✓ DEFENSIVE | Z. BERMAN

xii. THE KILLERS

"Police!" The figure cries to Y/N, Ziggy, and Martin, "Hands up! Hands up!" He orders, to which Martin quickly obliges as Ziggy pulls Y/N protectively behind her.

"Listen!" Ziggy cuts off his shouts, "You don't have any idea what's going on here! You're going to die if you don't listen to me!"

Martin tries to talk over her, trying to get the redhead to shut up when the police squints, "Martin?"

He nods quickly, "Yeah, yeah!"

The cop exhales sharply through his nose, "Are you kidding me?" He exclaims as another cop finds Deena and Josh, calling to his partner, "I got two more over here!"

"Drop your weapon!" The cops demand towards the group.

"Sir, sir," Josh says frantically, "Just please let us explain!"

But the cop doesn't listen, instead he repeats, "Drop your weapon!" His tone low and serious. They have to choice but to obey. "Slide it to me." The cop instructs as they slide their weapons across the floor, Ziggy's hand taking its rightful place in Y/N's.

The cop lowers his gun and brings his comm to his lips as he speaks, "We caught the 5150 — " He's cut off by his own grunt of pain as his head lulls to the side, the deranged milkman standing behind him in his place.

Y/N feels Ziggy's hand tighten in fear as her killer stalks towards them, Martin letting out a scream.

Y/N taking charge, she pulls them both up, "We gotta go!" She shouts, pulling the pie away from the milkman as the other cop comes around, trying to shoot him down.

The killer simply turns around, unfazed by the amount of bullets piercing his skin.

Martin screams again, muffled by his hand this time, as they watch the other cop fall victim to the milkman as well.

Y/N puts her hands on his shoulders, trying to get the poor guy to keep his head on straight. "Hey, I need you to focus because the plan is still on, ok?" She whispers frantically to him as Ziggy keeps her eye out for any more killers.

Y/N gets up, grabbing Ziggy's hand and Martin tugs on her sleeve, "Wait, wait, wait. You're leaving?" He asks frantically.

"Hold fast." Ziggy reminds him, "Stay out of their way. They'll walk right by you." She tells him confidently, handing him a rope to one of the gates.

The pair runs as discreetly as possible to the next gate, Ziggy picking up the rope.

Before Y/N can go to her post, Ziggy stops her for a moment and cups her cheeks gently. "Please be careful, ok?" She whispers. Y/N nods and Ziggy presses a chaste kiss to her lips before letting her go.

Y/N goes to the next store, curling the rope around her hand and crouching behind the glass, her ears perking up as she hears the familiar hum of Ruby Lane, which is enough to make her hands shake.

Keeping her eyes trained on the ground, she holds her breath Nightwing stalks passed her, her other hand covering her mouth to silence any sounds that might escape.

She watches as he follows the trail of luminescent blood into the store front, and once he was a few paces inside, she rapidly pulled on the rope, her breath catching when the gate gets stuck.

Quickly she rises to her feet, tugging down harshly on the stupid metal gate, her heart beat hammering in her ears as Nightwing comes towards her. With a final push she manages to close it just as he reaches her, his axe coming down on the metal with a harsh sound.

Silently flipping him off, she sprints back to the meeting place they had declared the counter behind a pizza shop.

As she rounds the corner, she's relived to see Ziggy safe and sound. "How many is that?" Deena whispers.

"I got one," Josh replies, "Martin got the milkman, Ziggy got Skull Mask — "

"Four." Y/N cuts him off, "We have four." He crouches behind the counter as Ziggy looks over her with relieve eyes, "I trapped Nightwing."

Deena gasps, "No Ruby?"

Josh shakes his head, "I don't know! We just need to keep an eye on — "

"Y — Y — Y — YO!" Martin cuts him off quickly, then in a hushed tone he questions, "Why'd it get so quiet?"

And that's when they realized that they could no longer hear the haunting hum of Ruby Lane. Or in fact, any other signs of struggle coming from the other killers.

Y/N gasps quietly with realization, "It's him." She mumbles.

Ziggy turns to her and takes her hands, "You don't have to do this." She says solemnly.

Y/N looks into her eyes before muttering, "Yes, I do."

Pressing a kiss to the top of Ziggy's hands ( leaving a shocked Martin ), she hops over the counter and takes her position.

They hear the bells ring once more, and sure enough, Y/N sees the beloved Sheriff walk towards her, his eyes roaming around the space before landing on her figure.

His eyes widen at the sight of her, not seeing her in so long.

She was his first love, after all.

Coming to stand in front of her, his eyes soften as he mutters, "Y/N..."

She purses her lips as she tries not to let her hatred towards the man in front of her show, playing up the act with a soft, "Nick."

Her eyes trace his features, finding once something she might've confided in to be replace with a monster, although his voice snaps her out of it as he asks, "What are you doing here?"

She responds with a quiet, "Tag, you're it."

As she does so, she reaches for the rope that was to her right and tugs down hard, releasing the glowing blood-water mixture onto his head as she hurries to get out of the way.

She hears the clicks of the gates being lifted, the killers being released, and makes a run for safety, until she feels to arms wrap around her harshly as she lets out a yelp, the sound of a weapon being unsheathed ringing in her ears even as Nick yells, "Deena! Get the away from me!" He points the gun towards the Grifter which is the closest one to him as he shouts, "If I die, she dies!"

Y/N screams once more as her eyes go from killers to killer, trying desperately to get out of the chokehold Nick had her in.

But suddenly his arm falls away as it is his turn to scream, Skull Mask attacking him from behind.

Y/N tries to run again, but this time she's caught by the milkman and vaguely over the screams escaping her she hears Nick call out to them, "It's on her! It's on Y/N!"

Y/N is thrown onto the hard floor, her hands coming around the killers wrist as he attempts to plunge his knife into her skin. "No!" She hears Ziggy scream somewhere behind her as she tries to wrestle him off.

But then suddenly his head whips behind him, and Y/N spares a glance up to see Deena standing with a knife in her hand, the killers now drawn to the source.

Ziggy runs to Y/N, helping her up and checking for injuries as Nick runs to the back gate. "Go! Go we got him!" Josh screams, running over to one of the unoccupied gates as Martin hit Skull Mask over the head with a chair, distracting him from Deena as she makes her way after Goode.

Ziggy pulls Y/N towards safety as Y/N pulls her — Ziggy's, actually — sweater over her head. "It's my sweater, it's covered in her blood!" She explains as she tosses it towards the milkman as the gate closes.

Josh notices Deena watching them with wide eyes as he screams once more, "Go! We got 'em, just go!"

And with that, She slips out the back gate in pursuit of the person that caused this, Nick fucking Goode.