streets21

STREETS
by Henry Wyckoff
A Highlander/Sentinel Crossover
September 1998

Chapter 21

Latro walked up to the counter in the police station.

The attendant was a bored looking man with a moustache and growing bald spot on his head. He was openly reading a raunchy porno mag without making any attempt to hide it. "Yeah?" Obviously, the mag was the only thing he cared about.

"I'm here to reclaim an item."

"What would that be?"

"It was acquired quite recently. A very unique rifle that shoots lead balls like this." He dropped a cartridge on the counter.

The attendant looked up in shock as he realized who was really here. "Oh shit -- " The rest was cut off as a hand shot through the opening and pulled his head through the glass partition. Another yank sent him falling headfirst to the floor, where he moaned, immobile.

After some frantic (but highly dignified) searching, Latro found what he wanted, ripping off the ID tag. "I missed you baby . . . anyone treat you bad?" The rifle seemed to whimper softly, which was the one thing he liked about this rifle in particular; it whispered softly, but hit like a big stick.

* * *

Angela was asleep once more, as Blair nearly hovered by her side with worry. He'd checked the whiskey for hallucinogens, but stopped that search with the realization that they'd both drunk out of the same bottle, and he hadn't seen any visions.

Whatever she was seeing was scaring the hell out of her. When she'd started to scream about falling, he'd reached for the sleep medication that Jim often used.

What he couldn't know was that he had trapped her inside a nightmare from which she couldn't escape for a few hours -- which would seem like an eternity to her, in a frame of mind where time didn't flow at the same speed as it did in the waking world. She still managed to mumble in her state of deep sleep, and it didn't sound good.

Blair held her hand from where he sat, "I wish to God I could help you. I just need to know what's going on in that head of yours."

The dream really had him worried. If she'd managed to pass on that tidbit a while ago, what else was she seeing that could scare her so much? It had to be Latro.

Blair hadn't heard Jim come through the door, but he heard him now. "What happened to her?"

"Jim . . . she had a vision, and it scared the hell out of me, and that's just a touch of what's going on inside."

"What do you mean?"

"While that guy was hanging around outside, she saw him in her dream, doing practically everything he was doing out there. She described the panther knocking him out of the way just as he was about to kill her. Seemed he was after her. Now all she can scream about is falling. That's why I gave her some sleep medicine."

Jim nodded. "Good idea." Deep down, it made him wonder about Latro. "I wonder if I closed the case prematurely."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no case. Latro, Tutyr, and Pierson have all gone their separate ways. Everything's been cast in the light, and nobody's pressing charges."

"It's not like you could take two immortals to court for fighting either."

"There is that."

* * *

Latro killed time at a local coffeehouse, the type where reading for hours on end wasn't really a problem. Naturally, his hand had gravitated towards a text that read "Angels."

Originally the Devil was the dark aspect of God. Mal'ak
represented the side of God which was turned towards
humanity. This concept was oddly translated into Greek
as angelos or "messenger."

This emissary was actually the "shadow" side of God
which was able to communicate with mortals, the bright
side being too fierce for humans to bear.

Latro slammed the book shut with a snarl. "Utter crap!"

Odin smiled, "I agree."

Latro nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw that his shadowy teacher and untrusted ally had somehow snuck into his presence once more. "I see you find my presence more interesting than usual."

"It's an unusual time. The only reason I'm interrupting your argument with the book is to let you know that you slipped."

"Huh?"

"You missed one. An Angel. Back at the cop's apartment. How did that farmer say it . . . ? You'll have to lick that calf over."

"Who was it?" Latro was furious. "Blood is going to pour today!"

* This is the end of Streets, and will be continued in The Spinning. *