We Are Bulletproof

"Sorry. We--we're just tourists."

Yadda yadda yadda, same old story he'd been telling around town. Tourists, honeymooners, totally in love, etc. etc. But this time Tony felt a little badly because the friend looked so distressed and so unsure of himself that he wondered if he should've listened to Kaleo, and brought the man back to the clinic.

"You're better off calling the cops if... people... have been bothering you." Drug dealers or something, by the looks of it. Tony glanced at Kaleo; he tilted his head slightly towards the door to indicate his desire to get out of this unfortunate situation.

"Just remember what I told you, okay? Elevate the arm if he bleeds, make sure he doesn't move too much and call an ambulance if you think he's in danger. Try not to leave him for a couple of days. After that, he'll be okay."

"We didn't see any bags. Just him, staggering around in the street."

A cheap apartment like this, Tony was surprised there was working water and electricity. He'd seen worse, though. He'd been to worse places than a sleepy little down in the middle of nowhere and yet he had never been this unsettled before. Even the man's injuries were strange. From what Tony could see of his wounds, it looked like he'd been mauled.

While the friend jabbered on, Tony went over to grab a roll of gauze. Some people went all to pieces at the sight of blood and this guy looked about ready to faint. The worry was genuine, though. Tony recognized that, at the very least, so he gently pulled the man over to the couch bed and then got onto one knee.

"If it starts bleeding again, you have to unwrap the outer layer like this. And then you start rolling the new bandages around his arm, like so. They have to be firm, but not too tight. It's better to keep that arm elevated while you work, so he doesn't lose too much blood. If the bleeding doesn't stop, you'll have to call an ambulance."

The guy already looked like he'd lost quite a bit of blood, but Tony was heartened to see that he had stopped bleeding--at least for the time being. The bandages were soaked through, but from earlier. He handed the gauze over to the friend. "Got it? If you're not sure, it's better to get him to a hospital. Otherwise, he'll bleed out."

"...iall..." The man gasped in a low, rattling breath and his free hand jerked out, the fingers grasping at air. "...ni...all..."

"Make sure he doesn't move that arm too much." Tony straightened and gave the friend an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"...he's wearing a woman's robe," Tony muttered to Kaleo as he looked up at the man hanging out of a third floor window. That guy was definitely wearing a woman's flowery robe and he didn't know if he should be disturbed by the robe itself, or the fact that none of this failed to surprise him. In fact, a man wearing a woman's robe was tame compared to the shit that he and Kaleo had seen so far.

"We're coming up!" he shouted at the guy--Niall, a name that he couldn't pronounce and didn't try to. Tony eased open the front door so that Kaleo could carry the guy inside, and then followed him into a dingy, dark, gray lobby. There was no elevator; a rusty door led to a flight of stairs and the stairwell was every bit as dingy, dark and gray as the lobby.

Tony raised his brows at a naked needle sitting innocently off to the side of the stairs. The man in Kaleo's arms didn't look like a junkie. In fact, he looked like he could be a model or an actor. And sure, actors and models fell upon hard times often, but Tony would've thought that even a basic apartment wouldn't be out of reach.

Still, not his business to judge. The guy did visit a brothel, if his friend was to be believed.

On the third floor, he sought out 3B and knocked and when the door opened, he stepped aside so that Kaleo could carry the injured man inside. Seeing that there was only one bed--a couch bed no less--he went to it and shifted some of the blankets and pillows around so that the guy could be laid down easily.

"Do you know first-aid, or do you want me to tell you how to bandage him up if he starts bleeding again?" he asked the curly-haired 'friend' who looked like he was about to shit himself with anxiety. The guy in Kaleo's arms moaned and muttered his friend's name and Tony had that feeling that they were probably gay. Which it seemed like everybody in town was, and that was probably why his and Kaleo's backstory didn't draw so much as a suspicious glance, which was both a relief and slightly insulting.

He couldn't even tell his fiancee about this goddamn job, and she kept wanting to fly out to see him. That was definitely ill-advised and Tony was running out of excuses to keep her at home!

Are you the guy jumping up and down in front of the window?
Wearing a flowery robe?

Uh... did he get hurt at this brothel, do you think?
I'm not a cop or anything, don't worry. Just wondering how a guy gets this hurt in a place like Hazleton.

But we're on our way now, I can see your building

Okay, we're heading there now. Your place is just a block away. If he hadn't passed out here, he probably would've gotten home on his own.

Do you know what happened to him? Or where he went today?

"There's a clinic nearby too, if I remember correctly," Tony said absently as he flicked through the phone. He saw on the idle screen that the guy had a message, but didn't know the unlock code so gingerly he took one of the man's hands and pressed the thumb to the home button. It worked! He glanced up at Kaleo with a surprised little smile.

"Looks like he got a message just a couple of hours ago. I'll try to get in touch with somebody he knows." Wouldn't hurt to let his friend or family know that he wasn't dead--just really, really close to it, judging by the pale, waxy complexion of his face. As he messaged somebody named Niall, he heard the man groaning and stirring.

"...home..." Kenneth Branagh muttered, and Tony lowered the phone to look at him. His eyes weren't even open, but his lips moved and mouthed the word 'home' several more times. Luckily, somebody answered the texts.

"Hey, his friend says they live together." Tony inspected the heavily bandaged arm and shoulder again. "I think he'll make it, he just needs a lot of rest. Whoever put the bandages on did a pretty good job. C'mon, let's get him to his friend's place. Seems like that's where he wants to go anyway."

Okay, 3B, I got it. We're bringing him back now.

You might want to have some bandages ready, and a bed or couch for him to rest on.

All right, we'll bring him home but you'll have to take him to a hospital in the morning. His arm's been badly injured. Someone bandaged it, but it'll need a check-up.

Can you give me your address?

Hi, this was the last message on this phone.

We found this man injured in the street. Are you a friend or family member? Do you know where he lives?

Spy, spy, spy.

Tony hated how a simple assignment was now turning into a fucking nightmare. Their higher-ups were pissed, their families were pissed—Tony's fiancee was having fits planning their wedding by herself—and everybody in the bloody town was pissed out of their minds. This whole town was like something out of a bad dream.

He followed Kaleo at a distance, so as not to appear suspicious. During the daytime, they were supposed to be the newly wed gay couple on their honeymoon. Whoever decided on their backstory was going to get a nutshot from Tony whenever they got back to HQ.

But at night, they didn't have to pretend and their job took precedence. Tony elected to keep to the shadows, in case somebody was following Kaleo, who presented himself as a giant target. At this time of the night, with the sun about to set, the freaks came out and it was Tony's job as his partner to make sure that he didn't get ambushed or caught off-guard.

When Kaleo broke off and ran towards a zombie-looking man, Tony cursed. He followed, trotting up in time to see the man falling into Kaleo. "He's bleeding," Tony said as he came up to inspect the stranger, who was muttering in a low voice. "What's he saying? Ni... Niall? 3B? Here, shift him this way. Let me look at his arm."

Clearly the arm was injured, but it had been expertly bandaged. Whatever wound underneath had simply opened and was bleeding again. Tony frowned as he ran gentle fingers over the gauze. "Check his pockets and see if he has any ID." Meanwhile, he tried to tie the bandages tighter to stem the flow of blood.

Okay, see you soon! Love you honey!

Be careful crossing the street!

...i think that'd be nice, actually! A little stroll together would be great!

Don't know honey.

Oh look there's other people now! They must have family buried here

...no...

It's just a little hard to get out

Of this area. I mean... It's so pretty! I can't tear myself away!