Work Text:
It's quite late in the afternoon, it's almost evening. You are out alone to a shop nearby to buy a few devices Hal needed for one of his projects.
As a computer programmer yourself, you were more than glad to help him out; computer shops are basically a second home to you: whenever you enter inside one, you are immediately captured by the electronics on display. If you could, you would definitely spend hours admiring them all, one by one. However, you are on a mission and you are dead set on completing it. No time for distractions.
You are shopping quietly when you hear heavy footsteps behind you. Initially you don't think much of it, but when you notice that in the exact moment when you moved, the person behind you moved as well, you raise your guard up.
You quickly grab whatever was left to buy and go to the counter. A young woman in her 20s, completely oblivious to what is happening, greets you with a smile.
"Hello, I would like to buy these please." you say, quickly putting your shopping basket on the counter. As the lady scanned your items, you look behind you to glance at the man who is following you now casually scrolling through his phone, pretending to be waiting in line.
After you pay and leave the store, you hear the spund of footsteps following you even as you're carrying your stuff and walking back to your place. You tale out your phone and immediately call your partner: Hal.
While you are walking in the streets with a random stranger tailing you, he is at home, spending his time coding, the sound of him typing on the keyboard filling the room.
He picks up the phone on the first ring, his voice getting concerned immediately as he reads who the caller is: "Hello?"
"Hal... I need help." You answer in a panic.
"W-Whoa, hey... It's okay, I'm here. W-What kind of help do you need?" he asks, with one hand tightly gripping his phone and the house keys with the other, ready to get up from his seat and get out to the rescue.
"Someone is following me ever since I got inside the computer store, and... I don't know what to do... Please, help me."
"Tell me this first, my dear: how many steps behind you are they?"
You answer, trying to keep your cool: "I... I don't know how far behind they are... and I don't want to look."
Understandable, he thought, you're scared. Hal breathes deeply before saying: "Okay then... Right now, do you think you can get out of his sights by running straight to home?"
"I have just got out of the store, Hal. I don't think so." You say, confused by his question. "What do you want me to do?"
Meanwhile, the man behind you keeps following you. The sun is setting, and the citylights won't be on for one hours. Running isn't an option: you are carrying a shopping bag with the devices for Hal in your hands; you didn't want to accidentally trip and break them. Not only that, you might alert the man's attention and he could start running too. And what if he is faster than you? What if he attacks you?
"Please... Stay on the line and wait. I think I have a plan." says Hal.
With that, he resumed typing on his computer. He is doing it faster than before, now on a pressure to guide you home safely. By taking advantage of the active phone call, he gets your exact location to quickly insert it into the first mapping application he can find installed on his computer. He wants to keep an eye on you and your movements: spending time to choose an app is a waste of time. With you position as the starting pooint and your home as the destination, he talks again, his eyes paying close attention to the map:
"I have an alternative route ready. You'll have to take a few secondary streets, but you'll be fine. You only have to trust me."
"Okay, I'm listening." You answer. His voice and his confidence in his plan seem to calm you down.
"Keep walking at a steady pace. Don't slow down, don't speed up. Just keep walking. At the first crossroad, turn left."
You look at the crossroad in front of you just a few steps ahead. You keep walking at a constant pace and then, just as he recommended you, you turn left into a secluded street.
"Okay, good." says Hal over the phone. "Do you see the trashcan on the right? When you turn that way, move it in the middle of the path."
"Are you serious? It's disgusting, Hal!" You complain.
"That's the point. A random person who starts stalking you out of the blue is quite rare, but a stalker willing to move a run-down and disgusting trash can to follow someone is even rarer."
"Um... What?"
"Just... Trust me, okay? After you do that, keep walking, turn left and then right. If you stay on the sidewalk, you'll arrive at home in just two minutes." He reassures you that everything will be alright and ends the call.
You are left puzzled, but you have no other choice but to follow his directions. As soon as you see the big trashcan on the side of the street, you move it behind you in the exact way he suggested you to do, then keep going until you reached the sidewalk. You look behind you: there is no longer a man in sight. That's when you make a run for your house's door, knocking frantically to get Hal's attention. You can hear his footsteps approaching from inside to open the door: when he turns the knob to invite you in, you immediately jump into his arms, hugging him tightly as if he is your lifeline.
Hal returns the hug, moving a hand up and down your back to soothe you. "It's okay, my dear... It's okay... No one is following you anymore."
"I was so scared... Thank you, Hal..." You whisper over and over. "You're my safe place."