#spud writes

She started patting the pockets of the man in front of them down. The greasy one claimed he was rich so they had to have a car. She doubted the man drove himself with the way he acted, so one of his men had to have the keys. It seemed the man in front of them didn’t have them so she moved over to the other body. Patting around she found what she was looking for in his left pants pocket. Triumphantly she pulled out car keys. 

“They gotta be parked ‘round here somewhere.” She said, dangling the keys from her finger. 

Alastor came over and took the keys from her hand, smiling amused. 

“You are full of surprises today.” He mused. 

“You’d be surprised all the things you don’t know ‘bout me.” Dorathy chuckled. 

He smirked as he leaned down before saying, “And the more I find out the more I want to know.”

He straightened up and looked over his shoulder before he took off, hiding in the shadows as he went. Dorathy looked down at herself. She supposed they both were covered in a fair amount of blood, but Alastor did know the area better so he was likely better suited to retrieve the car. She got up and started to drag the bodies away from the light at the end of the alley. It wouldn’t do any good if someone walking by saw the murder scene while they were trying to clean up. 

She grabbed the greasy man first since he was the lightest. She crouched down and hooked her elbows under his armpits and dragged him without any issue. Out of curiosity she searched his pockets and found his wallet. She was surprised to find fifty dollars in the man’s wallet. She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she checked the wallet for anything else but found nothing else of value.

“Idiot wasn’t lyin’ ‘bout havin’ money.” She muttered to herself and stuffed the bills and his ID in her bra.

She bounced back up and walked over to the other two bodies. She looked between the two men. She sighed and grabbed the shorter man’s feet and grunted as she started pulling.  While he was shorter than the other man he weighed significantly more than the greasy man. He easily had 100 pounds on the other man, and she had not moved bodies around since her mother passed. It took her more effort and time but she got him over to the other body in the shadow.

She froze as she heard a car engine getting close.

Was it Alastor returning with the car, or was it someone else driving by whose headlights might illuminate the crimes they were trying to hide? She pressed herself further into the shadows against the wall. The car rumbled closer. She did her best to peek down the alley to see if she could catch sight of the car. She felt her breath catch as she saw the silhouette of a car at the end of the alley. Then the engine cut and she saw someone get out of the car and start coming farther into the alley.

“My, my, Mo chè moving the bodies on your own?” She heard Alastor say and she felt the tension leave her a little.

“You didn’t expect me to do nothin’ while you were off gettin’ the car did’ja?” Dorathy laughed as she pushed away from the wall. 

They both grinned at each other and started to help each other move the bodies into the car. They moved as quickly as they could while staying quiet. Moving the greasy man didn’t take much time at all with how light he was. The other two took a little more work as they both were 100 to 150 pounds heavier than the other man. Alastor got into the driver's seat once they finished putting the bodies in the trunk. 

“You got somewhere in mind for these?” Dorathy asked as she climbed into the car.

“Why of course, Mo chè.” He said with a wicked grin, “It is a bit out of the way so I hope you don’t mind the drive.” 

“Let’s get goin’.”

The drive to Alastor’s hideout took some time. It was a shack in the middle of the bayou, and Dorathy was surprised that the car was able to make it all the way. She had a feeling that if anyone else had driven that they might not have been able to navigate all the way there. She could feel the humidity cling to her skin as she stepped out of the car, and the damp smell of the earth filled her lungs. Alastor led her in and she saw that while the outside looked run down the inside was much better cared for.

“I have spent many nights here.”Alastor said as he moved towards a wardrobe pulling out clothes and facing her before he spoke again, “We can spend the night and clean ourselves up. I can also whip us up something to eat if you would like.”

Dorath laughed accepting the offered clothing and asked, “You keep food here to cook with?”

“I keep some ingredients here, but…” Alastor said, his eyes flicking towards the door, “I prefer to make things a bit more avant-garde.”

She felt her eyebrow raise at his words. 

“Now what do you mean by that?” She asked.

She saw some apprehension in his eye before he spoke but he continued his voice confident, “Well… It would be a waste to not use the meat we hunted.”

Dorathy stepped back from him, surprised. Eating people? She couldn’t tell how she felt. Her mama had always said to use every part of an animal you hunted, but this felt different. She saw his face fall for just a moment before the disappointment was replaced with a tight smile. She felt a slight panic in her chest at the idea that she disappointed Alastor. 

“I’m sorry.” She blurted out.

She saw confusion flicker in his eyes before he asked,“What?”

“I-I didn’t mean to make you feel- I just never thought about it like that and it caught me off guard.” She rambled, “It’s not somethin’ I’ve ever thought about but try anythin’ once.”

Alastor put his hands on her shoulders and she stopped her rambling. She looked up at him and the tight smile was replaced with a soft one. He led her over to a chair and sat her down. She blinked at him and he smiled wider.

“It has been quiet the night. How about we start by getting ourselves cleaned up then we will talk about everything else.” He offered. 

She nodded.

His smile softened again and he turned and walked to the other side of the room. She noticed the large basin as he came up to it. He reached over and removed the lid from the basin then grabbed a pot and dipped it in, filling the pot up with water. She watched as he grabbed a rag then started to rinse the blood off his hands with the water from the pot. He paused once his hands were free of blood and she couldn’t tell what he was doing. After a moment she realized that he was removing his blood stained clothes and her face flushed. She looked away as his shirt came off her face burning as she did. She heard him chuckle and she knew he was looking back at her. 

“I know you often stare at me when you think I’m not looking.” He teased, “Why not let me see you looking?”

Dorathy took a shaky breath and looked at Alastor. 

His shirt and vest were fully off. She could see his chest which looked toned. There were a few scars littered here and there that she assumed must have been from some of his other hunts. She let her eyes roam as he picked up the rag and started to wipe the blood off his neck. She bit her lip and looked away as water droplets rolled down his chest. 

“Problem, Mo chè?” Alastor teased once again. 

“You know what you are doin’.” She replied with her voice low. 

“You’re enjoying the show aren’t you?” He asked, amused. 

It was the dead heat of the summer now and Dorathy couldn’t be happier that the studio was always cold. The screaming of the cicadas promised that the heat wouldn’t be leaving even into the night, so she wouldn’t get a reprieve even when she went home late in the evening. The bell over the front door went off and Dorathy had to stop herself from falling off her chair. Alastor had his top two buttons of his shirt undone, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a light sheen of sweat on his brow. He smiled as he entered the building.

“Ah.”He sighed, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away some sweat from his neck, “It is so pleasant that our work has air conditioning.” 

Dorathy swallowed hard and tried to smile naturally.

“It does feel so much better than bein’ out there in that swelterin’ heat.” She replied doing her best not to stare at his throat.

She could feel her face getting flush as she fought not to gape at the man in front of her. The fact that he hadn’t caught on to her feelings yet was a miracle. The fact that no one had caught on now that he had started coming in while the others were still here was also a miracle. She had never been good about hiding her crushes. It was something that her Mama had poked fun at her for when she was younger.

She had never felt happier to hear the request light.

“Well I’ll let you cool off. I’m gonna go get that.” She said as she quickly left the room.

She paused before getting to Robert to fan herself so her face calmed down. She felt her face cool off and she walked over to the viewing window and put on the guest headset. He complained about the heat in the booth and demanded an iced drink. Dorathy was honestly surprised that he managed to wait this long to ask. Complaints about the booth being hot during the summer were not a new thing. She sighed and went to go get him a cold drink.

She paused as she reached the back office. 

Alastor was leaning against the counter by the sink sipping on a glass of ice water. His sleeves were still rolled up and his buttons were still undone, but he didn’t look as bothered by the heat. Dorathy cursed internally as she felt her face get hot again. She forced herself to try and appear calm and walk into the room. He turned and looked at her as she came towards him.

“Mo chè, you look as if the heat is getting to you as well.” He said with a sly smile.

Maybe miracles could only last so long.

“I-I think the heat is getting to us all.” She tried lying as she grabbed a glass. He hummed and she wasn’t sure he believed her. 

“You know,” He said, his voice low, “When the heat is sweltering like this I have a favored pastime and I think you should join me.”

“Oh?” She couldn’t help her curiosity.

“We can go out after work tonight and you’ll see.” He offered with a grin.

“Alastor!” Mr.Willson barked from his office door, scowling at how close Alastor was to Dorathy. Alastor’s smile tightened as he straightened up, and walked over to one of the tables without a word. “Dora come here.”

Dorathy felt horrible shame of being called out by her boss crawling up her back as she put down the water she was making for Robert and went into Mr.Willson’s office. The man closed the door behind her as soon as she entered. She sat down without being told too. She watched as he languidly walked around the edge of the room until he was behind his desk and sat down.

“Dora, do you feel safe working alone with Alastor?”

She blinked at the question.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Dora,” He said, condescension slipping into his voice, “Those kinds of men can't control themselves, especially around beautiful young women like yourself.”

Dorathy felt anger flare in her chest at the implication. 

“Alastor has been a perfect gentleman.” She said indignantly.

Mr.Willson tilted his head and smiled at her like she was a child. She felt disgust as he looked at her. Then horror slowly started to trickle down her spine. He thought she couldn't possibly know better than him and that he needed to teach her the correct way. Men like him never thought they were wrong. He wouldn't give up until he had won. 

“Now, now,” He said leaning back in his chair, smirking as he did, “You and I know that someone like him chatting up someone like you is a problem for him. We both also know that you care far too much about this studio to let our most popular host take any hits for this.”

She could feel the color leaving her face as he spoke.

“But this can't go unpunished.” She heard his belt buckle come undone as he said unpunished.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

Dread fully settled in. 

“Well,”He asked grinning, “What’ll it be?”

Dorathy had been off since Willson had called her into his office and it was driving Alastor mad. She was acting distant. She didn't meet his eyes when he called a request after Jones and Willson left. He felt frustrated. Willson had clearly done something to her. Why punish her if he was mad at him?

He needed to let off steam.

He was relieved when David showed up. He needed to talk to Dorathy and once David was in the booth they would be alone. He packed up his equipment and didn't bother to wait for David to set up. The equipment didn't need a cleaning so he would simply put it in his locker. As he walked to the front he looked around and Dorathy wasn't there. She must be in the back. That was fine with him.

Walking into the back office he saw her sitting at one of the tables staring down at a cup of coffee. She didn’t react as he opened his locker. He turned to face her.

“Mo chè,” He said carefully as put his equipment back down in his locker, “Are you… okay?”

She looked up from the coffee without blinking and stared at Alastor. 

After a moment she finally blinked as if she was coming back to herself.

“It’s… been a long day.”she said slowly.

He sighed, carding his hand through his curls. 

“You mentioned somethin’ after work earlier?” She asked and took a sip of her coffee.

He perked up.

“Are you still interested, Mo chè?”

“Lettin’ my day end on a bad note just ain't in my nature.” She smiled. It didn't reach her eyes but it was better than earlier.

Alastor grinned back at her. He stood up and offered her his hand. She giggled at the gesture, and took his hand. He pulled her up and spun her away from the table. Her surprised gasp and breathless laugh made him feel a deep satisfaction. Whatever those idiots had done he was able to pull her out of it.

“Well, Mo ti zwazo, let me help make the rest of your day better.” 

It didn’t take long for Alastor to lead Dorathy to the hidden entrance of the speakeasy he frequented. Even though it was late the speakeasy was still in full swing. The music was vivacious, and the people were joyous. He could see people crowding the bar, and libations were plenty to go around. 

“Oh goodness I feel a bit under dressed now.” Dorathy said from beside him. 

“Nonsense.” He denied before saying, “You look wonderful. Now would you like a drink first or would care to join me for a dance?”

She laughed and took his hand before saying, “I’m not much one for drinkin’ myself but I would love to dance.”

Alastor pulled her to the dance floor with a wicked grin. 

Dancing was always easy to lose one's self to and Alastor always found dancing with a good partner made it even better. 

The two danced, twirling, jumping, spinning until someone interrupted them.

A thin pale man with greasy hair grabbed Dorathy by the waist as she was spun away from Alastor. The shock and barely hidden disgust on her face was evident to Alastor. The man grinned lazily at Alastor. He watched as two other men came up behind the man and glared at him. Anger rose in his chest. The speakeasy wasn’t somewhere he could stand up for himself, and horribly he realized he could not stand up for Dorathy either. 

“You don’t mind if I cut in do ya’?” The thin man asked with a drawl.

He watched as Dorathy tried to pull away from the man as she spoke, “Actually, I do.”  

Her hands pushed at the man’s, but the man grabbed her right wrist and yanked her close to his side as he spoke, “You don’t know what you’re sayin’ doll. I can offer you so much more than something like that ever could. ‘Sides My friends here can take care of this for you.”

Alastor tensed as he was ready for an altercation with the man’s friends, but he saw panic flash in Dorathy’s eyes. Suddenly she turned in the man’s grip and smiled at him sweetly. The man looked down at her with a sleazy smile. He held up his hands and his goons stopped. She wrapped her free arm around the man's neck and whispered something in his ear. The thin man laughed boisterously.

“You are a bold little minx aren’t you.”

“Just let me get a drink at the bar first.”

“You don’t come in five minutes, my boys will come and find you.” He agreed with a smirk before slapping her behind.

Alastor felt so much rage as he watched the interaction. Dorathy was clearly trying to protect him.  He watched as the three men strode away confidently disappearing into the crowd. Dorathy didn’t even look at him as they left; she made a b-line for the bar. He chased after her and grabbed her arm as she was leaning over the counter.

“What are you doing?” He hissed. She continued to lean over the counter and riffled through something behind the bar.

“I can’t go in unprepared.” She said as she slipped back over the counter before the bartender saw her.

“That doesn’t explain anything.” He growled. She looked at him pained, and he felt more irritated.

“I know, but I’m runnin’ short on time.”She sighed, “Just come out to the alley.”

A jolt shot through him at those words.

Was she setting these morons up?

Suddenly she was gone in the crowd.

Alastor couldn’t tell if his heart was hammering in his chest at the thrill of being set up for a hunt, or because of something else. There was a feeling in his stomach that he ignored for the time being. He waited thirty seconds after Dorathy had left to follow after. He moved easily through the crowd and made his way out the speakeasy. The humid summer air greeted him but he didn’t have time to take it in. He moved to hide in the shadows and slinked into the alleyway. Dorathy was standing there by herself, looking around nervously. He stayed hidden in the shadows and moved closer. The alleyway was twenty-five feet long and ten feet wide at most and Dorathy had placed herself at the end and towards the middle. Suddenly the side door to the butcher shop that was above the speakeasy opened up behind her and three men stepped out.

“Well, well,”One of the men laughed, one of the men hadn’t spoken before, “Lookie boss the little tramp kept to ‘er word.”

“Of course she did,” The thin man chuckled, “We wouldn’t have let ‘er do anythin’ otherwise.”

Dorathy backed away from the men without saying anything.

“Now, now that ain’t what we agreed to, is it sweet cheeks?” The thin man taunted, “Lu how bouts’ you get ‘er.”

The bigger of the three men started stalking towards Dorathy.

“Be my pleasure, boss.”

--------------------(skip here)

The man moved quickly for his size. Alastor was barely a foot out of the shadows when the man started screaming. All the men froze for a moment as Lu stumbled away from Dorathy and fell to the ground clutching his face. There was a corkscrew sticking out of his eye, and it was buried fairly deep in. Alastor felt a thrill at the sight. He looked up and she had one of the bartender's knives in her hand as well. That had been what she was doing at the bar. 

Excitement thrummed in his veins. He dashed the rest of the way across the alleyway and stabbed his knife into the back of the thin man close to his kidneys. He relished in the startled cry the man let out. The man’s other goon turned as he heard his boss cry out, ignoring the woman with a knife behind him. A mistake. Dorathy darted at him as soon as his back was to her and sliced through the man’s achilles tendon on his right leg. The man cried in pain as his leg gave out and he slammed into the ground. Alastor sliced through the man’s throat, blood spraying out as he did. His blood sang at how well the two of them worked together. 

He turned to the thin man on the ground bleeding out with a manic grin and flipped him over.

“You don’t mind if we share this dance do you?”

“P-Please! Please let me g-g-go! I- I can get you-you anythin’!” The man begged.

He saw Dorathy’s shadow stretch over the man before she leaned over him and spoke.

“Darlin’ what makes you think he needs anythin’ from the likes of you?”

“I-Is th-this a-about the-the tramp?” The man asked foolishly.

Alastor stabbed him harshly on the left side of his abdomen just as Dorathy kicked him in the head. He looked up at her amused. She shrugged at him.

“I would think very carefully about how you speak here.” Alastor advised him as he moved his knife to the man’s throat, “This can get much much worse for you.”

The man’s eyes widened in terror, but then Alastor saw him look between himself and the entrance to the alleyway. He felt irritation flash as he realized the man was not going to let him have his fun. The man opened his mouth to scream, but before Alastor could stab him, and before the man could make a sound Dorathy’s knife sliced across the man’s throat. For a moment Alastor felt aghast that she had stolen his kill before he realized that the man was still alive.

“Mama always said it was better when they can’t scream anyways.” Dorathy chirped.

“I must meet you mother.” Alastor enthused.

“You two would have gotten along, but Mama ain’t with us no more.” Dorathy sighed.

The man’s gurgling brought Alastor’s attention back to him. 

“Ah yes. Our captive audience.” He grinned wickedly, “A shame really, I do love when they scream.”

The man weakly tried to push him off of his body. He laughed at the thin man's feeble attempt. He watched amused as Dorathy walked over to the body of Lu. His heart jumped into his throat as she put her foot on his chest then leaned down and yanked the corkscrew out of his eye socket causing the man to scream out. She twirled the corkscrew in her hand for a moment before she jammed it into the man’s left thigh and twisted. He sat captivated. She made an annoyed noise and pulled the man’s tie off and shoved it in his mouth. His screams were muffled with the tie but Alastor could still hear them. She flipped the knife in her other hand and stabbed it into the man’s other thigh. The man’s muffled screams were music to Alastor’s ears. He remembered the man he had in front of him and looked down to see he had bled out already. He scowled and tossed the man’s body aside. He got up and moved over to Dorathy’s side.

-------------------------(read after here)

“Mo chè, you are captivating.” He murmured in her ear, “I had no clue you could be so ruthless.”

He ignored the arguing and walked into the back office. His eyes scanned the kitchen and dining area. Nothing looked out of place. He and Dorathy had put everything back in place the night before, but he felt the need to double check now that he was back at the scene. Alastor stayed still as Willson stormed past him into his office slamming the door as he did.

“Mr.Willson!” He heard Dorathy call out as she ran from the front after the man. 

Alastor felt an irritation rise in his chest as she called out to the other man. He shook himself free of the feeling. He had no reason to feel irritated that Dorathy was trying to get the manager's attention. After all, if she didn’t say something the two men would likely run the place to ruins. And yet irritation rose in his chest as she went into the man’s office alone.

He ignored the feeling and went back to the front of the studio to replace Robert in the booth. He ignored Robert’s jabs about tardiness, and went about plugging in his equipment. While mildly annoying to replace every shift, he did have to admit it was nice not to have to share all his equipment with Robert. The equipment that the other host used clearly was not well kept. Dorathy had mentioned to him in passing once that the host were supposed to clean it themselves to keep liability to a minimum. He had yet to see their equipment leave the studio for cleaning. He watched Robert leave, having only put the equipment in the corner once again. 

He put on his headset, checked the broadcast settings, and smiled as he settled in for the night.

It was some few hours later when he noticed Dorathy standing at the window waiting patiently. He nodded at her to let her know he had seen her. She smiled back nodding in return. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she put on the guest headset that let her listen in the booth from outside. 

“Well my friend, it certainly does sound like you have made quite the misstep! Chocolate cake and red wine is just asking for trouble. The chocolate will dominate the wine and your head! Do make better choices next time!” Alastor laughed into the microphone making sure to include a laughing sound effect as he did, “Well that’s all we have time for that listeners. Next we shall be listening to ‘In The Mood’ by Glenn Miller.”

He set the station to the music break, made sure his microphone was off and spun to face the view window. 

“Dorathy what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked with a smile.

He saw her laugh then reach out and press the speaker button. It crackled to life and her voice came through. “I just wanted to let you know that Mr.Willson has decided that while the afternoon shift is empty it is goin’ to be evenly split between you and Robert. Startin’ tomorrow you will be takin’ the latter three hours of the afternoon shift.” His eyebrow raised at the information.

“Mr.Willson decided that, did he?” He asked, doubting that the man suddenly came to such a clean solution after five months of mess.

“Mr.Willson agreed to it.” Dorathy acquiesced as she tried to fight off a smile. 

“And what did Robert have to say about this?” Alastor asked, amused. He crossed his legs and propped his elbow on his knee as he did waiting on her reply. 

She looked away for some reason before replying, “Robert did not answer his phone, and so will find out when he checks his answerin’ machine. Which means he may not find out till he comes in tomorrow.”

Leaning forwards he could see that Dorathy’s face was flushed. Was something wrong with her? Had she worked herself sick?

“Is something wrong, mo chè?” He asked, placing his feet back on the floor, “You look flush.”

“I-I’m fine I jus-just need to cool off! It’s, uhh, it’s hotter back here and I don’t spend this much time back here!” She stuttered as she quickly pulled the headset off and rushed off.

She was just glad that she didn’t have to deal with Robert anymore. He had been making the beginning of her shifts terrible for the last few months, and David was always a grouch when he first came in in the morning until he got coffee in him. Alastor had even been getting grumpy having to deal with Robert so much. 

She sighed as she walked up to the station. 

Hopefully the new guy wasn’t anything like Robert.

She grabbed the door to the studio and pulled it open. She was met by the cool air of the studio. She sighed in relief as she escaped the humid heat that the spring air had brought with it. Marggie sat behind the desk chatting with Mr.Jones, who was looking at her like she was something he could eat. Dorathy kept her disgust to herself as she politely called a greeting to the two, as she moved towards the back office. 

“Oh Dora,” Mr.Jones said as she passed. She stopped at his words.

“Yes sir?” She asked, biting back her usual response at being called Dora. 

“Would you keep an eye on the new host? He’s still on his probational period and we aren’t sure if we want to keep him or not.” He said. 

She knew this of course. 

“Yes sir.” She replied and paused for a moment before asking, “Is… Alastor still on his probationary period?”

Mr.Jones scoffed. “Of course that boy is still on his probationary period. Their kind has to prove themselves as really worth it. If he wasn’t so damn popular he wouldn’t still be here.”

“Of course sir…”

“Go on and get ready for your shift, Marggie’s got something to do after work.”

“Yes sir.”

Dorathy felt annoyed as she made her way to the back and reached her locker. Mr.Jones clearly wanted her to clock in early so he could take Marggie to whatever plans he had for her. She wasn’t supposed to be on the clock for another 25 minutes but it wasn’t like she could say no to management. She put her purse in her locker and made her way back to the front. She heard a peal of giggles as she walked into the front.

“Stop!” Marggie gasped. 

Dorathy ignored that Mr.Jones was biting the other woman’s neck.

“You had something to do?” She questioned flatly. Marggie had the decency to act embarrassed while Mr.Jones just chuckled and pulled her away from the desk.

“Yes. Have a good shift Dora. George already left so it will just be you and the new host after we leave.” Mr.Jones said not even pretending that he wasn’t leaving with Marggie.

“Thank you for telling me that Mr.Willson is gone. I hope you both have a nice day.”

She waited until the two left the station before she rolled her eyes. She may as well see what the new guy was made of. She reached over and turned the radio speakers on to hear how the show was going. Static filled the room before the station came through clearly.

“-ckie of course didn’t listen to what I told ‘em, so I taught ‘em a nice lesson.”

Dorathy scowled as she heard what she could only assume was a personal story from the host and quickly turned the speakers back off. If that was the kind of show he planned on running she didn’t care to listen in. She might just tell Mr.Jones that he was doing poorly to get him off the air as quickly as possible. Skewing a few numbers here or there depending on how well he was actually received wouldn’t be that hard. She would just move the numbers over to Alastor or Robert depending on what time they were in the day. It wouldn’t be the first time she removed such a blatantly racist host from the air. She reached into her side of the desk and grabbed the folder where she kept record of the night shift numbers and started calculating how much she could skew the numbers before Mr.Willson would become suspicious. 

Dorathy was so concentrated on her calculations she didn’t notice the front door bell ring, or Alastor leaning over the desk looking over her shoulder at her work until he spoke. 

“What, my dear, are you doing that has so fully captured your attention?”

She couldn’t help but jump, and close the folder quickly. None of the host were supposed to see their numbers until management went over them with them. She felt her face flush as she realized how suspicious her actions looked. She coughed to try and regain her composure. 

“The night shift numbers. You aren’t supposed to see your’s until management talks with you about ‘em.“

Alastor raised an eyebrow at her explanation. 

“I’ve never seen you work on those before.”

“I usually work on ‘em while host are in the booth.” Dorathy explained easily, “I lost track of time working on ‘em this time.”

“So you are personally responsible for deciding who succeeds and who fails at the station?” Alastor asked.

“Wh-What? I-I just report the numbers as we get ‘em!” Dorathy sputtered. 

She felt a slight panic that Alastor may have seen her skewing the numbers. While normally she would report the numbers as they came in, she just couldn’t abide by the station hiring someone like that. Terrible people made for terrible coworkers and if she could avoid working with them she would. If that meant lying every now and again, then maybe she would lie every now and again. 

Alastor wasn’t sure what the new host had done to get on Dorathy’s bad side but he had certainly seen her moving numbers away from the new host and onto his show. Now she was lying to his face about moving those numbers around. He wondered if she would admit to it if he told her that he had seen what she had been doing. His thought was interrupted by the request light going off. He expected Dorathy to be annoyed but go see what the new host needed. He was surprised to see disgust on her face, and for her to reach over and hit a switch he didn’t even know the front desk had turned the light off. 

“What was that?” He asked surprised. 

She blinked and the look disappeared from her face as she looked at him. He was oddly comforted by the fact that she didn’t look at him like that. Everyone else here looked at him with varying levels of disgust, but she never had. He couldn’t explain it but he was sure that it would feel like a betrayal if she did.

“Oh. I… don’t think he’s going to last long. He’s a bit too… extreme… in his ideologies. It won’t mesh well with our studio’s culture.” Dorathy said carefully. He noticed her fidgeting with her pencil as she spoke. 

“What does that mean?” He asked even though he had a feeling he knew.

“Well… Mr.Jones and Mr. Willson will usually trust me to… keep an eye on the new host to assess if they are good for the company.” Dorathy spoke as if she was worried.

“Do they always take your recommendation?”

“No…” She hesitated before adding, “But oftentimes they do.”

He stared at her. He felt revolution rolling in his stomach as realization came over him. She could have ended his career after he threatened her, and he would have been none the wiser. There is no way that Jones and Willson wouldn’t have blacklisted him from the industry. 

And yet. Here they both were. 

“What did he do, Dorathy.”  

She looked uncomfortable at the question. 

“You… don’t listen to the station do you?” 

He felt his brows furrow at the question. 

“Our station isn’t exactly to my taste.”

She nodded as if that answered something for her.

“Well… the new host is…” Her face scrunched up as she seemed to rethink how to word her sentence, “The new host’s taste in theatrics is more towards, mmm, lets say confederate in taste.”

Alastor understood. He wasn’t sure how he felt about how she was handling the situation. It felt underhanded. He worked hard and charmed his way to where he was. He had to be the best at what he did or else no one would give him a second glance. Looking at Dorathy he realized that while society may not look down on her for the color of her skin she still had to deal with the stigma of being a woman and clearly her tactics were different from his own when getting where she wanted in life. 

“Robert?” He asked. She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Robert’s not technically on my shift.” She huffed, “So his probation period wasn’t left up to me. He’s also past his probation an’ management don’t typically fire a host unless they have a replacement lined up or the host did something management really didn’t like.”

“So you evaluate afternoon and late night?” He asked.

“I should only do those two.” She said irritably.

“Should?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well they also have me evaluate early mornin’ as well.”

He felt his eyebrow twitch. He already didn’t like Margaret. She was rude and condescending to him when he took on the afternoon shifts. Now it sounded like management gave her as little to do as possible while Dorathy picked up everyone else’s slack. 

“So the one shift they don’t make you evaluate at this point is Robert’s.” He said flatly. Dorathy sighed, and looked away. He jolted slightly when she sat straight up suddenly.

“Bitch you ain’t answer my calls from the booth to talk to one of them?” an unfamiliar voice spat with venom in his voice. Alastor turned slowly and saw the new host standing in the doorway looking furious. 

Dorathy got up quickly standing between Alastor and the new host. Alastor reached out to pull her from in front of him, but the new host moved towards the two of them and they both took a step back. Alastor felt an itch to reach for his knife, but he was certain that he wouldn’t be able to get this man to leave willingly like he had with Spencer. He was taller and younger than Spencer had been. Spencer was in his early 50’s this man looked to be early 30’s. He looked like he could put up a somewhat decent fight and while Alastor relished in a good fight  with his hunts every now and again this was not the time nor place for such a thing. 

“You aren’t supposed to leave the booth before your shift ends.” She said evenly.

“You’re supposed to come when I call.” The man sneered.

“I was busy.”

“Talkin’ to a damn monkey?!” 

Alastor knew this wasn’t going to end well. This man was clearly too blinded by his hatred of others to try and talk down. Was this management's way of trying to sabotage him? Were they sabotaging Dorathy? Or were they just recklessly stupid with who they hire? It didn’t matter at this point, all that mattered was making it out of this alive. 

He looked around quickly.

The front door was out of the question. If someone saw a white man chasing a black man out into the street no one would do anything, and there was no way for Alastor to fight back out in the open. The back door was preferable, but far. No one would see them in the back ally ways, and Alastor would be able to take the man down. Plus if the forecast was to be trusted any extra evidence would be washed away by the storm.  The problem was Dorathy. While he was sure he could make it to the back before the man in front of them could catch them he wasn’t so sure about her. He also wasn’t so sure what would happen if she ran out the front and the maniac chased her instead of himself.  He realized that the only way he could ensure the outcome, and sighed as he resolved himself to it.

Swiftly, Alastor swept Dorathy’s feet out from under her and pulled her up into his arms. Her startled scream did nothing to stop him as he turned and ran as fast as he could into the back office, throwing her office chair in the other man's way as he did. The other man bellowed out a yell as he followed after them. Alastor was glad that Dorathy had wrapped her arms around his neck to make carrying her easier as well as throwing as many chairs in the way of the other man as he could as he ran for the back door. His heart was pounding in his chest as they got close to the door. He could hear the other man throwing the discarded chairs out of his way to get to them. He turned and slammed his back into the door to ram it open as they reached it, and with a spike of adrenalin he realized the other man was faster than he thought as he was only six feet away.

As soon as the door to the alleyway closed behind them Alastor looked quickly and saw a pile of garbage and threw Dorathy towards it. He ignored her scream and quickly pulled his knife out and ducked behind the door. He turned as he heard the idiot slam his shoulder into the door, so that his back would take the brunt of the force. The door bounced off his back and he heard the man stumble into the alleyway, but he couldn’t see Alastor in the shadows. 

The brute saw Dorathy sitting on the ground under the light looking terrified, and started stalking towards her. 

“Oh that monkey leave you all alone to save his skin now did he?” He laughed menacingly, “Well I’ll just have to have fun with you won’t I?”

Alastor came up behind the man and stabbed down into his neck and pulled back viciously. The brute’s hands flew up to his neck as he stumbled back from the harshness with which Alastor yanked his knife back with. It hadn’t come free since the clavicle was in the way, but he was sure that the motion had hurt just like he meant it to. He yanked his knife free of the man’s neck and smiled at the spray of blood that came with it. The man still bleeding out looked horrified as he slumped to the ground. Alastor grabbed his collar and dragged him farther into the shadows ready to make the man suffer more. Then he remembered that he wasn’t alone.

“No. No. NO. NO!” Dorathy gasped as she started skittering backwards away from the man.

---------(Skip if you don't like blood and such)

He back at Dorathy. She wasn’t looking at him. He could see her shaking like a leaf. She was staring at the ground while hugging her knees.

“I apologize that you were bait in that moment, but I had to be sure he would follow us back here.” He apologized. He truly wished he hadn’t had to use her in that way.

She didn’t say anything.

His brows furrowed.

“ ‘M not gonna hurt you, zwazo chante.” He said softly, his natural accent accidentally slipping out. He flinched internally since he hadn’t let anyone he worked with hear his natural accent. 

He let go of the man’s collar and wiped his hands off on the other man’s pants. He walked cautiously over to her. She didn’t seem to react to him as he crouched next to. She finally reacted when he reached out to touch her by flinching harshly. He pulled his hand back and put his hands up in mock surrender as she finally looked at him.

-----------------(safe past this point)

She blinked up at him, and he felt embarrassed. He had let her see too much. She looked down and he noticed she was pulling at the threads on the hem of her skirt.

“He was gonna rape me.” She had said it so quietly Alastor almost missed it.

“I wouldn’t have let that happen.”

He was surprised by the bitter laugh that came from her.

“I‘ve heard that before.”

He felt a cold anger settle in the pit of his stomach as he asked, “What?”

She shook her head. Her eyes still didn’t meet his. 

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” She insisted. He reached over grabbing her chin and made her look him in the eye. He could feel her fingers grazing the bottom of his wrist, but she made no move to remove his hand. 

“That didn’t sound like nothin’.” He pressed.

“Y-You won’t find ‘em anyways.” 

“I’m very good at findin’ those who’ve angered me, mo chè.” He pressed closer to make himself clear.

“Mama was thorough.”

He leaned back at those words, and looked at Dorathy in stunned shock before laughing.