The Good Samaritan: Arrested

[xp-friedlander.livejournal.com]

The consequences of Sharon's actions are revealed.

The combination of the red light shining down from the sign of Rapid City Regional Hospital and the steady drizzle from the grey clouds created an eerie and peculiar light. People hurried in or out of the entrance to the emergency department, collars upturned.

Two of the figures who entered were seemingly unconcerned with the hustle and bustle. They deftly avoided the crush of people and headed straight to the front desk. One of the pair, a Chinese woman of indeterminate age, cleared her throat to get the receptionist's attention. "We need to speak with a nurse. Sharon Friedlander," she said in a tone that brokered no argument. The receptionist looked like she was going to dismiss her, but one look at the woman's expression and she thought better of it, and paged the nurse in question.

Sharon looked up from the notes she was making on the chart and frowned at the message on a pager. 'Report to the front desk'. Spotting a coworker coming from the break room, she called: "Ann, could you finish up Mrs. Armstrong's notes? I'm needed at the front desk." Handing over the clip board, she made her way over at through the bustle.

The people standing at the desk were... not good news. Their stance and attitude was too familiar. Still... "I am Sharon Friedlander."

The tall black man of the pair at least seemed friendlier than his companion. "Triplett," he introduced himself.  "Is there some place we can talk, Ms Friedlander?"

"The break room should be free." Sharon turned around, heading back into the hustle and bustle of the ER. "What is this about? It's busy and we are understaffed today."

"We need to speak with you about the recent fire downtown," May informed her, her dark eyes boring a hole in the back of Sharon's head as they followed her into the empty room. While the other two situated themselves, May remained by the door, arms crossed over her chest. "How do you know James Cunningham?"

"I have no idea who James Cunningham is, ma'am." Sharon folded her arms, scanning them both. "I would like to see some ID please before I say anything more."

Triplett produced his and showed her. "SHIELD, ma'am.  Maybe you only know him as James, or a nickname?"

"Doesn't sound familiar. The only one I can think of is Jamie, but his last name is Birks. He is connected with the fire? In what way?" Sharon commented as she took his ID for a moment to study it.

May's eyes narrowed. "He started it. And you helped him escape."

"You mean to say the man I pulled out of the fire, is the arsonist?" No use denying it now. If they came to her, they clearly had identified her, even if she did try to be careful.

"Yes", Triplett said matter-of-factly.  "And we'd like to know what you know about him."

"Which is nothing. I was out doing parkour, saw a man in a burning building with no fire trucks there yet, I got him out. That was all I did." Sharon stated shortly and succinctly.

"You aided in the escape of a wanted criminal who endangered dozens of lives," May countered. "Because of your unauthorized involvement, even more lives could have been put in danger, if Cunningham had escaped custody." She offered her partner a brief glance and nodded before reaching down to her belt to retrieve a set of shiny handcuffs. "Ms. Friedlander, you are under arrest."

"I saved a human life. Arsonist or not, no one deserves to burn to death, ma'am." Sharon stood up and held out her hands. "What am I being charged for exactly?"

Triplett exchanged another glance with his partner. "For the moment, aiding and abetting after the fact.  But we can talk about that."

"Alright. Let's get this over with." Taking a deep breath, Sharon held out her wrists again so May could lock the silvery metal around them. "You mind if we slip out through a side entrance though? I don't want to upset any of our patients."

May firmly but gently pulled Sharon's hands behind her back and snapped the cuffs over her wrists, tightly but not restrictively so. Judging by her speed and technique, the SHIELD agent did this regularly. Without another word, she led Sharon out of the breakroom and down the near-empty hallways to the side exit per Sharon's request.