The triangle formation turned down Albert Street and began walking the Dr. Newton to his office, vigilant of anyone trying to make trouble. It was late afternoon on a breezy, overcast day devoid of foot traffic, so Leon wasn't expecting much to happen at this moment. But in these times, you couldn't be too sure. There were always a few AmerIndian hotheads who would take issue to white men like Leon and Dr. Newton drawing breath on Council lands, and there were some elven extremists making moves after some inactivity through the decade. The Manitou part of the Algonkian-Manitou Council consisted of a lot of elves that felt they were getting shafted, and humans, be they friend or foe, were a good outlet for their rage against society. Add that to the typical assortment of gangers, thieves, and drug addicts present in any city, and one might wonder how Dr. Newton had only been mugged and carjacked, instead of something worse........

Leon and Brandon watched ahead vigilantly, while Sylvia used the occasional sensory spell to try and detect any signatures of people in the streets positioned where they shouldn't be. She had seen Leon almost get taken out twice by a rooftop sniper in their time together, and didn't want to repeat that if she could help it.

Halfway through the walk, Leon noticed a pale, tattooed up blonde man leaning against a building a block ahead, and a thought rang out in his head from a toneless voice.

"That man wants to ambush you......"

Leon stared at Blondie briefly, before Blondie dropped his gaze and looked into the alley, like he was paying attention to something in there.

"Brandon, take point." Leon muttered, and Brandon moved to the center while Leon dropped back to Sylvia's position.

"That blond guy up ahead is suspicious, how many people are with him?"

Sylvia used her sensory spell.

"Two men with him, I think they're playing dice or something."

Leon's true strength as a shadowrunner wasn't just his ability with a gun and all his cyberware, it was his instincts. There was a low toneless voice he heard sometimes in his head that gave him valuable and often life-saving advice. Telling him to duck right before a sniper's round hit where his head was, telling him to not take certain jobs that ended up getting other shadowrunners clipped, and telling him whether or not a person was lying, among other things. Leon didn't know if it was some spirit possession, or too much time in the Matrix affecting his brain, or what the story was, but he trusted his instincts implicitly. They hadn't steered him wrong so far, and they had plenty of chances.......

Leon had a good idea of what they were planning, and quickly worked out a plan with Sylvia.

~~~

The blonde man looked to his two cohorts playing dice in the alley between two derelict businesses.

"Looks like we got some more drek-heads to rob."

"How many?"

"Four. Three have weapons, but they're no threat........ I think they're escorting that StreetDoc Louie robbed a while back."

The second mugger smiled as he rolled a seven.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Good, we'll wait for them to pass the alley and then give em' a special delivery, eh?"

The third mugger was higher than a suborbital, and found this hilarious, as he violently tossed the dice off the wall and watched them land as double sixes.

Blondie had looked over the foursome walking towards them, and thought they wouldn't be a threat with bullets in the back of their heads. Blondie didn't pay close attention to the victim's gear, or the general aura of danger the group exuded. He should have.

~~~

As the trio walked closer to the alley, Blondie pretended not to pay attention to them, and pretended to pay attention tot eh dice game in the alley. Leon saw right through it, and was now sure he was going to go for the old classic "backshoot them after they walk by" plan. It was a good one, and Leon had used it himself, but the blondie was too obvious and too drugged out to fool Leon.

Sylvia quickly casted a glowing circular barrier in front of the alley, and Leon and Brandon stepped just behind the barrier, with Predator Pistols drawn.

"Hello boys, planning on having some fun with us?"

What little color Blondie had left his face in an instant, and the second mugger had a toothpick fall out of his mouth in shock.

"We're just playing dice man, don't kill us!"

"Hands where I can see them drek-heads. And sorry Blondie, but you were a little obvious in your watchdog for the ambush act, and this ain't my first rodeo. HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

The third mugger, who was on an exceptional amount of drugs compared to the other two, decided to foolishly rush Leon with a switchblade, and crashed right into the glowing barrier, falling hard and almost breaking his arm. Brandon and Leon chuckled at this.

"So you see that barrier he just hit? There's another one behind you right now. This isn't a drug trip, this is reality. You can't get out of this alley, you can't get at us, and we can get you, watch."

Leon put a silenced pistol round through the barrier and into the wall twelve inches above Blondie's head, raining debris on the would-be ambusher.

"See? So no running away, no trying to draw down some fragged-up Streetline Special on us. You got that?"

The two muggers nodded, as the third groaned in pain on the dirt.

"Normally I'd be perfectly happy to kill you boys, but I'm on the clock, and cleaning up after you would be a pain in the ass. So I'll make this clear: YOU WILL NOT HARM ANYONE IN THIS CITY AGAIN, you understand me?"

They did.

"Cause someday, if I see you again, I might not be on the clock, and then I won't have to worry about taking time to clean up. You understand that?"

Blondie nodded.

"We're sorry man, it won't happen again."

"Damn right it won't....... Now, you chummers look like you haven't slept in weeks, probably because of whatever drugs you idiots are doing. So think over your life choices, maybe consider rehab, and maybe take a quick nap alright? Sylvia?"

Sylvia broke concentration over the Barrier magic, and used a Sleep spell on the muggers. At her level of skill, it would put them out for about an hour or so, but she felt the cost a bit, as her left arm went numb with pain before a bruise appeared on her hand.

"You alright?" said Leon, scrambling to Sylvia's side.

"I'm fine." said Sylvia, gritting her teeth from the effects of the drain. "It'll pass soon."

Leon looked worriedly at Sylvia. Eventually, Leon hauled out a battered notebook and pencil, wrote down a phone number to a rehab clinic he knew, and tucked it under a stone near Blondie's head, before motioning everyone to move to the doctor's office.

~~~

"Bradley, the job's done."

"It is? Good work. You got paid?"

"120 nuyen. Doctor tipped us extra, complimented us on our professionalism."

"Hahaha! Good job then!"

"You got any further jobs for tonight?"

"Well......nothing tonight, but something tomorrow. A friend of mine has a tree in his backyard obscuring his view, and needs it taken care of, eh? Lets meet at 1PM tomorrow, at that lunch place on 3rd Avenue?"

".......Sure thing Bradley. See you then."

Leon hung up on Bradley, the small-time "Mr. Johnson" that set him up with the bodyguard detail. This was a new one. Bradley almost never spoke in code with Leon over the phone, but he had a code system set up with Leon, just in case a sensitive job came up.

"Lunch place on 3rd Avenue" was actually the 3rd of 4 safe meeting places Bradley had, a secluded area of Wascana Park.

"A tree in the backyard obscuring someone's view" meant a contract killing.