Archive of Our Own ^beta

Eliot wasn’t used to being held captive like this, and to say he didn’t like it was the understatement of the century. Even from his hopeless position, immobilized by two armed men, he surveyed his surroundings, waiting for any kind of opening to break free and save the girl.

It didn’t look good, but honestly it never did. His arms were held by the two cronies in such a way that he couldn’t break free. Yet. There were four others surrounding him, and right in front of him stood Jovani. The asshole they had been trying for days to bring down had his hand firmly clasped around Jen’s throat. Eliot snarled as he thought about how satisfying that must feel to the man that terrorized her and her whole family leading up to this case. Silently he vowed to himself that as soon as he breaks free of his capture, he will make him bleed.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Jovani said with a scoff. “You disappoint me, Jen. You thought you could hire some bodyguard to protect you while you try to take me down, and you actually thought that would work?”

Jen squirmed in his grasp, tears running down her face. “Please, don’t do this,” she pleaded hopelessly. Jovani simply laughed.

“Don’t do what?” he asked with mock innocence. “This?” and before anyone could even flinch to try to stop him, his knee barreled right into her midsection.

“NO!” Eliot cried at the same time as she cried out in pain and fell to the floor. His eyes burned into the man standing over her. “Don’t hit her again, Jovani. You don’t want to be doin things you’ll regret next time you see me.”

“Good sir, I don’t intend on ever seeing you again,” he said as he paced calmly in front of his victim. “So I don’t really see any harm.” And with that his foot rammed straight into Jen’s ribcage, causing her to cry out so loud it echoed throughout the empty warehouse floor.

Eliot growled as he struggled against his captors. “Don’t. Do. That. Again.” He watched as she writhed on the floor and noticed that she used her position to disguise a subtle shift backwards, away from him. Smart girl.

“Or what?” Jovani asked, grinning smugly, “You’ll glare at me again?”

Eliot cracked his neck in response, watching as Jen shifted backwards again while his attention was away from her.

“No worries,” Jovani replied. “I have other matters to attend to anyway. These fine gentlemen can take care of both of you for me.” He turned to walk away as the 4 men started toward Eliot, and just as he was rounding the corner he turned back to say, “See you in the funny papers.”

As the door to the stairs closed behind him, Eliot could hear sirens blaring in the distance. As the sound got louder the men turned toward away momentarily, and that was all the opening Eliot needed to break free and start doing what he does best.

They went down in a matter of seconds, though not before landing a few good punches on Eliot. As he straightened up, looking around to make sure they were down for the count, he shifted his attention on finding Jen. She was nowhere in sight, and that had Eliot worried. What had he missed while he was fighting? Did he come back for her?

“Jen!” he shouted, though it came out as more of a whisper. Years of this taught him that there were probably more guards. Always.

A second later he heard a soft cry from behind some crates, and he raced over to her.

“I’m here,” she said as he came up to her.

“Smart thinking, getting away when you did,” he praised as he looked her over. She was slumped against the crate, holding her side as if she was keeping herself glued together. She wasn’t bleeding anywhere he could see, but her breathing was labored and she didn’t look like she could move too well.

She smiled at him weakly and replied, “I know an opportunity when I see one.”

He smiled back before turning away to talk on comms.

“Nate, we got a problem.”

“A little busy here, Eliot!” Nate replied shortly.

“Jovani got away.”

“I know, that’s why we’re busy.”

“Jen got hurt. Bad. She needs a doctor or a hospital…now.”

“Not gonna happen, Eliot. If she goes to a hospital, she ‘ll be stuck there and we can’t protect her. Jovani’s got people all over this city. She won’t be safe.”

Eliot stepped a bit further away. “She might have internal bleeding,” he whispered forcefully. “I can’t tell from here, but it looks bad enough that I’m telling you she needs a doctor.”

“Eliot, you’re a competent medic. Get her back to the brewery and do what you can for her until we can sort this out. I’ll let you know when we need you here.”

Eliot growled under his breath, but knew Nate was right. He didn’t like leaving a job for any reason, but he’d be damned if he let a client die when he could have done anything to help.

He turned around and knelt down next to Jen. “I’m going to get you back to the brewery and try to help you. Can you walk?”

She nodded as she struggled to sit up. “I’m definitely too stubborn not to try,” she answered, trying to joke through the pain. Eliot smirked as he helped her up and let her support her weight on him as they carefully walked out of the building.

----

Eliot held the door open with his back as he helped Jen through, letting it close behind them as he brought her over to the couch.

She groaned quietly as she carefully laid down with his assistance. He knelt down next to her and began to look her over, taking an account of her injuries and figuring out where to start his examination.

“I’m going to check you out and see how bad off you are, alright?” he explained, and she nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

He went into Parker’s room to grab a stethoscope, knowing she owned a few nice ones for cracking safes. He grabbed a flashlight from the kitchen, and then he stopped by the bathroom to get some ace bandages out of the first aid kit. They were lucky he always kept that thing stocked, though they probably didn’t even know it was there. This part of his job gets lost on the others most of the time.

He came back to the couch to find Jen starting to doze off, which was a good sign. If you can sleep through that kind of pain, you’re in better shape than expected. He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to disturb her, but he knew that he needed to get this done quick and then get back to the job.

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and she stirred, locking eyes with him as she came to, remembering where she was and why.

“Oh, right…” she said with a grin, and he laughed a bit as he smiled back at her. He’d never met a regular girl who took hits with a joke before.

“I’m gonna get started, alright? Just relax and it’ll be over fast.” She nodded as he picked up the flashlight and turned it on, shining it into her eyes. “Follow the light for me.”

Her eyes stayed with the light as he moved it from side to side and up and down, meaning she probably didn’t have a concussion. He knew she wasn’t hit in the head, but still, he felt relieved. Concussions ain't fun.

“You mind liftin' your shirt so I can see if there’s bruising?” he asked softly.

"I mean, you could buy me dinner first," she joked as she carefully removed her shirt completely. Her torso was all kinds of pretty colors on the left side. Shades of blue, purple and red made a mosaic on her skin from the line of her sports bra down to the bottom of her ribcage, telling Eliot that there was definitely something injured there.

“I'll have to make it up to you, I guess," he replied with a grin that slowly vanished as he got ready to work on her. "This part might hurt; I gotta check for broken ribs.”

“It already hurts, so bring it on,” Jen replied, bracing herself. “This is what I get for getting involved with that asshole.”

“Hey,” Eliot said, pausing and meeting her eyes. “This ain't your fault. You don’t deserve this.”

She held his gaze for a moment and nodded sincerely as he continued. He gently pressed his fingers along her ribs, feeling for breaks or dents as he went. She bit her lip and moaned quietly when he reached her left side.

“Sorry, Darlin,” he apologized, lightening his touch a little. “It’s almost over.” He sat back for a moment, surveying the area one last time. “You’ve got at least two broken ribs, maybe three.”

“Lovely,” Jen said with a huff. “If you get to kick his ass later, can you gift him a few broken ribs from me? Maybe double it for him?”

Eliot laughed and nodded. “That I can promise.” He admired her spirit. If you could only hear their conversation, you wouldn’t have a clue she was hurt. She was a strong girl for sure.

He brought the stethoscope out, and placed the earpieces into his ears. “I’m just gonna listen to make sure you don’t have any punctures or internal bleeding, alright?” She nodded and he began, listening to her heart at various places on her chest to make sure it wasn’t working overtime or skipping to regulate any blood loss. When he was satisfied with her heart sounding relatively normal, he shifted to her lungs.

“Just breathe for me, Darlin,” he whispered and she inhaled deeply every time he moved the receiver to a new place on her chest. When he placed the scope over her broken ribs, he cringed a little as he heard the creaking of broken bones moving as her lungs expanded. “I don’t hear any fluid in your lungs on this side. Can you sit up just a bit?”

“Now you’re asking a lot,” she answered with a wry grin as she struggled to push herself up. "You just upped it to dinner and dessert."

He laughed sincerely at that as he shifted toward her. “Here, lean up against me,” he said, moving close enough for her to rest on his shoulder. “This will just take a second. Just breathe, alright?”

She followed his directions as he moved the stethoscope around her back, listening for sound of fluid or distress in her breathing. He released her and placed the stethoscope down as she sat back.

“No sign of puncture or bleeding in your chest, so that’s good,” he explained.

“Oh good,” she replied sincerely. “That’s the result I was looking for.”

“Where else did he hit you,” Eliot asked, though he already knew the answer. Jovani got a pretty good kick off on her midsection before she went down. That was the injury he was most worried about to be honest.

“He got me pretty good in the stomach, but I’m sure it’s fine,” she said, bringing her hand to her torso. “It doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as my ribs.”

Eliot shook his head, “Pain ain’t always the best indicator of where the worst injuries are. May I take a look?”

“I mean we’re already here, and you already have my shirt off, so why not?” she teased, and he couldn’t help but laugh. He really liked her attitude.

She adjusted her pants a bit lower so he could see the entire point of contact. There wasn’t any bruising, but with his keen eye he could see that her stomach was a bit swollen on the side where he kicked her.

“I’m gonna to check for swelling; that should tell me if there’s anything to worry about,” he explained. “I’ll try to be as gentle as I can, but…”

“Yeah I know,” she interrupted. “This is gonna hurt.”

She grabbed the back of the couch with her hand, bracing herself as he started to press gently on her stomach with both hands. She whimpered when he got to the right side, and he offered her his left hand.

“Here,” he said, taking her hand into his. “Squeeze if you need to.”

She nodded and grasped his hand, squeezing as he pushed on her stomach a few more times until he was finished. He grabbed the stethoscope one more time and placed it in his ears again.

“Just lie still for me. This is the last thing, I promise.”

He placed the bell to her skin, just above her naval and listened intently. He closed his eyes to concentrate on what he heard as he moved around her belly. Once finished, he put the scope down and sighed with relief.

“No sign of internal bleeding,” he announced quietly.

“So I’m gonna live, doc?” she asked with a tired smirk.

“You’re gonna be just fine,” he reassured her, knowing what she just went through must have been hell. “Stay here and try to relax. Let your body start to heal itself.”

“You’re gonna go kick his ass now?”

“First I’m gonna wrap up your ribs,” he said as he grabbed the ace bandages, “and then I’m gonna go kick his ass.”

“Good deal,” she said as she did her best to sit up to let him start wrapping.

As he reached his arm around her, he grunted quietly, and she just then noticed he was favoring his right side.

“Eliot, you’re hurt too!” she shouted, stopping him from continuing to wrap.

He shook his head as he replied, “It’s nothin' I’m not used to. Happens every day. Heals every day.”

Jen relaxed a bit, but still kept her hand on his arm for a moment. She moved her hand to his side, gently brushing his injured ribs. “But if you take care of everyone else, who takes care of you when you’re hurt?” she asked honestly.

He smiled and finished putting her in the ace bandage. “I do pretty good on myself when it comes to these things,” he answered. “Its part of my job.”

“Well that’s really sweet, Eliot,” she said with a smile. “But your job sucks.”

Eliot laughed so hard his ribs seared with pain, but he didn’t care. He definitely liked this girl.

“I’m going to go back and finish the job,” he said as he stood and started toward the door. “Relax and try to rest; we got this.”

“I sleep; you go hurt people. Got it!”

Eliot smiled wide as he opened the door before looking back at her to add, “and you better still be here when I get back.”