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Judelow was in a bit of a pickle.
You see, being an informant came with it's own specific set of predicaments that Jude had honestly thought he had mastered getting around. Years of perfecting his craft of saccharine smiles and clever words had perhaps given him a false sense of security. Surely, no one will shoot the golden egg laying goose, right?
However, his current situation would prove it otherwise.
One of his clients had been pestering him for information he wasn't sure he could just give away without compromising his own safety. After all being an informant was all about playing both fields. But really, who would Jude be without endangering his safety by keeping in touch with both parties? Of an ongoing nasty beef in the 'underworld', nonetheless. Air quotations, because in Jude's frank opinion, neither side was all that.
Or so he had thought.
He had genuinely thought he could get away by leaking bits and pieces of information without really giving his intentions away. He had thought he was safe. After all he was a valuable link in the chain of the great underworld network system. He could even be considered notorious in his humble opinion.
He had never accounted for any possible snitch being hidden within one of the parties, who had caught onto his little game and thus put him in this fantastic situation where he was being taken out back and being beaten to a pulp. Joy.
The landing of hits after hits had stopped registering after the first nine or so punches ago. Delirious, all he could do is smile as condescendingly as he could manage while taking multiple hits to his face and belly. If he dies here, he's dying with that shit eating grin plastered on his face. These motherfuckers wouldn't even know what they're losing by taking him out.
By the time the hits stop, Jude has long forgotten how much time has passed, the sudden hush falling over the alleyway snapped him back into awareness. And then the hand holding his collar let go of him and he gracelessly fell to his knees. Palms hitting the grimy pavement and doing nothing to stop his fall.
It took him a while to realise that his ears were ringing, he couldn't even hear himself cough his lungs out. His head hurt like bitch, though. Jude squeezed his eyes shut, taking a moment to breath. The sound of his own inhales and exhales sounded weird to his ears.
When the ringing dissipated, Jude could finally breathe normally, the adrenaline still in his system kept his mind off of all the injuries and pain, for now. But god, he knew everything will start hurting like hell the moment he lets himself register that all of that was over.
Cool metal pressed under his chin, lifting his head upwards. When Jude opened his eyes, there was a pair of heavy platform boots standing in front of him, and he motherfucking knew exactly who those belonged to.
The metal sheath of a long, curved blade forced him to look up and make eye contact with diluted green eyes, "Oh, a rat. In an alleyway, who's even surprised."
And Jude could only respond with his signature cocky smile, hoping that the hammering of his heart and half lidded tired eyes doesn't take away the practiced suaveness of it.
Sharpness was an enemy. Well, sort of. Occasionally. He wasn't really affiliated with any of the mobs in the so called underworld, but rather, he was a one man army. Acted completely on his own whim. But then again, it wasn't as if he was functioning based on strict morals, not really.
After years of being in the business and having his own run ins with the man, Jude has come to realise that, Sharpness was truly an enigma. He operated in was that was entirely unpredictable. And it didn't seem to be an intentional thing either.
They didn't get along. Because Sharp's methods automatically made him enemies with almost every other group, and Jude's work required him to be in good graces of all of those groups. So any time they run into each other, things usually don't end well.
Except the few times Sharpness had to become his client, of course. Jude was very familiar with the slick black beauty that usually carried Sharpness around. He could disagree with Sharp's methods all he wanted, but he could never disagree with his taste in bikes.
"Why the hell were they beating you up?" Sharpness asked, lazily lowering his sword. Because this guy has to be extra and use a fucking sword, and he is good enough to never really need any other weapon while fighting either. It always pissed Judelow off.
"You know how it goes. Played both sides, got caught, yada yada." Jude brought up a Shakey hand to wipe off the blood on his chin. Busted lips stung like hell, and so did the torn skin on his jaw. He doesn't even think he has the energy to get back home without passing out on the road, cleaning up all the wounds and stitching himself up is something that would have to wait.
"Oh, too bad I interrupted," Sharp hung the sword on his hips, and suddenly Jude realised that there were bodies strewn about at the opening of the alley, and his heart beat faster. If Sharpness wanted him to join in on the pile, he would be able to do a grand total of nothing to defend himself. He wouldn't be able to hold off on his own against Sharpness even if he was at full health.
But the sword was not only sheathed, but also put to rest against Sharp's hips, and his body language told Jude that there was no threat. Sharpness wasn't going to jump him.
It left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't want to see the other in any sort of positive light. But then Sharp grabbed him by the arm, surprisingly, his left arm which was not injured, and hauled him up. Dizziness hit Judelow in an instant as he swayed on his feet for a bit.
Sharpness' motives were unclear, sure, but even in his state Jude didn't feel any hostility radiating form the man. In fact, the swordsman gave him time to steady himself before letting go of his arm.
"Come on with me now, if you still wanna be alive."
It wasn't out of character for the man to offer kindness, or whatever close to it that he could offer, to Judelow of all people. They weren't allied, sure, but Jude was still useful to him. There weren't many underworld mechanics that could fix up Sharpness' beloved bike with as much care as Jude always put into it.
"Are you taking me to your secret safe house to patch me up or something?" Jude joked even through the crushing pain in his skull, he couldn't tell if it was a concussion or something worse. Surprisingly, they didn't break any of his legs, he could walk just fine.
"You wish."
They exited the alley and Jude instantly spotted the bike waiting for them on the road. He couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips, he knew her very intimately after all. She was always a sight for sore eyes, unlike her owner.
Okay, maybe the concussion is getting to him, that one has to be a lie.
Sharpness motioned at him to wait on the sidewalk as he got on the bike. Jude leaned against a lamp post, blurry eyes trained on Sharpness as the sword mater secured his helmet over his head, braid and all, before revving up the bike. the crisp roar of the engine sounded satisfying to Jude's ears.
"Get on." Sharp titled his head at Jude, without his face visible, he somehow looked more intimidating than Jude knew him to be. He suppressed a shiver at Sharp taking off his sheathed sword and slotting it in the designated holster along the bike's body. Stupid idea, if you asked Jude, he had told Sharp to not get that thing done. But it seemed it all had fallen on deaf ears, after all.
"Come on." Sharpness snapped him back to the situation. Jude blinked to clear his thoughts from his head.
Like hell he was going to get on the backseat of Sharpness's bike.
"Well, then you can just stand there and bleed to death." Sharp said, the engine growled under him, but he made no move to leave.
"Was I talking out loud?"
"You can't even tell if you're talking or not?" Sharp tilted his head, the black tinted visor caught light from the near by streetlight, "Maybe we shouldn't go back to the garage then."
Jude stepped forward, towards the edge of the sidewalk, ignoring the pain in his skull as he swung one leg over the bike seat, "We're going back to my workshop?"
"Where else do you wanna go, rat?"
Sharpness waited till Jude was sat behind him, before glancing back once. Jude couldn't see his face but he couldn't help but feel judged through the visor nonetheless. He shifted slightly, one hand grabbing onto the rear of the bike for support.
And then suddenly the bike jerked forward, before abruptly stopping, making Jude's head almost collide against Sharp's helmet. His hands instinctively flew off the rear to find purchase on Sharp's waist, trying to steady himself.
"Hey!"
"Hold onto me. It you fall off half way through the ride, I'd atleast like to know so I don't go all the way to the workshop for nothing." Sharpness snorted when a weak punch landed on his shoulder.
But Jude did as he was told. He couldn't even find it in himself to feel embarrassed about it through the pain and exhaustion. He just wanted to be back home as soon as fucking possible.
"Tch, Don't get too excited just 'cus you got a beauty on your backseat." Jude grumbled.
"Don't get too cocky, now. Be greatful I'm even chauffeuring you around, princess."
Jude was surprised to find that he somehow had enough blood left in himself to feel his cheeks heat up. Motherfucker. He'll get back at the bumass once he stops feeling like ground meat, for sure.
Jude felt Sharpness chuckle against his chest. Maybe if he was a bit more coherent he'd have the decency to put atleast a bit more gap between himself and Sharp. Right now though, he didn't care. Sharp was warm and the night air was cold, even colder as the speed picked up. Huh, Jude didn't remember the ride even starting.
Half way through the ride, Jude's head found it's place on Sharp's shoulder. The other didn't seem to mind the blood and sweat slowly soaking up his leather jacket, and Jude was too tired to second guess his own actions. On the flip side, Sharp's Cologne smelled nice.
The ride went smoothly, at least as far as Jude remembered.
By the time the bike slowed down a bit, Jude stirred awake from his little impromptu nap. Yeah, that sounded better than passed out from blood loss and exhaustion against his not-really-enemy mid bike ride.
The bike jerked to a stop. Blearily, Jude opened his eyes to take account of his surroundings. Familiar roads, faint smell of motor oil in the air. He was home.
"Wake up, rat. We're here." Sharp shrugged the shoulder Jude was lying on, but Jude didn't budge. He didn't really wanna get up just yet. His head will kill him if he moved it even an inch, he knew it.
Distantly, Jude heard familiar roller shutters rattle.
"We're closed- oh!" Parker exclaimed, then whistled, "Look what the cat dragged in."
He sounded way too excited for Jude's liking. Jude cursed internally. He was probably never going to hear the end of that.
"So, what did you do?" Parker asked, voice closer now. The muted scent of oil and grease calmed Jude's nerves down. He'd never thought he'd miss the workshop this much after a hard day of work.
"If I had done this, why'd I bother to bring him here?" Sharp's back rumbled as he spoke, annoyed tone doing more to amuse Parker than anything.
"Oh?" Parker dragged the syllable out.
"He should be greatful I didn't kill his ass right then and there." Jude finally detached himself from Sharpness' back, squeezing his eyes shut as the world instantly tilted around him as if to protest against his every movement.
"Aw, you saved him? So you were the knight in shining armor?"
"Enough, parker." Jude slurred, and instantly cringed at how his voice sounded. He put on feet on the ground, bracing himself before swinging the other one over to fully land on the pavement. Only for his knees to almost give away under him right as he landed.
But before he could hit the ground Parker steadied him.
"What you don't think he'd be a good knight in shining armor? Like come on, he carried you here on his royal stead even!-" A sharp jab to his chest cut Parker off.
"Stop."
"You're just mad cus you're the snobbish princess!"
Sharpness only huffed, "With that attitude? He fits the role of a damsel in distress alright." He leaned forward, resting his folded arms on the handle of the bike. Jude's eyes fell on Sharp's annoying soft green ones, only to realise that he swordsmaster was looking directly at him, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.
And seriously, how did Jude still have enough blood in his system for it to reach his face in bulks like that, jeez. He hated when his cheeks got warm, he already felt feverish enough.
"Okay, let's get you inside now." Parker steadied him by his arm, and suddenly Jude was aware of how he was fully leaning on Parker to stay upright. The pain in his skull that had dulled to a throb during the ride was slowly getting worse by the second, too.
"Yeah, or else all my hard work will be for nothing." Sharpness chimed in, right before the loud roaring of engine made Judelow wince.
Parker put one of his arms over his head, holding Jude up by his waist, "Okay, now say 'thank you', Jude."
"Fuck you." Jude managed to whisper.
"No need for thanks, just fix my bike for free every few weeks, that'd be enough." Sharpness put the helmet back on, before swiftly turning the bike around.
"See ya," he said, before turning his head towards Jude's general direction, "Princess."
The teasing tilt of his voice didn't register for a few second, and Jude gasped, almost offended at his own heart for fluttering at that stupid nickname. But before he could say anything the swordsmaster was already on his merry way, the roars of the engine echoed in the quiet of the night.
"That was cute." Jude smacked Parker's face, making the taller man giggle, but his arms remained secured around Jude regardless.
"Shut the hell up."
"Okay, now let's get you patched up."
"Fuck off."
"So you can be all put together and ready for your little boyfriend to sweep you off feet."
"Oh my god, Parker!"