Because You're Mine

Murphy was standing on the fire escape outside smoking. It had been the fifth one since he and Connor left the diner. He had been trying to figure out why Lennon had acted so indifferent towards them. Had she decided that she wanted nothing to do with them anymore and was just going to ignore them? Was she pretending that they had never even become friends? It was driving him mad. He wanted to talk to her badly, and was waiting, impatiently, for her to get home. As soon as the light came on in her apartment, he was going to tap on the window and ask her to talk to him.

He put out the cigarette and was debating on whether or not to go ahead and light another, or just wait. That's when he heard it. Rushed footsteps on the sidewalk. He walked to the end of the fire escape, and leaned forward, trying to see the street below. He could barely see the sidewalk in the dim lighting. He was sure there was more than one set of footsteps, maybe three altogether. Someone was running, no, not running, they were just walking quickly.

Then he heard a man's voice, "Hey sexy, were ya headed this late at night?" There was low chuckling. Two people laughing.

There was silence, other than the footsteps.

"Hey, didn't you hear me?" the voice called again.

A woman's voice replied. A familiar woman's voice. "I'm just going home. Worked late, ya know." Lennon.

"You shouldn't be out by yourself this late. It's dangerous," came a third voice, another man. The other one that had been laughing with the first.

Lennon didn't reply. Murphy seen her pass by the alley in the darkness. She was in trouble. Or at least, she was going to be. Quickly, he descended the fire escape. It didn't go all the way to the ground, so when he got to the bottom, he had to jump. He landed on his feet in a crouch and stood straight. As he ran to the end of the alley, he seen the two men quickly approaching Lennon. He quickened his pace.

When he got to the sidewalk, Lennon was standing on the steps of the building the two men were walking up the steps. "Leave me alone," Lennon demanded. She was trying to sound confident, but her voice cracked, and the fear was evident.

"We just want to have a little fun," the second man said, or had it been the first? Murphy couldn't tell. He imagined sick smiles on their unseen faces.

"Hey!" he called out, getting their attention. They turned to look at him. "She said to leave her alone."

"This doesn't concern you." It was the same one that had just spoken.

"She's my friend, I think it does concern me."

The two men looked at each other and smiled. They came down the steps, walking towards Murphy. "I've been itching for a good fight," the first one muttered.

Murphy assumed a fighting stance.

"Murphy, you're crazy," Lennon said, fear even more obvious in her voice. "You can't take on both of them by yourself."

Ignoring her, Murphy swung as soon as they were in reach. He nailed one of the men in the jaw with a right hook punch, but he didn't go down. He just stumbled back a few steps. Murphy took the opportunity to hit the other one with a left cross punch. He was fending them off well, but by himself, it wasn't going to last long. "Go get Connor!" he yelled to Lennon.

She nodded and pulled the door to the building open. She ran up the stairs as quickly as she could, not wanting to waste time waiting on the elevator. She banged on the door loudly until a very tired Connor opened it. He was rubbing his eyes, which he was currently squinting. "Lennon?" He wasn't completely awake, and wasn't entirely sure it was her that he was seeing.

"Murphy's in trouble, come on!"

Not waiting for a response, she grabbed his hand and took off down the hall, dragging him behind her. He was stumbling to keep up with her, still trying to wake up fully, and let his eyes adjust to the new lighting. They ran outside just in time to see Murphy being held by one of the men. His arms were pulled behind his back and the other man was punching him repeatedly in the face. Lennon cried out in fear, shock, and horror.

Something about the scene in front of him jerked Connor into complete consciousness. Connor shouted at the men, getting their attention. They seemed happy to have another punching bag arrive on the scene. Connor ran down the steps as Murphy was thrown to the ground. With their attention on Connor, Lennon took the opportunity to run to Murphy's side.

She touched his arm and he rolled onto his back, looking up at her. Blood glistened on his face in the moonlight. He had a black eye, a bloodied nose, and a busted lip. "Murphy," she said softly, gingerly stroking his cheek, "you stupid, sweet fool."

Murphy didn't say anything, he just laid there, staring up at her, a goofy grin plastered to his face.

"We need to get you inside."

"Connor..."

Lennon glanced at Connor and smiled to see that the two-on-one situation was nothing that Connor couldn't handle. He already had one of the men laying on the ground, his arms wrapped around his mid-section as he groaned in pain. Connor knocked the other one to the ground next to him. "Get out of here!" he shouted to them. They scrambled to their feet and as they took off running Connor yelled after them, "And if I ever see you again, you'll be in a much worse condition."

He turned to look at Lennon and Murphy. "What happened?" he asked.

"I'll explain when we get him inside," Lennon said.

Connor nodded and helped pull Murphy to his feet.