Her nerves were buzzing, and her senses were working overtime, as Ainsley Stewart walked down the streets of Brooklyn next to her partner. Her strides here long, and longer that usual as she had to lengthen them to keep up with her partner; it was unusual when Ainsley had to look up to someone, what with her height being at a neat six foot one. Of all of the children, Ainsley was the only one to inherit Jonathan's stature, and she was taller than any of her older siblings; in fact, she nearly dwarfed poor Isobel, who merely laughed and hugged the 'Jolly Gentle Giantess' as she called Ainsley.
No one in Ainsley's workplace would ever call her gentle. The young Rookie had nerves of steel and a steady hand. She had more 'kills' than anyone else in their graduating class from the Academy, and in fact there was a solid sixteen 'kills' between herself and the next highest score. In her work mindset, Ainsley could be ruthless though it was off-set by her very strong sense of justice. Ainsley loved her work, and loved the sensation of putting the bad guy behind bars.
As Ainsley mused about her career and her family, the radio strapped to her shoulder went off. Most young women of twenty-one might have found themselves jumping; Ainsley did not. Instead, she turned her wary brown eyes to her grey-eyed partner. Officer Michael Schultz was also calm, he touched his radio, and replied that he and the Rookie would be there soon. That was how they communicated- Ainsley called him Officer and he referred to her as Rookie. It was a relationship that worked well for them, and she enjoyed it. He raised an eyebrow in her direction, and she nodded in respose. They'd worked together a total of four hours, but already read each other. They were both quiet and watchful people.
"A robbery." Schultz' soft southern accent cut into the silence. It would normally make Ainsely shudder, but she suppressed the reaction to listen to him. "At a well-to-do store here in Brooklyn. We told 'em not to build here, but I s'pose that they didn't think that they needed to listen to us. Apparently there's been a homicide there- we're supposed to provide security back-up. I hear you're the best markswoman in your class. That true?"
Ainsley didn't answer right away, picking up their speed and checking to make sure that her kevlar vest was secured enough to do it's job, and to make sure that she could pull her piece quickly if she needed to. After trying to decide how to answer her partner, she finally met his relentless gray gaze. "When I shoot someone, they stay down, Schultz."
He paused to consider her soft and carefully spoken words. After a moment, he nodded and continued to walk. He was evidently pleased with her answer- pleased enough that he didn't seem to mind her calling him by his last name. She didn't know what to think of that. frankly, it unnerved her to think that word of how well she performed was getting around. She didn't want people to think that she was superwoman, or worse to think that she thought she was superwoman. It wasn't true- she simply never lost her nerve. After a brisk walk, they arrived at the scene, and Ainsley helped to tape the scene off. Then she was sent to one corner alone to keep people back and away.
At the exit of the store, Ainsley heard the back door slam, and drawing her weapon, she walked towards the sound.
"Freeze, police!" She yelled. There was power behind her bellow, and it startled whoever was exiting the door with boxes of merchandise. The perp dropped the boxes, reaching towards what could only be a piece.
"Boy, I'll shoot you." The tone of voice was so steady, she couldn't possibly have been joking, and so the young man raised his hands. And then he smiled at her. Pain slashed along the back of her arm, and she swore in some sort of foreign profanity, trying to whirl and put her back away from both perps. The wound on her arm hurt like crazy, and she wasn't sure how to hold off both people.
The boy with the gun fled, and she heard Schultz' yell to stop. The other two cops had left to cover something else, and Ainsley hoped with grim reality that the city would stop cutting the budget to hire as many cops as they could. Moments after Schultz had yelled, there was a gunshot. Furious, Ainsley rounded on the one remaining boy who'd knifed her. He ran off, and she was torn between chasing and checking on her partner. Then she spotted his knife. Smiling like a madwoman, she took a handkerchief and picked up his knife. This neighborhood had rebelled, but she had evidence.
With one hand wrapped around the knife, and teh other bleeding arm still holding her gun, she walked around to the front. The boy who'd shot her partner was running off, and Schultz was clutching his collarbone. He waved her to chase, so she left him the knife and ran, calling the ambulance as she did so. Ainsley's long legs and talented speed (She'd been on the highschool track team), caught her up to the boy just outside Brooklyn. With a shock, she realized that she was in her brother's neighborhood. Jake lived three blocks over, and she was relieved.
A sudden rush of speed, and she caught up to the assailant, bringing him down with a bullet that skillfully hit the outside of his thigh. It would drop him, but not shatter bone. Reaching him, she hauled him to his feet, ignoring the blood-loss dizziness that was catching up to her, and the pain in her right arm. Once the boy was disarmed and cuffed at wrists and ankles, Ainsley dragged him away, entering her brother's apartment building, and banging on his door.
Jake Stewart opened the door, blinking in sleepy shock at his little sister.
"Ains?"
Ainsley pushed past her brother, tossing the perpetrator to her brother's kitchen floor, and making sure he stayed there.
"Jake, I need you to patch us up good enough for me to be able to take him downtown and book him."
"US? Ainsley, good lord! You're hurt, and you should've gone to the hospital!" He swore, and instructed her to strip off the shirt and kevlar. "If ye were my bairn I'd beat ya." In his concern, he slipped back into the Scottish brogue he'd picked up when he'd gone to medical school in Scotland. He was doing his residency in the States, and he was the best Doctor that Ainsley knew.
He shook his head and began to patch her up, both of them ignoring the man bleeding on his floor.
"You're going to come over after shift, and once we clean up my blood-stained floors, I am taking you to a proper hospital." Ainsley merely grinned. Once Jake was finished with her, he turned to the man on his floor, turning him to fish out the bullet. Ainsley slipped her uniform back on over her new stitches.
"Ainsley Stewart, I must say that I am, however, impressed with this aim. You didn't hit anything vital." Ainsley beamed at the rare praise. No one in her family had been exactly thrilled with her career choice, though surprisingly her mother had accepted the news better than anyone. With the bullet out of the boy's leg, and the wound stitched and bandaged, Jake hauled him to his feet as Ainsley reported in, that she had the perp, had been forced to shoot him, and had him treated. Soon she'd be back.
Jake gave her a one-armed hug as she prodded the much shorter perp out the front door.
"It's been a fun day, Jake."
"Yeah, you'll have loads to tell Dad tonight."
Ainsley paled, and Jake laughed as Ainsley returned to work, suddenly dreading her night talk with her father more than she had ever dreaded chasing down a dangerous villain.
He would not be pleased that she'd been hurt.
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