read this. it's good.

courtesy of the ever-eloquent hwrnmnbsol, World of Hurt.

a call for ideas

i've been playing with Khalid again, but i've come to something of an impasse. Hannah is taking Khalid to a cocktail party at her parents' place. this will be the first time her parents meet him, and she's very nervous about it and has made him absolutely promise that he won't kill or maim anyone for the occasion.

naturally, what i want is to engineer a situation in which he has to kill or maim somebody, preferably a party guest, but i'm having a hell of a time coming up with a really good scenario. ideally, i'd prefer the killing and/or maiming to have as few witnesses as possible. even better is if there are no witnesses, but he is then discovered with his victim by Hannah and/or one of her parents.

a quick background for those not following along at home: Khalid is an Iraqi-American CIA field agent who's been undercover in Iraq with Al-Qaeda for the last several years. Hannah met him in Iraq while volunteering with Doctors Without Pants^WBorders. Khalid is in town for not-yet-explained reasons for an undefined amount of time.

variables to be played with:

• Khalid is a textbook case of hypervigilance and is prone to sudden, often excessive violence when he perceives a threat. if he thinks it's necessary, he will not hesitate to kill someone, and he will not stop to consider the consequences. (this doesn't mean he won't look for a private place to do the dirty work, though.)
  
• on this occasion, Khalid is on his Very Best Behavior, because he wants to make a positive impression on Hannah's parents.
  
• Khalid is operating under his own name, but i have not yet determined whether he has a cover story for this particular visit or what it might be. he might or might not be carrying his credentials. it's a given that he won't be introducing himself as "Khalid Al-Khazrani, CIA agent," however.
  
• Khalid always goes armed. he will be carrying at least one gun, although he may conceal it somewhere Hannah won't spot it. (then again, he might just wear it in a shoulder holster and tell her to deal.)
  
• Khalid has special forces combat training and is very adept at both armed and unarmed hand-to-hand combat.
  
• while undercover with Al-Qaeda, Khalid used a completely different identity, that of a native Iraqi Islamic fundamentalist with a different name.
  
• Hannah's parents are very wealthy doctors who are active in New York "society". they live in a gated estate somewhere ritzy near New York.
  
• Hannah's mother is trying to matchhmake between Hannah and the son of a family friend. Hannah does not like the son in question. sure, he could be evil.
  
• Hannah's parents are active with a variety of charities.
  
• Hannah's parents aren't flagrant racists, but they are rich WASPs who are unlikely to look favorably upon a suitor quite as exotic as Khalid.
  
• Hannah isn't the type to panic, and she's dealt with Khalid's episodes of violence before. however, she is not combat-trained or armed.
  
• Khalid is very possessive of Hannah. and he's prone to jealousy. and paranoia.
  

that's all i can think of right now. so: tell me how i should get Khalid in trouble when he's trying to make a good impression.