Trick Or Treat!

[Gambit]

Gambit thought it through to the best of his abilities. He imagined the paramedics arriving- finding him with the bite marks on his neck (he didn't know if Shade had been bitten)- finding Kate with blood on her face and the knife in her back- the picture was just lovely. "Arrête," he raised his hand, stopping Shade. "Stop, wait-."

[Shade]

Had the situation been any different, Shade would have been able to more thoroughly assess the situation. She would have seen things that could be problematic, like a scared little girl, unattended in the kitchen, like a woman lying on the floor who was at least unconscious. But she only partly thought that far now and was trying to set priorities - and the top priority right now was to get Gambit some help.

However, when he spoke, she stopped dialing and looked at him, her gaze flickering slightly. She was confused but also glad he would say something because she was feeling helpless in this situation.

[Gambit]

With a groan, Gambit attempted to sit up. He felt dizzy, and lights would dim in his sight every now and then. "Merde..." he muttered, reaching for his neck where the cloth was pressed to his wound.

He heard sounds coming from another direction and figured it was probably Kate coming to. And she was, trying to put her healthy arm onto the floor to push herself upwards. The knife in between her ribs was bothering her, um, less than it would have bothered a human.

[Shade]

Shade whirled around - well, as much as her hurting hip and shoulder allowed her and realised with dread that the woman... vampire...whatever she was, was moving. She had seen her incredible speed earlier and the thought alone that she could regain some of herfomer agility while the two of them were pretty much helpless, made her feel on edge.

One hand still near Gambit´s neck since she didn´t know whether he would be able to keep the cloth against the wound on his own, she used her left foot to hastily reach for the pointer she had dropped earlier and grasped it tightly with her unoccupied hand. It was a clearly defensive gesture, a threat of someone not in a position to be too threatening, not out to strike at once, but collecting strength if she had to. She couldn´t assess how much of a danger Kate was now, but she knew she would not just sit and watch if she attacked again, no matter how desperate that had to look with neither of them really being a danger themselves.

((I sent you a pm, so if I should change that detail about the cloth, let me know ))

[Gambit]

(( nah, it's fine. ))

Gambit finally sat up, looking gloomily in Kate's direction. "Ya try any funny stuff, I'll explode your sorry ass, Kate," he said, adamant he'd try it if she did. Killing her, however, wasn't among his plans - that would leave him as Connie's only parent and that was about the last thing he had dreamed of. Ugly as Kate had turned out, it looked like she was at least taking care of their- her daughter, he gave her credit for that.

Kate only moaned something incoherent in response, trying to sit up as well.

The door opened again, Connie's red-on-black eyes peeking through the hole, but she kept quiet this time.

[Shade]

The fact that Gambit was able to respond to Kate´s attempts to get back to her senses, calmed Shade a little, even though by far not completely. She had her hand wrapped around the pointer so tightly her knuckles were showing white and the look in her eyes was untypical of her, hovering somewhere between anger and fear, but with a clear trace of determination in it. She was no violent person but she would whack the sharp end of this metal thing at this crazy chick´s face if she proved to still be a threat.

Her senses alert despite the pain in her shoulder, she heard the door and turned her head sharply, for a second or two putting her attention elsewhere.
Connie. During the fight she had completely forgotten that the kid was still around and for a moment she had to fight a nasty knot forming somewhere in her stomach. How much had she seen? And even if she had not seen anything befoe now (since she hadn´t paid attention to Kate yelling at her daughter earlier), wasn´t the scene she was witnessing now, not bad enough already?

[Gambit]

Fortunately for Connie, she didn't see the knife sticking out of her mother's back. Kate sat up finally, groaning and trying not to move her broken arm. She didn't reply to Gambit's threat but took notice of it.

Gambit took a deep breath. He wasn't feeling too well. Shifting his glance, he looked at Shade and noticed her fight-or-flight stance, but said nothing.

[Shade]

Shade´s attention went back to the vampire, her position not shifting. Kate was trying not to use one of her arms and even though Shade had noticed the crackig bones somehow earlier, only now she came to the conclusion that there must really have been enouh force behind her blow to break that arm.

She felt Gambit´s eyes on her and turned her head to look at him. At least he was not too weak to not be able to press on his wound but that didn´t really take away her concern. She didn´t know what would happen next and just hoped that Kate had had enough, would take Connie and just leave so she could shift her attention away from that beast. She could feel that part of her hair was sticking against the small trickle of blood at her neck, but made no move to change that.
The whole scene had something bizarre. Gambit´s threat and hers - even though it was without words - and the scared little girl with chocolate sauce smeared all around her mouth while her mother was seemingly regaining parts of her strength.

[Gambit]

Not receiving any response, Gambit took her silence as a consent. He moved one of his arms to the side, supporting his weight against the floor as he tried to get up.

[Shade]

The way he was moving told Shade there was not much strength in him. There wasn´t much in her either, but she had decided moments ago that she could at least fight down the sickening pain. It would probably all rush in on her later, but her adrenaline was high and gave her a little more range of movement than she would usually have had.

To see that the vampire could actually sit up was a bewildering thing to observe especially since the dagger was still sticking in her back. Shade shifted her position slightly and got on her knees, reaching for Gambit to support him if he so chose. She knew he didn´t like being mothered but this was a different situation. After the fight both of them had put up against that beast Gambit not taking up on that offer was no concern for her.

[Gambit]

Gambit accepted Shade's help gladly. He needed to stand up and he wasn't managing it too well. It felt kind of weird not to be injured in any way but still be barely able to move. As he got up, he found his balance, adjusted to this new position and, leaving Shade's side, stepped towards Kate.

She wasn't looking in his direction but the smell of blood that was all over him was enough for her to locate him. "Get away from me," she growled in a low voice.

[Shade]

Shade had completely blended out Connie again, not noticing that the girl was till standing at the door, peeking through just enough so she could see what was going on. It wasn´t that she didn´t care, it was just not among her prioroties right now. Gambit was on his feet but one didn´t have to know him well to know that he wasn´t managing this too easily. She had gotten to her feet the same time as him, partly supporting, partly dragging him and she could feel that standing wasn´t easy, for other reasons than his, but still.

She was holding the pointer with both hands now, not raised and her knuckled not showing as clearly any more, but as long as this woman had not left, she would not let down her guard. The look on her face with which she regarded the vampire was an untypical mix of disgust and mistrust.

[Gambit]

Gambit walked up to Kate and placed his hand onto her shoulder. It could look like a comforting gesture, even, but his hand was close enough to her neck to be a threat.

"Will you behave, chere?" he inquired, in a quiet tone that sounded firm and threatening.

Kate said nothing but nodded. She wasn't feeling too well, either, to be attempting anything again. Gambit gripped the handle of the knife and pulled it out, causing Kate to jerk and scream loudly again, then she went limp under his hand.

"Mama!" Connie exclaimed, opening the door a bit more, yet she didn't dare step outside from the seemingly safe haven of the kitchen.

[Shade]

Even as Gambit stepped up to the other woman, she didn´t look like a serious threat any more but Shade´s brain took a little longer to comprehend what he was up to.

Her nerves were still tense and the only reason her hands were not shaking was that she had something to hold on to. It wasn´t fear that had her tremble alone, larger parts were the pain, the nerves and a slight feeling of nausea. She wasn´t girly when it came to blood and things of the like but nevertheless closed her eyes from reflex when Gambit pulled out the letter opener, for a moment having to fight that slight nausea becoming overwhelming. Only when Kate dropped to the floor once more, Shade reaxed a little and allowed the pointer that she had been losely holding to slip to the floor.

She then turned her head at the sound of Connie´s voice. "Oh God, no..." she murmured.

[Gambit]

Gambit turned to look back at Shade, but said nothing. Then he looked at his daughter. "Connie," he said in a very calm voice, "your mom an' I will finish this conversation in a moment an' you'll go home." He forced himself NOT to add something along the lines of 'now just shut up and go back into the kitchen'.

Kate grasped her injured arm gently; her head was hung low and she was mustering her strength. "I'm not going anywhere," she muttered. "I'm bleeding all over."

"Ya, right," Gambit agreed. "With my blood, why not bleed some."