Truthfully, Kit wasn’t a thought in Andy’s mind over the last few months. He was still a pain in the ass and the two hadn’t settled anything, but it became second nature for them to both ignore and/or dodge the other. It’s routine by this point, with Kit no longer being bold enough to push back against the club. Or at least, not in front of Andy. He’d be liar if he said he didn’t miss his friend, as well as the one person from Rowan’s family that didn’t detest him — But he’d thankfully had the distraction of four children, a move, Reina’s recovery, and his own struggle to remain sober over the last few months to keep his mind off the topic. He’d seen Kit in passing mostly – The other man only seems half present these days, but then again Andy wasn’t exactly sure what was going on in his day to day.
Andy’s night at been spent at the auto shop, working late figuring out the rattling noise his bike had been making all week – It was a nice distraction, something to keep him occupied for a few hours before heading home. Forcing himself to pause when the front desk girl began to close up, he took the tow truck home for the evening, despite knowing that Rowan will lecture him about how unsafe the car is in the morning. At a red light, he starts a text to his wife – One to let her know he’ll be home soon for bath and bed time, so that she’s not stuck putting all of the kids to bed on her own. That had been the plan, at least.
He spots a few guys to his right, in some alley between building. Normally Andy wouldn’t think much of it – Olympus was a pretty violent place, and he wasn’t going to stick his neck out for some idiot who was probably getting what was coming to them. That was, however, all under the notion that he didn’t notice the leather cut on the man in questions back once he doubled over and landed in the view of the street light. Eyes rolled at the sight, grumbling profanities under his breath as he put the truck in park. Even if it was inconvenient, he wasn’t going to leave a club member to get their asses handed to them – Clearly, this guy wasn’t going to win this fight. He quickly typed out a message to Rowan: Gonna be late. I’ll call in a minute and explain. before pocketing his phone and hopping out of the tow truck. The guys beating up the man didn’t pay his much mind, at least giving Andy an element of surprise.
The closer her got to the scene, the quicker he realized who was getting his ass kicked – Kit. Somehow, it didn’t surprise him, but his jaw tensed and hand instinctively reached for the gun tucked in his waistband. Kit was a fucking idiot in his book, but that didn’t mean Andy was interested in letting him die in the street – Or pass out in an alley until some poor schmuck found him the next morning about to choke on his own blood. “Hey,” he called out, pulling his gun out to fire three warning shots into the air above them, managing to scare off all but one of the attackers – Andy grabbed him by the back of his collar, forcefully yanking him away from Kit before shoving him in the opposite direction. “Piece of shit,” he spit at him as the man ran off, while Andy tucked his gun back into the waistband of his pants. Turning his attention back to Kit, he grimaced, squatting down to his former friend’s level. “Hey, jackass – You hear me?” He tests first, moving to try and get his friend back on his feet. “C’mon, man. Get on your feet.” Andy continues, knowing he’s not going to make it home anytime soon.
Several times Kit tried to stand or at least get onto his knees, but he felt as if he were falling into quick sand. Foolishly, the man had no form of self defence on his body other than his own hands. Perhaps he had subconsciously been waiting for such an event to happen just so he could feel something. At times he would feel everything or nothing at all, depending on the level of narcotics burning through his veins. But this was tangible, this he knew was real, and not something his brain has conjured up. Kit’s mind willed himself to fight, but his body couldn’t keep up. He felt as if he were two seconds behind and every swing of his fist felt sloppy and uncalculated. Granted it was five men against one, but they always seemed to have one up on him and it wasn’t long until he felt his fire to survive whither away into ashes.
Time felt as if it had slowed as Kit hit the floor for the final time, dismally accepting his fate and waiting for the beating to be over. Maybe he deserved it, maybe this was sweet sweet karma for all the shit he had put his friends through over the past few months. Another kick to the abdomen, another punch to the jaw. There was blood from something somewhere, and Kit felt a surging pain in his side that was only worsened by another brute force. He silently begged to slip away into unconsciousness, knowing that way it would be over soon a whole lot quicker. His vision began to blur as his surroundings felt dizzying, but with three harsh bullets piercing the air, Kit fiercely blinked himself awake, wondering if that was his saviour or just someone coming to finish the job.
Any other time, the sight of Andy would cause Kit’s stomach to turn and he would immediately find the closest exit. But in the situation he had found himself in, Andy’s presence brought about a wave of relief. Everything was going to be alright. He was a man who held grudges - clearly - but he had never been a man to turn his back on the club or its members, regardless of the strains between them. Although Andy was more than a club member to Kit, he was family, and Kit hoped that had also influenced the man’s decision to step in. Knowing that the men were hastily fleeing the scene, Kit’s head fell back against the floor as he closed his eyes, his arms wrapping around his torso as if he were holding himself together.
“Hospital.” Kit barely even whispered as any small inhale caused a stabbing pain in his side. He winced and wheezed as he scrambled to roll onto his side, and with several groans through gritted teeth, he barely made it onto his knees. Kit paused there, his head hanging low as his body screamed out in pain. “Take me to the hospital.” he managed to exhale as he tirelessly clambered to his feet, almost putting the entirety of his weight onto Andy just to help him stay upright.
