Prevail - [Charles Leclerc]

Trente-Sept

           Dennis drove like a maniac over the roads to the live location Charles just send him. He wasn't supposed to be talking to Charles at all, and when dialed the number of his boss, there was a string of curse words and all sorts of threats swung at Dennis' head, which he could absolutely agree with. Dennis had managed to get out of the Abril residence with one of the SUV's with a bad lie, but Matteo had nodded when he suggested going out on patrol and updating him on anything that Charles' crew might have done so far. They were meeting outside, behind one of the abandoned factories in the industrial region of Valencia. His tires screeched as he brought the car to a halt. Immediately, five of Charles' men surrounded the car, their guns aimed at him. Dennis rose his hands, showing he didn't have any weapons. Dennis slowly reached for the door handle, opening the door of the car. He continued to put his hands above his head, and one of the men stepped forward, patting the back of Dennis' belt and confirming that he indeed wasn't armed.

Charles was leaning against his car, looking at the man that used to work for him, the man he trusted around his wife, in his home. He pushed himself off the hood of the car, making his way up to Dennis. "Charles..." The guard started, cut off by Charles' fist that delivered one, very hard punch right in his face. Dennis gritted through his teeth, his hand reaching for his eye as he stumbled back. Yeah, he deserved that. "She's alive," Dennis decided to just speak up, making the worth of Charles' time. "The plan is to kill you while they hand her over," he blurted out, unsure why he decided to get himself in trouble with both crews he worked for. "I have a map of the mansion here for you," Dennis reached into his inner pocket, hearing the cocking of the guns around him. He slowed down his actions, trembling a little as he took the folded pieces of paper from his jacket, and handing them over to Charles. Charles snatched the paper out of his hand, opening it on the hood of the car. "They put her in the basement, but I have no idea what they did since last night. She was lying to get to her father, but he saw through it," Dennis said.

Pierre leaned against the car too, looking over at Dennis before looking back at Charles."Je ne lui fais pas confiance," [I don't trust him] Pierre muttered in French. "He's our only source now," Charles replied in his mother tongue. "His fate is already written for him anyway, he gains nothing by lying," Charles continued, knowing that if he wouldn't be killed by his own gun, that Matteo Abril would punish the guard for siding with Charles now. "I suggest you make your way back before any of the other guards decided to follow you," Charles says, turning to Dennis. "I have everything I need," he said. Dennis nodded, making his way to his car, not hesitating to get away from the tense meeting. "It's clear that I'm the target," Charles speaks up, Carlos came out of the car now too. "My crew has the helicopter ready," he said, slipping his phone in the pocket of his jacket again. "It needs to be fast. No hesitation. As soon as Abril is ready to shoot me, I need to have Sara in the helicopter already. We don't know in what state she is," Charles said. "Do you think Matteo would harm his own daughter?" Pierre asked.

"I have no idea, but that asshole is capable of a lot," Charles spoke up again. "There's not much time left," Carlos said. "My crew is ready if you are," Pierre added. Charles nodded slowly. If Sara is safe, and I'm left with her father, you have to leave and get her back home, okay?" he said. Carlos nodded, but Pierre looked at him for a second longer. The Frenchman didn't say anything, but opened the door of the car instead. "Come on, let's go," Pierre muttered. It was quiet when one of the men started the car, the tension in the car rising. Charles felt his heart skipping a beat at the thought of what was about to go down. It took a certain half an hour before they reached the driveway of the large mansion. No houses were near, and it was clear that the huge residence that rose up in the horizon was the home of no one less than Matteo Abril. The gate was heavily guarded, requesting Charles to get out, allowing no car to drive to the house. Charles had the map of the house printed onto his retinas, he had studied it over and over after Dennis gave it to him, knowing that he wouldn't have the time to properly dive into it in such a short time.

Charles was thoroughly searched for any weapons, but he already knew that was going to happen. So he went in, vulnerable and without anything to defend himself but his bare hands. The large door swung open, guiding him into the marble hall that seemed like the entrance to a museum. Statues of historical people on the side, lights shining from underneath them, as if he just entered Ancient Greece. His attention was drawn to Matteo, a good ten meters away from him, holding Sara tightly by her arm, a gun pointed to her head. She knew better than to make any sound, her eyes were hard, she was shivering. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot. Charles' fingers curled into his palms, clenching his fists, but he didn't mention it. "Leclerc," Matteo started. "I told you not to stick your nose in my business," he continued. "Then you should've thought twice about killing my father all those years ago," Charles replied. "You'd do anything for your crew to survive, right? Well, so did I," Matteo gritted through his teeth.

"And so did your mom, by selling you out to daughter to get rid of Hervé debts. I wouldn't want to be in his footsteps if I were you," Matteo continued. "Shut up, old man. I'm here for a deal, not to get my time wasted," Charles snarled. Sara heard the radars in the gun clicking, knowing that Charles had no weapon. Her heart started hammering against her ribcage. Making use of the unexpectedness of the moment, she hooked her elbow into Matteo's crotch, causing him to hunch over as she ran for Charles. Matteo was quick to recover, and his gun went off. Charles saw her falling to the floor, blood slowly seeping through the thin shirt. He grabbed a guard by the back of his neck, sure his skull cracked when he smashed it against one of the statues. Sara was not interesting to Matteo anymore, who was seething with anger as Charles grabbed onto the gun of the guard, taking down two others. Sara was feeling a pain she never felt before, but seeing her father on the way to Charles released a new anger in her. She grabbed onto his ankle as he walked past, causing him to stumble as he fell to the floor.

His gun shoved over the marble to the other side of the room. "Sara?" She yelped as she felt someone kneeling next to her, trying to get away. The world was spinning as she looked up, she reached for the wound in her stomach, looking at her bloody fingers. "Sara, I'm going to take you outside." She realized it was Dennis. "Charles..." her voice was weak. "He'll follow, I'm following his orders," Dennis said. He lifted her up, her body a little limp, heavy in his arms, and he left through the doors with a rush, his gun pointed in front of him. He took down one of the guards, the next having no chance as he was quick to aim and shoot too. Sara's head rolled back, and she tried to stay conscious, she really tried, but it was so hard. Flashes of the dark night sky made her feel like she was floating. Sounds died out and faded away. She whined when she fell to the floor again, the faint echo of a gunshot ringing in her ears. It was Dennis. She looked at him as he laid there, shot somewhere in his body. He hurried to get up, but the next shot took the light from his eyes, making her gasp, planting her knees in the grindstone path of the driveway.

The gun clicked again, this time aiming at her, but he had no chance to shoot her as two guns simultaneously went off, causing the guard's body to drop dead right in front of her. "It will be okay, mon amour," it was Charles' reassuring voice, his hands warm as he reached for her, lifting her from the floor. "I'll cover you," Lando sounded, who looked over his shoulder as they ran to the helicopter that landed in front of them just yet. Carlos took Sara from him as they hopped into the aircraft. Pierre gave the order to get it off the ground again, and his pilot obeyed. "Alright, let me see," Carlos said, lifting the shirt that was wet with blood from her stomach. They were flying straight to the hospital in Valencia, where Carlos knew enough people that fixed up his crew in times of emergencies. "Stay with me, Sara," Charles muttered, caressing her hair. Her eyes threatened to fall close. "She has lost quite some blood," Carlos commented, cleaning the wound somewhat, but it kept bleeding. "Come on, baby," Charles continued, watching as Carlos tied it off, rolling a bandage around it, her eyelids fluttering slightly.

Her throat was so dry, she couldn't even speak. There was a darkness in the back of her brain that lured her in, pulling her toward the void. It was so tempting to give in, to feel the relief, to not feel the pain anymore. Sara listened to Charles' voice, but it was so hard to hear him. "Sara?" It felt as if he reached out for her, pulling on her arm to take her back, closer to him and away from the black, but his fingers slipped from her arm, and she let herself fall.