Redemption (Midas x Reader)

• XII •

My head shot up, and I looked for what had made the noise. There was something sticking out of the bridge. I leaned over to inspect it closer, and that's when I realized.

It was a dart. A dart that had been intended to hit me. Probably the same type of dart I'd been hit with the first time.

I started spinning around, trying to see where it had come from. Fear overtook me as I saw that the fisherman was no longer there.

I dove forward and grabbed the gun. Just as I did, his foot connected with my hand that was holding it, sending it flying into the water, smashing my fingers, causing me to cry out.

I stood and tried to run. He caught me by the hair, yanking hard enough that I fell, landing flat on my back, the wind knocked out of me.

He kneeled on one knee above me, giving me my first good look at him. He was wearing a red mask underneath the hood, with white and black around the eyes, so that I couldn't see his face.

"Stop fighting," he said in a gravelly voice, placing a gloved hand at my throat.

Yeah, right.

The way he was kneeling with his legs spread gave me an opportunity, and I took it, punching him straight in the dick.

He fell off balance, his hand leaving my throat, and I rolled away from him and stood up, running as hard as I could while barefoot down the side of the river.

I knew I was moving too slow, so I started screaming loudly, hoping there would be anyone within earshot to help me.

I didn't make it far. I felt his left arm wrap around my waist from behind, lifting me off my feet. His right hand clamped over my mouth to silence me. I struggled pointlessly in his grip. He was too strong.

Out of options, I did the only thing I could. I wrenched my mouth free of his hand, turned my head slightly, and bit down on his forearm. I tasted blood.

He dropped me, and I hit the ground on my ass. The last thing I remember is the sole of his shoe coming at my face, and a blinding pain in my nose, before everything went black.

••••••••

I awoke confused. It was dark, the sounds of frogs and crickets loud in my ears.

Am I dreaming?

I could still hear the river nearby. I was laying on a hard wooden floor, pain in almost every part of my body.

Suddenly I felt a cool wet cloth touch the side of my face. Reality came flooding back, and I jerked away, remembering that I wasn't alone. I saw the fisherman beside me, and I sat up and scooted as far away as I could, my back slamming into a wooden wall behind me. My hands and feet were bound with rope.

"What do you WANT?!?!" I screamed, terrified.

"Be quiet," he growled. "I have to clean up your face before they get here."

I watched him, unable to move, as he reached up and continued wiping around my nose. I could see my blood on the cloth everytime he pulled it away, and the pain was intense. I wondered if it was broken.

I started to cry. "Why don't you just kill me?" I asked, my voice coming out a whisper.

"Because then I wouldn't get paid," he replied shortly. "And after dealing with you, I deserve it."

He was a bounty hunter. That much was obvious. What I didn't understand was why Shadow needed me back alive.

And how the fuck did he find me so fast?