throw down your gun, you might shoot yourself

COMM: break in
VERSE: canon
WORD COUNT: 841



It was something he learned as a kid.

Ray stalked around the car, tapping his knuckles on the hood and roof as he passed them by. He hadn't had reason to do this often - he usually hotwired his own car when he lost his keys, or in very, very rare cases, hotwiring the Cortina because Gene was somewhere without it, and the call had come in to get the hell where Gene was. Employing that little used, but well honed talent, on something other than the Guv's car and his piece of shit one was a right treat.

He stopped at the driver's side door and jiggled the handle to no avail. He smiled to himself. Getting to smash in a window was always fun to do, and he removed his jacket to wind it around his elbow. Windows never broke in movies, Ray knew that, but he also knew how to break them. Ray aimed his elbow at one spot in his window, pulled it back, then slammed it down with all the force he could muster.

Pain spiked up his arm, but the glass cracked and began to give. Ray gave it one last smash and the window collapsed in, little bits and pieces folding inwards like some weird sheet. He stuck his hand in and yanked open the door. He brushed his hand across the seat and flopped in without much care. It was just a matter of getting things open to get at the wire, and that was a piece of cake.

Plus, he came prepared. All he needed was a screwdriver, and bam, it was open, providing him access to all the wires he needed. He tapped the ashes of his fag out the broken window, cracked his fingers, and got to the delicate work of hotwiring. A wire here, one crossed there. All and all it was confusing work for anyone who didn't know jack shit about cars and theft.

"Carling? What're you up to?"

Ray lifted his head up calmly, and flashed a smooth, guilt-free smile at the man. "Just messin' around, Tony. Figured you weren't usin' this junker for anythin', and it were me day off."

Tony sat down on the hood and smirked. "Thought you weren't into that anymore."

He crossed another wire and the engine roared to life. "Nah. Still into it, just can't do it. Guv'd have my head if I went 'round stealing cars." Ray slid back out of the car to speak to the man face to face.

Tony was a dark haired, wiry, shady sort of bloke dressed in grease covered overalls. He owned the car, he owned the other cars around the lot, and worked as a mechanic as a hobby. The man clapped Ray on his shoulder and tried to lift Ray's cigarettes off him with his other hand. Before he cleaned up his act, Ray remembered, he was an ace pickpocket. Ray stole cars, and Tony stole wallets.

"You coulda told me you were coming to visit," Tony said as he removed both his hands, Ray's pack of cigs in one of them. "I could have done something about that piece of shit you drive."

Ray laughed and snatched his pack from Tony's hand. "Yeah, maybe. But I wasn't really gonna make it a social visit." He tapped two cigarettes out and passed one to his old mate. "Just needed to see if I could still do it on sommat other than my car."

"Oh, so you were gonna make me out like the poor folks you used to steal from, eh?" He snatched the cig from his hand and produced Ray's lighter from apparently nowhere, causing Ray's ire to rise a bit. "I'm hurt, Carling. I thought we were mates."

"I think you're bein' a bit of a hypocrite, Tony," Ray said, taking his lighter back. "Your motor's still here. And I'm the one havin' to get my stuff back."

Tony took a deep drag. "So where's the kid what runs with you now? That Skelton bloke."

Ray shrugged. "Visitin' his mum."

"Momma's boy, huh? Sounds like a shite excuse for a copper."

His smile went from something amiable to something almost more sinister, just a bit more disturbed. "You insult him, you insult me, Tony. I'd watch your tongue if I were you."

"Hey, hey, no offense meant, Carling. I were just sayin'-"

"What you were sayin' is 'I'm a twonk who never learned to shut his bloody mouth'." Tony held his hands up in surrender, and Ray let it go, tossing his old fag to the ground and replacing it with the one he had tapped out only moments before. "How much to replace the window?"

Tony shrugged. "Don't worry 'bout it. S'just a window."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Ain't gonna cause me a problem."

Ray grinned and slung his arm around Tony. "How 'bout we get out of here and have us some fun? Almost like old times."

Tony tilted his head to the side, then nodded. "Like old times."