Tad had recently received his doctorate in psychology and decided it was time to open a practice which could assist those in the criminal element. While many would frown upon their members going and talking to somebody about their criminal life, this would be a more ideal option for them. Doctor Knackered would be able to provide these services while also being a criminal himself. It would be a short list of patients in the beginning, but he hoped to see it grow over time. 

He felt that a secretary would be beneficial to have, but he assumed the any mobster who came in would have the thought of "can I trust her? Should I 'take care' of her?" and that just wouldn't do. Tad could not deal with all the paperwork of having to hire them every few weeks or so. A male secretary would definitely be out of the question since his patients wouldn't even question it. That man would be dead within hours. So, it was a solo venture for now. Perhaps he could eventually get his patients to trust the idea of a secretary.

"Now....wasn't my first appointment scheduled for this morning?" He mumbled to himself as he began shifting papers around on his desk.

Just as he was about to get to his calendar he heard a knock at his door. Quickly he rose from his seat and made his way across the room. Before he opened the door he made sure that his suit was in order. As the door opened a man almost ran him over to get inside. The man quickly made his way over to the seat across from his. 

"Oh, you can just move those pap...." Before he could get it out the man threw all the papers onto the floor and sat down.

"Thanks for seeing me doc." He blurted out as he looked over at the windows. 

Before the man could do anything Tad made his way over to the windows and closed the blinds. This action seemed to calm the man down....at least for the moment. This was clearly a man filled with paranoia. He was not sure if he'd rather deal with a man like this or somebody who believed that they saw ghosts. It was really just a coin flip.

"I was starting to think that you would not be showing up for your appointment Mr. Ricci. From our conversation on the phone you did sound like you were quite motivated to get some help." Tad spoke as he sat down and opened his note pad for the session. 

Notes would be highly important to keep track of each of these visits and see if there is anything to be learned by backtracking through them. It would also be nice to have some measurement of progress that patients may be achieving. These thoughts were going through his mind when he looked up and saw Mr. Ricci glaring at the notebook.

"Are....are...are you trying to build a file on me....for...for them?" He said with his voice quivering. 

Tad slowly closed the notebook, "No, Mr. Ricci. I was going to use these notes to make sure I do not forget anything for future sessions and keep track of your progress. Although if it is too bothersome to you at this point I will choose not to take any notes until you are more comfortable with the idea of it. Now....who is the 'them' you were referencing?" 

"The feds." He said as he got up and began to pace around the room.

"Well, are not all us criminals under the watchful eye of federal agents whenever they are in the area?" He posed the question to see where this paranoia may go.

The man stopped and for the first time looked more confident than ever, "No, they are after me. I came here as a cover and to appease my wife. She believe that I am insane.....but I know that they are trying to take me down. They want me for being involved in an assassination plot that was being organized by a secret society which controls the entire United States."

For the first time Tad was quite pleased to not have any other patients...

"So, you mean to tell me you are part of an assassination plot now as well?" Tad asked as he struggled not to open his notebook. 

The man let out a large sigh and sat back down...

"I knew you wouldn't believe me either. I am extremely important to this entire thing. Without me the whole plan would be in chaos and most likely fall apart. I am the trigger man and the man who has a plan. They came to me for those reasons and are paying handsomely." He pulled out a folded envelope from his pocket and slid it across the desk.

Without a word Tad decided that he would open it and see what was hidden inside. It seemed the better option than questioning the man further without seeing his 'evidence'. From a safety standpoint the man may become enraged if somebody didn't pay attention to any evidence he tried to bring forward. Inside the envelope were pictures and plenty of them. As he scanned through them all he could find were people sitting in their cars, sitting in diners, and other locations. 

Most of the pictures had circles drawn around the faces of the people who appeared in them with notes on the back of each one. A picture of a couple eating at a diner had the note on the back...

Fake couple follows me out to eat for second time in a row. Pretty sure they were behind me in the park the other day taking a 'stroll'.  

It was hard to find anything different than this and nothing in the envelope counted as concrete or even compelling evidence. It seemed to just be photos taken by a paranoid man with schizophrenic tendencies. If he hadn't been a criminal himself he would have thought about warning all these nice people to move to another city....or state. The record he had with the police would not speak kindly on him holding onto photos of random citizens. The notes Mr. Ricci took would not help either.

"Well, since you're paying me to help you. I have to say that I don't see anything here other than some promising photography skills. These all look like normal people just going about their days. What makes you so sure that they are federal agents out to get you?" He put the photos back in the envelope and handed it back to him.

"Clearly you still don't believe me. How about this? Why don't you go look out one of those windows to the street below or the windows of the building across and see if you catch anything?" 

Tad did not feel like feeding into this insanity any longer, but it was his first patient and if he was going to retain this patient he would have to put in the work on day one. So with a bit of annoyance he rose from his chair and walked over to the window closest to his desk. The blinds quickly went up as he pulled on the string attached to them. He could see cars going by on the street and people going about their business. It wasn't the best angle to see inside any cars, but from what he could see there was nothing suspicious. He had been under investigation a time or two himself so he knew how to spot feds in cars.

"Don't forget to look across the street!" The man said urgently.

Tad looked back at him to see that he had fled across the room to the far corner so nobody could see him through the window. Shaking his head he turned back to look across the way and finish up with this crazy task. The building across from his was boring as usual with nothing going on. Either the blinds were closed, the lights were off, or there was just a family enjoying time together. 

"There is nothing out of the ordinary going on out there Mr. Ricci and I would plead with you to try looking out the window yourself." He motioned toward the window and the man quickly shook his head in reply.

Just as Tad turned back to close the blinds he noticed something....something reflecting light that he had not noticed before across the way....and that was when the cost of the session sky rocketed.... 

Multiple shots rang out as the glass in front of Tad shattered and he dropped to the ground. It was not the first time he was shot at, but it was definitely more surprising than usual. His hands raced all up and down his abdomen searching for any sort of blood and he found none. Without getting up higher than a crouch he made his way over to his desk and sat against it. His legs were fine as well and he really only had a few cuts from pieces of glass on his body. He peaked around the desk to see Mr. Ricci cowering in the corner.

"So, I would like to take this moment to apologize for not believing you. Although I'm still not quite sure whether what you said was true or if you're just being taken out by your employer. This is the mob of course!" He said as a few more shots came through the windows.

Mr. Ricci was shaking his head and muttering something to himself...

"Hey! I would greatly appreciate it if you could go into that bookshelf and pull on the red book on the third shelf. Once you do that you will have a few guns to choose from to help us get out of this situation!" He shouted over the next volley of shots. 

As he watching Mr. Ricci slowly go to task, Tad slid over to the other side of his desk and pulled a briefcase out from under his desk. Laying it out in front of him he unlatched it. Inside resting inside the nice leather was his thompson sub-machine gun waiting to be put back together. It was his weapon of choice, which didn't make him original....but he was still happy whenever he got a chance to use it. 

Once every piece was back together and the gun was ready to do it's job, he looked over to see how Ricci was doing. The man was kneeling with a shotgun in hand and a pistol on each hip. The choice in weaponry definitely confused him...

"Mr. Ricci are you expecting to hit them from across the way with a shotgun?" He said with a bit of a smirk.

His patient was not amused, "No Doctor Knackered. I'm expecting to use it to kill the men who will surely be waiting for us outside of your office and throughout this building. I'm not worried about a man who can't see us and is firing blindly from across the street."

While it was a bit of worry that was creeping into Tad's mind, he had wished for a bit more comical relief from his patient. The man had gone from a scared little puppy in the corner to a stone faced killer. Perhaps they had a good chance of getting out of the building alive....if there even was more than one shooter.

After sliding over to the door and standing up out of view of the window Tad spoke up, "Well, let's go inform these men that I'm all booked up for the evening."

Would have been beneficial to have a secretary today. She could have told him if there were more people in the waiting room...

A deep breath in....hold.....release....and calm rushes in. Doctor Knackered opened his eyes and looked over at Mr. Ricci to signal he was ready with a nod. After a return nod he turned back to the door leading into his waiting room. Let's see how crazy or sane the first patient of the day is...

The door flew open and both men took cover on either side of the door waiting to see if any shots were fired. The only thing that followed the opening of that door was silence. Mr. Ricci peaked out and quickly turned back muttering "oh fuck..." under his breath. The reaction obviously caused Tad to take a look for himself. 

As his head poked around the doorway he spotted just an elderly women who was wearing a suit. She was sitting in a chair and waiting patiently to be received by Tad. This was really not what he expected to see when he looked in the waiting room. 

"What....what are you freaking out about? It's just a random woman?" He said as he walked into the waiting room, "Sorry miss, but I'm busy with another patient and I do not accept walk-ins."

"Get away from her!" Mr. Ricci shouted from behind him.

The woman smiled before replying, "Oh, I do apologize for dropping in unannounced to your office Doctor Knackered. Your patient is actually who I am here to see. We have a lot to discuss about his job and how he has not shown up recently for work. I found out from his wife that he was coming to see you. I'm glad he is getting the help he needs."

"You bitch! You better not have touched her!" Ricci shouted after the mention of his wife, "I'm out! The feds are already trying to get me before the job is even done. There is no way we are getting away with it!"

Tad slowly turned back to the woman as the situation seemed to click in his head, "Soooo, he isn't an insane person talking about conspiracies?"

"No Doctor. He is perfectly sane. Although he is confusing members of my organization for federal agents. We have been keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't have loose lips. It is quite unfortunate to find out that he has shared far too much information with an outsider though. I've heard quite good things about your work outside of this office Doctor." She said as her tone changed to something a bit more sinister.

Tad slowly made his way back to the doorway, "Well, I think that I'm going to have to ask you to leave my waiting room miss. I need to finish up here with my patient. It might take all night or even till tomorrow. Not sure. So you should probably head on home and get some rest. I'll make sure my patient checks in for work of course."

The woman smirked as she lifted a pistol up from behind her purse...

Tad shrugged slightly as he spoke, "I guess you're not really in agreement with that plan?"

"No doctor. I most certainly am not in agreement." She said as her finger began to squeeze the trigger.

Diving back into the office and kicking the door closed, Tad angrily got up with a bullet wound in his upper shoulder. Most likely a minor injury compared to what it could have been. The bitch definitely tried to aim for his head. Quickly he went over to the compartment where Ricci got his guns and took out another bag. Out of it he pulled some medical supplies which he eventually just started dumping on the floor out of impatience. He pulled off his jacket, his buttoned shirt, and finally only had his white tank top left. The wound wasn't covered by the shirt so he kept it on and poured some disinfectant onto the wound. The bullet had no chance of being in the wound as it was more of a graze than even a through and through. 

"You could have been a bit more clear compared to just 'get away from her!'" Tad said in a mocking tone.

Ricci was grabbing some more ammo and ignoring him...

"Hey! What kind of numbers are we talking when it comes to getting out of this building?" He said as he grabbed Ricci by his shirt collar.

With a quick shove the two were now apart, "It could be ten people or it could be fifty. It depends on how unsure she is about being able to kill us. I'd lean towards the fifty guess compared to ten though if I was a betting man."

"Well, I'll grab a few more drums of ammunition for my gun. Perhaps a pistol or two as backup." Tad said as he threw ammunition and pistols into the now empty bag. 

It was definitely not the start he was expecting for his practice, but he was never one to turn down some action. There wasn't much more he enjoyed in comparison to a gun in his hand and a reason to pull the trigger. Today would be no different...

"Thanks for sticking around Doc. I'm sure you could do your best to leave me behind, but you're not." Ricci said with sincerity.

Tad chuckled, "Well, not that it would change anything.....but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have let me just sneak off anyway. What kind of Doctor would I be if I didn't help my patients during their most difficult times?"

As if to remind them of his presence, the shooter across the street fired a few more shots through the windows causing the duo to duck a bit. Perhaps it was even just a tactic to drive them out of the room. Tad walked over to the bookshelves opposite his desk in the room.

"It isn't just the guns that I have hidden over here. I am man with connections to the mob as well and I wanted to be ready for anything." He said as he pushed a hidden button on the wall and the bookshelf slowly opened like a door.

Behind the door was the neighboring office which was empty and dark. The front door had stenciling that read "Tax Consultants". It was a fake business to keep this office empty for Tad and allow him a 'backdoor' to his office. Hopefully it would be enough to give them the element of surprise...

As they approached the exit for the fake office, they could hear voices outside in the hallway. They cracked the door and peaked into the hallway for a bit more information on the situation. Standing in the hallway there were seven men with guns and the older woman who was now smoking a cigarette. She seemed to also be berating her men for whatever reason. She gave the impression that it was not uncommon for her to do so and it would take a minor reason. 

"You ready for this Ricci? I'm a bit hungry and I'd enjoy being able to go out to eat tonight. Preferably without any additional wounds. So, please make sure to hit your shots." Tad said with a bit of worry that his unstable friend may not be in the best shape for a shootout.

"Don't worry about me. Just stay out of my way and we won't have a problem getting out of here. Just eliminate anyone that I don't get on the first try. Got it?" Ricci said in a stern tone.

Tad sighed and just nodded to get this thing going. They both slowly crept out of the office and took aim...

As he squeezed the trigger of his tommy gun he could see Ricci in his peripheral moving forward with his pump shotgun firing shot after shot. The first 4 men collapsed to the ground lifeless as the other took cover and the woman ran down the other hallway towards the elevator. If they moved quick enough they would easily beat the elevator. The only drawback of this building....the slow fucking elevator. 

"We can't let her get away!" Ricci shouted over the shooting as they pushed closer to where the men stood in cover. 

As he finished firing his last round in the shotgun and Tad emptied the first drum of the tommy gun, Ricci quickly pulled out his two pistols. The men clearly believed we were reloading....which was half true...and two of them collapsed under the surprise fire from his pistols. As Tad finished loading the next drum of ammunition the final man poked back out and was met with a volley of bullets as Tad fired from the hip.

They quickly rounded the corner and spotted the woman standing impatiently at the elevator doors. Finally the elevator arrived and she made her way inside. As we finally arrived she smirked...

"Well, I suppose I will be seeing you boys later then. Keep a close on over your shoulders." She laughed as the elevator was descending. 

Ricci began to race his guns to fire down at the roof of the elevator, but Tad stopped him with a smirk on his face....

"Hey! You know what the worst thing about these damn elevators is? The fact that if the rope pulley system comes in contact with just about any sharp object it breaks! Oh is this a knife!?" He shouted as he started cutting.

Some screaming came from below, but it was inaudible and the distance from the source grew quickly as the rope followed. Ricci turned to Tad with a look of relief on his face and extended his hand.

"Thank you Doc. Even if you didn't believe me at first....you stuck with me till you helped solve my problems. That's what a good doctor does. I'll definitely refer some of my friends here if they ever are in need of a doc. Hell, we both know the mob is filled with nutcases." They laughed together as they shook hands.

"I appreciate that. Next time I'll be a little less skeptic. Although I think I'll draw the line at aliens and the supernatural. A conspiracy involving a secret society of killers? I'll take a bit more seriously though." He patted Ricci on the shoulder as he turned back towards his office.

He turned back for one more comment, "Oh, I'd suggest taking the stairs. I think the elevator is out of service."

Zebedee hadn't been feeling himself for a while and noticed the quacks.........errr Doctors office and decided to pop in.

one day I think I'm a wigwam, the next I think I'm a teepee

Am I too tense..........

Zebedee wonders if he'll ever get a gig doing real crime.

As he was making his way back to his now bullet ridden office, Doctor Knackered noticed a man in the waiting room who went by the name of Zebedee. He knew this since he had seen and heard the man on a street corner or two adding to some of the conversations going on. He seemed a bit down and out as Tad ushered him into the office. Tad opened up his notebook to take some notes.

The new patient spoke of feeling like a wigwam or a teepee and being tents....I mean tense. Perhaps this was another delusion, but the man did not seem delusional as some in the mafia did. It was almost as if he was much more in tune with his own mind and the way he was feeling. Time to try pushing somebody further into the possible delusion.

"Well Mr. Zebedee, I think that perhaps you should begin to believe that you can be either or. They may both be who you are. The wigwam and the teepee. Once you accept that then you may stop feeling....tense. Unless you legitimately mean that you are sitting on street corners with your hands above your head....thinking that you are physically a teepee or wigwam. Then we may have to have an entirely different conversation here..."

Zeb looks at TadKnackered and a lightbulb appears above his head.  Oh, hold on, no, he's just standing underneath one.

So what you're saying is 'embrace the tents errrr tense cloth shelters?

this is certainly food for thought, how do you feel about tarpaulin?

Doctor Knackered is pleased to hear how well Zebedee is taking the advice thus far. Since his last patient was very much against anything he had to say about his 'issues'. Perhaps there was more hope for his practice to get off the ground than he thought...

"Yes! Precisely Zebedee. Embrace it and see where it takes you. If it seems to add to any sort of tentsion you are experiencing in your daily life, then we can talk about it further. Perhaps come up with a new way of trying to combat these feelings. At the end of the day, if you truly feel that you can be a wigwam or a teepee then you should be who you are." He said as he jotted down a few more notes.

As he put the cap back on his pen he heard the most interesting question come from across his desk...

"How do you feel about tarpaulin?"

Doctor Knackered looked up from his notebook, "Well Zebedee, I think the true question here will be how do YOU feel about it? My feelings are irrelevant to your treatment. Do you sometimes view yourself as tarpaulin as well? Perhaps that has something to do with living in a city setting? A tarpaulin would not seem as out of place here as a wigwam or teepee would."