WA&R

Chapter 9

As Victor pointed his gun towards Shoaib, he unzipped his jacket and showed a bomb connected to his heart.

"You shoot and we all die, Victor. Even the poor civilians on the highway."

Victor was taken aback at how this guy knew his name but an iron rod hit him in the back and he growled, crumbling to the ground and his gun was taken by the men along with the guns of the rest of the agents.

"I've had my team track down you guys from the parking lot the other day. Each one of you undercover agents is burnt" Shoaib snickered.

Their hands and legs were tied and they were made to sit on their knees in a line. Shoaib walked up to Nakul and pierced his knee in Nakul's spine. Nakul writhed in agony but Shoaib kept pressing until he heard a satisfactory click. Nakul's posture slumped and his confident sight dropped down to a rather submissive one.

He made Nakul watch as he kicked Pranav in the face and Pranav spat out blood. Pranav's face was full of bruises and his saliva, filled with blood. Soon after, Shoaib made one of his men hold Nakul's chin up and look at what was about to do.

He gently caressed Zoya's face and hair and Zoya shivered.

He slipped his hands down to caress her neck and Nakul's blood boiled.

"You're of the same religion, right darling?" Shoaib asked Zoya and continued "Come join us. What are you doing with these bloody Indians?"

"I am an Indian" Zoya said "and a rather proud one. It's not about the religion we belong to, Shoaib, it's about our beliefs and our choices" Zoya said looking dead straight into Shoaib's eyes, never flinching once.

Shoaib slapped Zoya hard and Nakul was all but boiling now.

Shoaib moved on to Aditi and it was taking two men to hold Nakul now.

Shoaib kneeled and grabbed Aditi by her hair and she gasped as he pulled her towards him. She flinched and was trying to escape from his grip but his hand gripped her hair rather tightly. He brought her forward such that their foreheads were touching and he gently slid a finger across her cheeks.

Nakul roared and the three men holding him weren't enough to contain him, it was his pack goddamit and he was the Alpha. The ropes succumbed to Nakul's strength and within seconds, he was on his feet.

"I want him alive, don't shoot" Shoaib ordered.

"That, probably, is the worst mistake of your life," said Pranav.

Two men with iron rods rushed at Nakul who managed to dodge one blow but absorbed the other one in his stomach

He kicked one guy in his Centre of Gravity and punched the other one in the stomach, a straight knock out.

While Nakul was busy K.O.'ing guys, Victor managed to free himself and the others as they joined the fight.

"Yo, Vic" Pranav shouted as he threw a man in Victor's direction.

Victor was flying around the room, martial arting and making people fall like a house of cards falling after a breeze.

Meanwhile, Zoya and Aditi rushed towards Shoaib who pointed a gun at them.

"S-Stop where you a-are" he stammered, looking at his men retreating from the battlefield.

"Oye, Shoaib" Pranav called out from the other side of the room

"Check this out," he said as he hurled a big burly stone at Shoaib which missed its mark by a long way and Shoaib began laughing "This is the best India's got for capturing Bakhtiyar?"

Pranav, Victor and Nakul who had made half the soldiers lie down unconscious or dead and half of them leave the battlefield began laughing loudly while pointing at Shoaib.

"W-w-w-what?" He managed to say, his voice breaking down.

A slow tap on his shoulder surprised Shoaib, just as he was turning around with the gun in his hand, a fist collided with his cheek, soon after, a kick met his hand and caused the gun to fly out of his hands and land near the entrance of the warehouse.

He looked up to see Aditi staring at him and Zoya behind her, waiting patiently for her turn.

Just as he was bracing for impact, Aditi grabbed both of his shoulders, brought them down and collided her knee with his nose.

"Bloody Hell" Victor commented from the sidelines.

Aditi slapped Shoaib and pushed him in Zoya's direction

"That is for demeaning women"

Zoya mustered up all the courage she could and kicked Shoaib in his Centre of Gravity while throwing him in Aditi's direction.

"That is for demeaning my religion"

"For underestimating women"

"For underestimating Indians"

"For harassing women"

and so they continued, leaving Pranav, Victor and Nakul to watch a bit of table tennis as they saw Shoaib going from one end of the table to the other.

Suddenly, Shoaib fell to the ground, and Pranav rushed to check on his pulse. As Pranav bent down and placed his fingers on Shoaib's wrist, Shoaib pushed Pranav with all the strength he could and started running. Victor rushed after him, while the others were left gawked.

Shoaib had, however, realised he wasn't going to survive. He picked up the gun at the entrance of the warehouse and looked back the agents. With one last evil laugh, he shot himself and Victor roared out in fury.

The echo of Shoaib's last laugh still haunting them.

The sole purpose of the mission, To Capture Shoaib Alive, had failed.