The Permutation

Apex (Part 1) Jordan

"I don't think so, the guy with the tattoos was holding a gun to a little girl's head. Who's them? The only other person I saw was that little girl?"

Did Christopher really leave Diana behind? Or is he waiting out there biding his time to help us? It doesn't matter now. He's gone, and Diana is in trouble because of him.

"There is no them anymore, but the little girl is Diana Kinghorn."

"Mr. Kinghorn's daughter?" Derek asked.

Jordan nodded, "She's in this mess because of me, and I'm not leaving until she's safe and sound."

I can't add anyone else to the list of people that are gone because of me: Dad, Mom, Albert, Tracey, Mr. and Mrs. Kinghorn, and Jessica. Diana is not going to be one of them.

Jordan motioned for Derek to give her the gun.

The boy looked between Jordan and the guy struggling to get back to his feet. His eyes were wide, but he slowly relinquished the gun. Derek turned his head as if to shield himself from what he thought Jordan had to do next. The gunshot never came.

Jordan held the barrel of the gun in her hands with the stock pointed towards the thug. She whipped the gun forward, so hard she thought she would leave a dent. Jordan didn't hear so much as feel the sickening thud of the stock fracturing bits of skull like an eggshell.

As the redhead fell to the ground, Jordan handed the gun back to Derek. He looked at the gun like it was going to jump up and bite him

"We can't have him sneaking up behind us, or we're dead."

Derek whistled, the sound quivered on his lips, like what Jordan had just done made him a little a nervous.

He needs to be a little nervous. This is life and death.

"Okay Captain! What's the plan? Do you want me to throw another car at them?"

"Not this time, the risk of hurting Diana is too great. I need you to be a distraction. Can you loop back around to the other side of the building and start firing this gun into the air on my signal?"

"Sure thing!" He said starting to run away, but he turned his head a few seconds later, "Wait, what's the signal?"

"I'll just shout 'Now!'" Jordan shrugged.

"Deal!" Derek replied, before losing himself in the dust. 

I really hope I get to see him again.

Jordan approached the door in slow, methodical strides. She tried to take deep breaths to calm her nerves, but her attempts only caused her to inhale large quantities of dirt. Something about the absurdity of the situation made her laugh, it wasn't particularly funny in a HA HA sort of way, but she imagined watching herself walk into a saloon and challenging Tony to a showdown and couldn't help but laugh hysterically. Jordan was still laughing when she entered the building.

The room was about how she remembered it. No one had bothered to clean up the trash or clothes strewn about the room, but now a thick layer of dirt and grime covered everything. Ulrich and Muscles stood in front of a counter that Tony and Diana now cowered behind. Tony's gun was held to Diana's temple, and fresh tears tracked down the girl's dirt smeared face.

"Hey Squirt, fancy seeing you here," Tony said with a smile, his voice cheery and upbeat, "I say you've got about sixty seconds to show me where the money is before I paint the wall with this girl's brains, and no more funny stuff. I'm not in the funny stuff kind of mood. I'm sure you understand."

"Okay okay, the money is in the freezer," Jordan said. She remembered noticing a walk-in freezer the last time she and Derek were there, if she could get at least one of the thugs to go check it out, it would be a perfect time for Derek's distraction.

Leaping over the counter was something she didn't know if she could do with The Surge, but at this point it was the only option left to her.

It's too late to think about that now.

"Now!" Jordan shouted.

A disjointed series of gunshots rang through the night, and Jordan called The Surge. The particles didn't respond as fast they usually did, but Jordan was still able to move fast enough that she was at the counter before Tony had time to blink. However, as Jordan vaulted the counter, Tony swung his pistol from Diana's head to the middle of Jordan's forehead.

"Game over," he said with a smirk.

The same smirk he wore when he talked about killing her father.