell that his eye was bruising already and his split lip was going to need stitches and something in his ribcage was messed up.
The machine he was at said that it couldn't give him change and that he needed to see an attendant to get it. He looked at the blue-vested girl standing at the register not far away and she looked at him, clearly interested in what had happened to him. Tom walked over to her and she punched a few buttons on the screen.
"Are you okay?" she asked as he waited for her to count out his change.
"I'm fine. How much is the ice in the freezer right there?" he asked, pointing to the large freezer with sacks of ice sitting in it.
"I can find out real-"
Tom cut her off. "I don't care. Just ring it up and pocket the change," he said tiredly, grabbing a bag of ice and leaving the store without a second look at anyone else inside it. In the parking lot, Cherry had gotten to his feet and was waiting against his car.
Tom emptied the plastic bag of its contents on the hood of Cherry's car and ripped open the bag of ice, pouring as many chunks of ice into the plastic bag as he could and tying it closed. He handed the bag to Cherry, who put it against his eye gingerly.
"I don't get it," Cherry said after a short while of neither of them doing anything but standing against the car with ice against their faces. "Why would you come here to fight and then get all this stuff after it's over and give it to me?"
Tom turned his head and answered, "Because I did what I came here to do."
Cherry rolled his eyes. "And what exactly was that?"
"Beat you into submission and make you apologize for putting me in a world of hurt," Tom replied without missing a beat.
"That still doesn't explain why you went inside and got all this for me," said Cherry, popping two Advil and some ice into his mouth.
"I'm not heartless. I've been beaten to a pulp by Big John enough times that I know a fight doesn't end when the punches stop being thrown. The aftermath hurts for days. And a lot longer if you don't do anything about it right afterward. We're even now, Cherry."
After that, the two agents patched themselves up and Tom gathered the things he'd bought for himself, made sure Cherry was able to drive home, and went to the hospital to test out the godly healthcare he could get by having the nurse at the desk call one number and look at his insurance card.
In two minutes, Tom was being looked at by a doctor and already scheduled to have his lip stitched up and his ribs looked at. They put him in a room and had a nurse check in on him every half hour or so.
After a few hours, he got his lip sewn up and his other issues looked at. He had three bruised ribs and a minor concussion, but other than that he'd escaped with mostly superficial, albeit painful injuries. The morphine drip helped him sleep off the worst of the stinging pain and the nurse was kind enough to listen to his request and press the drip for him while he was asleep.
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The next morning, Tom awoke to a visitor sitting beside him in one of the room's chairs. He knew who it was without having to look, her scent very clear to Tom already.
"Ceria," he said.