Ahh, so now it starts... Go looking for trouble long enough and you?d find it sooner or later. Rory found himself tearing out of the car behind the talin doctor as the rest of their posse took off in pursuit of the apparent offenders. A slight blush touched Rory?s cheeks as the blood began to pump just a bit faster, a quick shot of adrenaline seeping into the veins and prepping the body for whatever violence or action the next moment demanded. He offered Vasir's remark a small chuckle and conceded the point, "No such thing as luck, mate. This poor sod?s gods must be working overtime."
As Mordecai brought the crowd to order, Rory had to grin at the authoritative tone that crept into his voice. It sprung from a natural place, an instinct Rory found reassuring. The man acted as a healer should, and obedience to a healer was a thing that came with shocking ease. Rory watched, watched the faces in the crowd and noted their reactions. Some of those faces were familiar. Rory turned his attention to the man writhing on the floor and grimaced at the sight of his wounds. Silver, he could hear it, and worse yet he could smell it, acrid and metallic, "Shedder... poor bastard, s'only reason he's still alive...."
The doctor gave his orders, and Rory gave a small salute. Already heading towards the kitchens, he called back towards the crowd with one short, sharp bark, "Schaeg!"
Five bodies detached from the crowd and followed him silently: a middle aged Talin couple, a small boy, and two rather scruffy looking young men. They passed through the doors of to the kitchen without a word. With at least a modicum of privacy established, Rory spoke again, "Any knowin' about this particular ruk?"
The followers shrugged and kept silent for the most part, though one of the younger men offered a bit of insight,"Only just saw the fellow who got shot, must've been in the back the whole time. The bloke with the gun was a skinny sort, wore a nice a hat, had a big coat too, he only just come in ten minutes ago, went straight to the back room."
"Where'd the owner get to?" Again, silent shrugs, though the better half of the middle aged couple chimed in,"He stepped out a few minutes after we were seated, oh... about a half hour ago."
Rory nodded, eyes straight ahead as he caught sight of something dangling over the fire extinguisher hanging on one of the kitchen walls. He pulled it down, noticed the red and white cross and smiled. The smaller boy who'd followed the group seemed content to steal glances at the rookie cop from behind the middle-aged woman's legs. Rory gave him a grin and looked to the couple, "Yer cub?"
They nodded nervously, the man offering a name, "Timothy."
Rory knelt down to the boy?s level and gave him a warm grin, beckoning him closer with a finger. The lad grew a bit bolder and detached from his mother?s skirt, "You a good Red kin yer ma and da, Tim?"
The boy nodded furiously, puffing his chest out slightly and beaming. Rory chuckled and ruffled the kid?s hair, handing him the first aid kit, "Take this to the other copper, quick like. Stick near 'im but not underfoot 'n fetch what he harks."
Rory watched the kid scamper off and turned his focus back to the adults, "Ins and outs?"
"Three, one front to the street, the side one you came through and one in the back, puts out in another alley from the kitchen," Rory took note of the speaker, one of the younger men, well built, dark skinned. He was scent marked, one of Topher's boys. Good, he was a keen one.
"Well done," Rory offered the four seemingly random strangers a kindly smile and an apologetic nod, "Hate to pull you from yer paths, but I've a need. Dam up the place, no ins or outs unless I pass 'em or they flash badges."
The younger men nodded and took the the rear and side exits, and though the couple hesitated for a moment, they pushed on back to the main dining hall and took up station at the front. Hardly a proper lockdown, but it'd do for now. The younger lads knew the drill well enough, at least. Rory heaved a sigh and popped his neck, time to get to work. The main dining hall had calmed somewhat, about a score of patrons lingering in little clusters here or there. Some pressed in on Mordecai, eager to see what came of the man with the gunshot wounds. A few edged towards the exits, but found warm-bodied barricades.
"Oi! People! Make a line along the check-out counter, I?ll take yer statements and you can move on. Keep quiet and make it easy," Rory's voice grew a few decibles beyond comfortable, lashing out at the ears and touching some place in the pit of a man's stomach, the place that made him freeze up when he heard an ominous growl. The noise level in the dining hall dropped abruptly, the patrons organizing themselves as best they could into rough sort of que. Rory caught Mordecai's eye and nodded slightly towards the door behind the victim. Topher's man didn't seem to think it led to another exit, and Rory had no cause to doubt him, but that didn't mean someone hadn't been left back there, dead or hiding. They'd do well to keep an eye out on it and get this place cleared as soon as possible.
Rory waved the first diner forwards, pulling a notepad and a pen from the interior breast pocket of his uniform, "Name?"
