Fight for Me

Chapter 14

Lydia's fingers drummed nervously on the arm of her chair as she peered out the window. They had just made it to the mansion owned by the founder of the Rose Foundation and had already delivered the stolen painting. Now the four singers sat alone in one of the many rooms while the painting was examined to make sure that it was not a fake and that it had not been damaged during transportation.

"It's going to be alright, Lia," Zoe assured her, placing her hand on Lydia's shoulder. It was rare for Lydia to show her true emotions, at least during the past few weeks. Usually she could allow herself to be herself around her friends. But since Sherlock and John had come into their lives, she was almost always hiding behind a facade. But now, seeing Lydia so nervous for the event to come, it was a bit disconcerting for the rest of the group.

Lydia gave Zoe a tight-lipped smile in attempt to distract from the otherwise obvious signs of her fear. But the tension remained in her body and Zoe gave a sigh, sitting beside her on the arm of the chair and taking her hand.

"Are you sure you're up for the performance tonight?" She asked as she tried to tread lightly around the subject.

Lydia nodded with a clenched jaw, "of course. It is dangerous, but it is necessary. We have to stand up for all of those people who are being indoctrinated and turning out just like us. But, even with the small actions we are willing to take tonight, I doubt it will make much difference."

"It could inspire others to stand up to them as well," Noah piped up and Lydia cringed at the naive hope and sense of revolution brewing inside of him.

She sighed lightly as she leant in towards Zoe, "we really are just the barricade boys in Les Mis, huh? Well, this very well may be our last performance so let's give them a show to remember."

"Meaning?" Zoe frowned, confused by Lydia's helpless resolution.

"Why stop at dressing in black, no one was going to pick up on the significance anyway. We should make some edits to the programme. After we get out of here, we're going to have to get straight to work. That is, if we want the chance to rehearse the numbers we haven't done for a while."

Lawrence looked up at her nervously, "are you sure about this, Lia? That might be a bit too bold."

"There going to punish us anyways, might as well actually try to make a statement. But if they care to question why we did it I want all of you to tell them that it was my idea and my decision. The only way that we'll have a chance of some of us getting out alive is if the blame can be placed on only one of us."

"Lia, we were the ones so adamant about standing up to them!" Zoe interjected, but Lydia waved her off.

"And I made a vow that I would protect you, no matter what was to come. We can make a stand together, but when it comes down to punishment, I want to take the brunt of it. And if they decide to kill me-" Lydia broke off slightly in emotion, watching as her friends' faces shifted into mixtures of disbelief, sympathy, and anger. But she quickly continued before they could argue, "If they kill me, go to Sherlock. Tell him everything and help him dismantle this entire operation."

The room fell into silence as the gravity of Lydia's words sunk in and they processed her instructions. Taking in a shaky breath, Lydia rose from her chair and approached the window, gazing out across the perfectly maintained green. She felt Lawrence approach her and place his hand on her arm, but she did not take her eyes off of the grounds.

Zoe was the first to finally break the thick silence, "shouldn't we go to him now? Before the performance? Perhaps he could protect-?"

"No," Lydia snapped, turning to face Zoe. "I'm sure he'll be coming tonight anyway, we don't need to call him here. We need to plan it, because if we don't it will all be for nothing."

"And if they kill you? If they kill all of us?"

"Then he will investigate and he will make our deaths mean something," Lydia concluded as she let her emotions disappear behind a cold and indifferent facade, hearing the creak of a floorboard from down the hall. She gave her friends and encouraging nod, waiting for their employer's return.

The head of the foundation, Charles Stinton, eased the door open with a smile on his face, the kind of smile that made Lydia's stomach churn. Not that that would show on her expression, however, which had softened ever so slightly to avoid suspicion.

"You four have done it again, you are truly invaluable. In ten years of service you have not failed a single delivery and that must be commended. Many others have tried to succeed where you have not, but something about your group always seems to help you pull through," he praised, but none of the singers felt proud of their record. Stinton's expression then grew serious, "but we must, of course, discuss the transgression of your former colleague."

Lydia spoke up for the group, who was doing their best to contain their anger, "Jacob Dawson's fate has taught us an invaluable lesson. None of us will betray you in such a way again."

"Oh, I am quite sure that that will be so, however I thought it wise to remind you what will happen if any of you step even a toe out of line. We are operating a vast business here and if the boss were to catch wind of me pardoning those who break the code, we would all pay the price. He will be assessing your effectiveness over the next few months, so I would be extra careful."

"We always are," Lydia assured him with a forced smile as she tried to ignore her racing heart.

Stinton nodded, "then you are free to leave. I'm sure you will spend this time before the performance making sure that it will be your best one yet. You four have proven to be quite profitable."

At his permission, the four singers headed towards the door, hoping to get back to their hotel as soon as possible. But just as they were about to leave the room, Stinton stopped them, "oh, one last thing. We heard that there was a detective hanging about you a few weeks ago, care to explain?"

They exchanged almost imperceptible nervous glances before Lydia answered, "yes, he was investigating Jacob's death. Apparently he thought the reason he was killed was linked to our group and decided to follow us for a bit. He failed to find anything suspicious about us and gave that lead up. He's no longer a problem, I assure you."

"Pity," Stinton sighed, confusing the four singers. "I do believe our boss would have liked to mess with him."

-

(A/N): Oof I just a three-hour optional class where we just talked about movies and music and it was fun but now I am exhausted and it's nearing midnight and tensions are high with the election so I hope this chapter doesn't have too many typos, I did proofread it in advance because I knew tonight wasn't going to be the best but yeah I hope it's all good!