Eastbound and Down (Open, Bullock)

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

It had been a nice day at work and Vic had left the station and headed to a Gotham Precinct near Robinson park in her car and took her own horse, a massive black American Quarter Horse, named Vasago, out of the stables. A few weeks after moving to Gotham and making arrangements with the GCPD stables her father had him travelled up to her by way of a trucker friend of his that transported livestock that had to pass through that area of the country anyway.

She wore her normal work garb, preferring her bandero hat today. Her spurs always clicked and dragged when she walked. After saddling Vasago, whom she rode around the park mostly on her days off, she took him out of the stable. The saddle was black with silver threading, she had ordered it custom made from Spain many years ago. She paid one of the stable boys an extra $50 a week to makesure Vasago got a good brushing every two days. She tended to get a little busy at times.

After a little riding around the park she decided to take him around the city, tourists kept taking pictures of her, probably thinking she was some sort of local time-period character type of street actor. She just rolled her eyes and kept moving along slowly. Occasionally she'd stop and let some kids pet him and feed him a slice of apple she kept for him in a pocket in a little plastic baggie.

After about 45 minutes of riding her way back toward main headquarters she got a call from Bullock...

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey had been running errands driving around in his classic Impala when the call on the bank robbery came through. He was nearby and roared his engine to respond as soon as he could, and got there in time to see the robber pedal at top speed into the park.

He just got a glimpse so couldn't give an accurate description. He slammed on his brakes at the front of the bank which brought forth many horn blows and universal gestures of Gotham love at him as he ran into the bank. He saw the guard was a down, a GCPD officer who part-timed as a guard. He'd been shot by his own gun and it was no where to be found.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Vic directly knowing she was giving her horse a walk.

"Man down at the Gotham Fed Reserve! Suspect escaped headin' into th' park on a bike n' prob'ly armed! Are you near?"

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic answered his call and before she could say hello he started psouting off about a bank robbery. She turned around back toward the park and squeezed Vasago with the spurrs just enough to get him moving. She reached pulled a .45 Magnum off her hip and shot it in the air.

"Got it, Bull-Bull." was all she said before hanging up on Harvey. She pulled a police radio from her breast pocket, turned it up loud, and spoke to dispatch.

"This is officer Valentine, I'm nearby to pursue robbery suspect, can I get a description, dispatch, over."

They described the suspect and she put the radio on her jacket lapel so she could keep listening to it or Harvey as they would radio to her. Vasago's sire was a Kentucky Derby Champion and his mother had been from a long line of very well bread American Quarter horses. He was a young but very well trained horse. She kicked the spurrs a little bit harder and he was unstoppable. She was going down a city street and shot her gun in the air every few seconds to give people the idea to get the hell out of her way. She got back to the park quickly and began riding in search of her perp.

Eventually she spotted someone on a bike that looked like what dispatch described. Vasago was rushing forward, gaining on him. The guy looked back when he heard the hooves hitting the ground. His eyes widened and Vic began to yell at him.

"Gotham City Police, stop the bike and hit the ground, son."

The man pointed his gun and shot, he missed the first time. The second shot happened to catch Vic in the right shoulder.

Vic was very angry now. She beckoned Vasago to go even faster, the horse unfazed by the firefight. Vic switched her Magnum out for her Megastar. She waited a moment, exacting her aim and the guy shot toward her twice more. Once she got her shot lined up she fired. The shot would cause the perp to lose control as she had just shot him square in his ass. After he hit the ground and lost his gun she pulled the reins, halting Vasago.

"Woah, woah, good."

The guy was writihing in pain trying to reach for his gun and get up. Vic said something to Vasago. The horse calmly walked up to the man and delicately placed a hoove on his back. The man stopped moving and yelled at Vic.

"A cop willing to trample a guy with a horse?"

Vic smirked a little bit, but then put a hand to her wound and then drew her hand back from the bleeding wound.

"You shot one of my officers, you shot at me. I only gotta say one word and my horse here will crack your skull if I so wish him,too."

"Aww, f**k you, c**t!"

Vic quickly pulled Vasago's reins, the horse kicked his front legs up and turned away. The perp tried to start getting up and run away and then vic shot him in the other cheek. He screamed out again. She got off Vasago, got down on the ground, and handcuffed the guy. She then lifted him up and threw him over the back of vasago face down. She radioed back into the station.

"I've got him, I don't know what kind of jackass tries to pull a bank robbery off on a bicycle."

After getting off the perp kept cursing at her and moaning about getting shot in ass and how much a of a bitch she was. She came around the other side of Vasago and lifted the man's head up by his hair and looked him in the eye.

"Bub, I'm from Texas and you give me enough lip I'll shoot you a third time and I ain't tellin you where I'm gonna do it. Now, with that out of the way, you are under arrest for armed robbery, likely murder of a peace officer, armed assault of a peace officer, and being a god damn idiot. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.
Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?
"

The guy spit in her face. She took a moment, wiped it off with a bandana in one of her pockets, and then she got back on her horse. She set the perp to wear he was sitting on Vasago on his rear end. He moaned and groaned in pain again. She smacked Vasago on his side.

"Make a round, ya old meatball."

The perp screamed and yelled as he bounced up and down on the horse as it gently trotted in a few circles.

"God, I love that horse. He's getting some extra apples tonight."

Vic's wound had ruined the entire lapel of her jacket, she didn't seem to pay it much mind until she realized she whould probably try to get it out. She pulled a knife from her back pocket and tried to pry it out.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey's car roared into view a enormous cloud of white smoke filled teh air as he slammed on his brakes and was out of his car. He was storming towards them, his face red and he was obviously pissed.

"WHERE is he? I wanna piece o' that scum! Make him wish he wasn't......"

He stopped and looked at vic a but puzzled.
"What're you doin? That.....*YOU'RE* blood?"

He looked around and saw the perp on the back of the horse. Before anyone could notice him moving, Harvey had ripped the guy from the horse and had him on the ground and was pummelling him one solid punch after another.

"You shoot a cop! You shot my partner! Yer gonna pay punk!"

His fists were a blur as the crunch of bone could be heard with each impact against the robber's face.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic had dropped her knife and did her best to wrestle Harvey off the guy before back up showed up. She yanked Harvey hard enough that they both would fall back on the grass.

"Bullock, I shot him twice in the ass, he's gonna have a hard time sitting for the next couple of months, knock it off!"

Vic started to push herself up from the ground, but her arm gave her some trouble, the pain of the bullet finally started to settle in as her adrenaline production dropped.

"Urgh, oww."

She used her left arm to push up from and looked down at Harvey with her boot on his chest.

"I ain't lettin' you back up until you promise to calm the hell down. I'm pissed, your pissed, but neither of us needs police brutality charges."

She looked at her leg, seeing the guy hadn't been a bad shot afterall, her had also nailed her right leg and it was bleeding, but not near as profusely as her shoulder. She still held her leg firmly on Harvey's chest, though after a moment it started to tremble slightly. Her spurr threatened to give him a mean gash if he tried to bolt up too quickly.

She whistled to Vasago and he trotted up next to her. His head came above her left shoulder. She put a hand up on his head and petted him between his eyes. she took hold of his bridle to stabilize herself as she stood.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

He was fuming and breathing hard and for a moment he just looked at her, signs of the old Bullock was still in there. He gritted his teeth and blinked.

"Fine. Where's my hat?"

He wouldn't get up until she let him. Once she did he yanked his hat up off the ground and put it on. As other police stood by the perp until the EMTs arrived. The punk looked over at Harvey and spat out a tooth.

"I'm gonna own you fat man! Y'hear me? Own you!"

Bullock sprang after the kid and it took 6 cops to hold him back.

"This is Gotham punk, you want nice? Go play in Central City! We don't need you hear! Get offa me!"

He shrugged off the blues that was holding him back and he looked directly at one of the officers and pointed at Vic.

"She gets looked at first y'hear me? You like your patrol route Jenkins? Unless you want meter duty for the rest of your natural life AND beyond, she gets looked at first!"

Jenkins looked to Vic and gave Bullock an nervous nod. Harvey then walked over to her and glanced at the horse.

"You're gonna be ok."

It wasn't a question. It was a demand.

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic let Harvey up once he seemed to calm down. She had ran after him to hold him back too when the guy started spouting off crap at him.

Harvey ordered the EMS people to look at her first. She normally would drect them to deal with the perp first, but she was not going to argue with Harvey right now, the word Bull in his name was there for a reason, it seemed.

Another EMS truck arrived with two more patrol cars. The other EMS truck took care of the perp while they looked over her. She had to remove her jacket and then her shirt for them to deal with her wounds. They suggested that they needed to take her to the hospital and she shook her head.

"If I can patch up my own wounds without going to a hospital stranded for five days in a desert you can patch me up without sending me to a hospital too, bubs."

After about half an hour she was laid up in the EMS truck, a sheet covering her up as she had to remove all but her underwear so they could deal with her shoulder and leg. A few officers were standing around Vasago, one of them an expereinced rider, petting Vasago and giving him some very welcomed attention. Eventually Vasago would walk up to the EMS truck and next to Harvey. He neighed at Harvey. Vic looked up, hearing him.

"Bull-Bull, grab my coat and there should be a bag of apple slices, give him some, that's what he wants. His name is Vasago."

((Pronounced Vuh-sog-go))

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

Harvey made sure no one tried to sneak any peeks as she had to make her wound accessible to the EMTs. When the horse came up beside him, he gave it a funny look. He was never comfortable around horses. Being born and bred in Gotham they weren't his thing. When she requested she feed him he did a double take.

"Do huh? Apples? This thing lives offa apples?"

He found the slices and held one up between his fingers to Vasago who took the apple and nipped Harvey as well who withdrew his hand quickly shaking it to ward off the stinging from the horse's bite.

"It frickin' bit me!"

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

The EMS guys finished getting the bullets out and stitching her up. They had injected her with shots of Morphone against her will and it was slowly sneaking up on her. She stood up, the sheet wrapped around her. She almost stumbled but chuckled as the morphine was seeping more into her blood stream.

"Don't be a baby, Bullock, he just nipped you a little bit, it means he likes you. And no, he eats proper feed, but I give him apples as a little treat."

She threw the sheet down and started to pull her pants back on, not caring about anyone seeing, she was becoming too loopy to care. She got her pants on and pulled her shirt back on, buttoning two or three buttons and then throwing her jacket back on and then her boots and guns. One of the EMS walked to Harvey in a hushed voice.

"Uh, I don't think she's good to be by herself this evening. Does she have a spouse or family member we can realease her to? Normally I'd take her to the hospital, but she's going to be fine. The morphine is starting to get to her and she will not be good to be on her own for the night."

Vic was a few feet away from the truck now, petting Vasago and giving him apple slices. The officer nearby who was an experienced rider was offering to take him to the stable for her. She was now asking him how many years of expereince he had with horses and sounding unsure about letting him take Vasago back to the stable for her while the EMS talked to Harvey.

After a moment she was climbing atop Vasago and adjusting herself to ride him back to the stable. Vasago was a loyal horse, but even he could tell his mistress was off, as she was trying to slur commands to him. He simply neighed at her and put his head down, munching grass, ignoring her in her state.

"Damn it, you ole meatball, why ain't you listenin'?!"

Vic slumped over, leaning against the bag of the horse's neck. He neighed and shook his head about at her.

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

"I'll look after her, no problem. You can release her to me."

Harvey walked over to her and Vasago and put his hand on her good thigh to get her attention, as it were.

"Look, Vic, You ain't in no state to go ridin' yer pony through town. Now Sgt. Reynolds here's one of our top jockeys. Vasago will be safe with him. I need to get you home so you c'n rest. Unnerstand?"

He gave her a long look and let what he just said sink in he could tell the drugs were really doing their job. He looked at Reynolds with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh this is gonna be fun...."

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

Vic put her hand on Harvey's shoulder as he spoke to her. She gave him one of those 'I dunno bout that' kind of looks. However, she looked back at Reynolds and nodded her head to Harvey.

"Alright, but you better not piss him off or he'll buck you, bub."

She slumped off of Vasago toward Harvey. She could land draped over Harvey's shoulder, face down, with her upper body hanging down behind him.

"Let's go, mush, yankee boy!"

Her arms dangled down, she kept poking him in the back to start moving.

"You better give me smoke later or I'm going to CUT YOU! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha."

[Lt. Harvey Bullock]

He shook his head and sighed and carried her almost limp, draped over his shoulder to his car where he put her in it carefully and got in the driver's side. He gave her a look.

"They really gave you a healthy dose didn't they?"

He started his car and took her back to his place thinking his collection of old movies might keep her entertained.

"If you puke, they'll be hell to pay."

[Lt. Vic Valentine]

vic swung herhead to look at him. She gave him a sour look and reached into his pocket pulling out his cigarettes and matches.

"Suck it, Bullock. I'll puke where I want when I want."

As the car took off she lit two lit two cigarettes in her mouth and took out her .45 Magnum and shot two rounds in the sky while yelling "YEEEEEE HAAWWWWW!!!!"

She stopped because she had used the whole magazine. She huffed , irritated and put the gun away. She handed Harvey the second cigarette.

"Let's go to the firing range, Bull-Bull, I bet you couldn't nail a perp square in each ass cheek like I could with a bullet! HA!"

She didn't even take her cigarette from her mouth, she just let it sit in the corner as she spoke and smoked.

"Man, I could use a J right now."