Rupert's POV
"Guys," I say, catching their attention as I watch a shady guy walk into the restaurant with a cap on covering his face. "Is that him? I don't have a good angle on his face."
North, who's sitting across from me, leans over and down to get a good angle.
"That's him." She confirms.
"Somebody notify Connor," Hank says.
Josh's LED blinks yellow, indicating he's sending the message. We see (Y/n) slowly turn to look at him before looking back at Connor.
Gavin rolls his eyes. "This is ridiculous! Why don't we just go over there now and arrest him?" He starts to get up.
I nod in agreement. "I'm with him," I say, also getting up.
Hank pulls us both back down in our seats since he's in the middle of us. Simon, Josh, North, and Markus sit on the opposite side of the booth in that order with Simon by the wall and Markus on the edge.
Markus shakes his head at us. "We don't know what he has up his sleeve. From how Hank described him, Aidan's smart, and his mind is unstable."
"Well, that and he would probably run when he sees two people coming towards him," Simon adds with a shrug.
"Just stick to the plan and we'll be good," Josh says.
I huff. "Fine."
"You guys just need to relax. This is gonna be a piece of cake." Simon says and leans back, putting his hands behind his head.
"Don't get cocky," North warns with an eye roll.
She looks intently at Aidan and watches his every move.
He then starts walking over to Connor and (Y/n)'s table. I see Connor pull his gun out and lay it on his lap.
"What the fuck is he doing?" Hank mumbles as he also watches Aidan.
"I don't know but I'm about to go over there and give him my two cents," I say through gritted teeth as I start to stand up again but Hank pulls me down once again.
"Let's wait," Markus says.
I grumble my curses but comply. We watch as Aidan approaches them and they talk. The next thing we see is Connor putting his gun away and the two of them walking out with Aidan.
"What the hell?!" Hank says and gets up.
"That wasn't part of the plan." North states as all of us get up with Hank.
We're about to follow but we get a message from Connor which causes us to stop.
"Don't follow us but we're going with Aidan. He has bombs set in this part of the city that will go off if he dies. He'll kill himself if we resist. We don't have a choice here, I'm sorry."
"Damn." I slam my hand on the table.
"What?" Gavin asks with irritation since we all stopped moving. Hank also has a look of confusion on his face.
"Connor just sent us a message." Josh sighs.
"Said that Aidan has bombs set in this part of the city that are rigged to explode if he dies," Simon adds.
"And he threatened to kill himself if they didn't follow him." I finish, anger lacing my voice.
"We have to go after them though. If we don't he'll kill them!" Gavin says.
"First we have to find those bombs," Josh speaks up and we all rush out of the restaurant.
Your POV
My eyes flutter open but I immediately close them due to the pain in my head. I let out a groan and open my eyes once again. I'm in a dark place, the only thing lighting it up is Connor's LED which is blinking yellow.
"Good, you're up." Connor sighs in relief.
I try to move my arm but I feel something around my waist, keeping it in place.
'He's so lucky my other arm is broken.'
I try to move my legs next but they're also tied together.
"Where are we?" I ask, keeping my voice hushed.
Before Connor can answer we hit a bump and my head hits the top of what I now assume is the trunk of a car.
"In the back of a car." He answers.
I wince in pain and close my eyes again. "Yeah, I realized that when we hit that bump."
It's so dark that I can barely see Connor's face but I can tell he has a concerned expression on his face but is also probably mixed with anger and guilt that we're in this situation in the first place.
"Can you try reaching out to Dad or someone so they can trace it back to you?" I ask.
"I've been trying that for 30 minutes. Aidan must've messed with my communication system while I was out. I'm trying to override it but it'll take a while."
"How long are we talking about?"
Connor shakes his head. "I don't know, but for now we're on our own."
Rupert's POV
"I make out seven bombs. That's one for each of us." Markus says as he scans the area.
I nod. "Hank you take that bomb over in that direction and Gavin you take the one in this direction." I point them in the direction the bombs are since they can't scan the area like we can.
"Keep your phones close to you," North adds.
The two of them nod and run off to their designated bombs. The rest of us pick which bomb we're gonna take and head towards them.
"Everyone in their positions?" Markus asks after a few minutes.
"Yeah."
"Yup."
"You bet."
Were the different answers he got.
"Guys... we have an issue." Josh's voice rings through my head.
"What's the issue? All we have to do is cut this blue wire right here. I've seen this kind of bomb before..."
I scan over the bomb and realize the issue Josh is talking about.
"Don't cut that wire!" I hiss at him, cutting him off.
"It's the blue wire!" Gavin tries to convince.
"Yes I know it's the blue wire but that's not the issue!"
"Josh and Rupert are right." North chimes in. "To disable the bombs we have to do it simultaneously. If you disable one bomb at a time the rest will go off. It has to be at the same time."
Simon laughs dryly. "No pressure right? Not like people are counting on us." He says in his sarcastic tone.
"How do we know he didn't plant any more bombs elsewhere?" Hank suddenly asks.
"Well if we don't die then we'll know," Markus answers simply.
"Fucking..." Hank sighs heavily. I then hear his phone drop and he mutters his curses as he picks it back up and checks to see if we're still on.
"Very reassuring," I say sourly and make a face.
"Let's just... let's just do this," Josh says hesitantly. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"We could all die," Simon states bluntly.
"At least it'll be quick," I mutter.
"Focus!" Markus gets us back on track. "On the count of three everybody cuts the blue wire."
I nod even though he can't see me. I open up the bomb and grab the blue wire nervously waiting for the countdown.
"Three... two... one."
And with that I cut the blue wire and then close my eyes, waiting for it to go off... but it didn't. I slowly open them and peek up from my turtle position.
I let out a nervous laugh. "We're... we're still alive. Right? You guys are still there?"
"Yes." They all chorus.
I stand up and brush myself off.
"Well that gets rid of one of our problems but we still have another." Hank huffs.
"Yeah, finding (Y/n) and that plastic Ken doll," Gavin says.
"I've been trying to contact Connor ever since he left with Aidan but I can't—" Markus stops suddenly.
"What?" I ask.
"I'm getting something."
Your POV
I finally get the ropes off my arm and feet and start kicking the trunk.
"Why. Won't. It. Open." I say and kick after every word.
"I think I got something!" Connor exclaims.
While I've been busy taking the ropes off he's been busy trying to bypass whatever Aidan did to him so he can send out a signal to the others.
"Well that's good," I say as I kick the trunk again. "But now we have to get out of here."
"Or hope the others find us first." He says. "Weak spot is further up, kick there."
I nod and scoot forward and then try to kick again.
Keyword: try
When I kick, the trunk opens before I can hit it so I hit Aidan in the chest instead. He recovers fast and grabs my leg. I kick with the other but he just grabs that one too.
"Now how did you get out of your binds?" He asks with a tilt of his head.
"That's none of your business!" I try to yank my legs back but he has a good grip on them.
He leans in to pick me up but I start swinging my fist and manage to punch him in the face. He looks back at me with a murderous glare and then proceeds to pick me up and throw me over his shoulder. I hit his back but it's no use and I look at my surroundings. It looks like we're literally in the middle of nowhere and I'm not sure how far the closest town is.
Aidan picks up the binds I was in before and carries me inside an abandoned-looking building. I would scream but there's nobody for miles. That and my throat is still recovering from inhaling so much smoke.
Aidan puts me in a chair and as I think about getting up I think about all the people that'll die if I don't cooperate. I huff and let him tie my legs and my good arm to the chair.
"Good girl," Aidan smirks and taps my cheek.
I go to bite his hand but he moves it away just in time and chuckles as I glare at him. He walks out and gets Connor and does the same to him.
"Fucking hell," I mutter as Aidan walks away from us.
Connor looks over at me. A sad and defeated look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
I look at him, confusion all over my face. "What do you have to be sorry for?"
"All of this." He motions to our binds with his head. "If it wasn't for me... if you weren't part of the revolution... if you hadn't met me..."
"Don't." I shake my head at him. "Don't do that to yourself. Connor, you are the best thing that could've happened to me... to us. If we hadn't met you our lives would still be pretty miserable." I say, referring to me and Dad. "I'm so lucky to have you as a friend, as a brother. If it has to end like this... I'm just glad it's with you."
Connor smiles at me softly. "Me too."
I smile at him but then it falters as I see Aidan walk back in with a gasoline can.
I laugh humorlessly. "Oh boy this is gonna be painful."
'Even if Connor got the signal out and they got it, we have no idea how far we are from them or if they'll make it in time.'
"If it helps..." Aidan starts and puts the container down so he can pull out his gun. "...I usually kill the victim first and then burn the body. I thought you knew that."
I scoff. "You scared my dad shitless so he didn't let me on the crime scenes. Exhibit A." I say and move my broken arm to the best of my ability.
Aidan shrugs and picks up the container of gasoline once again.
"Wait!" Connor grabs Aidan's attention.
I look over at him with a raised brow, but he doesn't look at me. That's when I realize what he's doing.
He's stalling.
"Let me get this right. You're doing all this because your wife was killed in the revolution... but what do those victims that you killed have in common."
Aidan looks at him suspiciously.
"I mean... you're gonna kill us anyway so mine as well tell us, right?"
The gears in my head start turning as I piece together everything. Even when we're about to die Connor still tries to find answers.
Aidan opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.
"Because they were a part of the revolution too," I say ever so quietly. I look at Aidan. "Right? I know I'm right."
"If it wasn't for the revolution... if it wasn't for you two... if it wasn't for Markus..." Aidan starts, he clenches his fists as best he can with the gun and gasoline in either hand.
"So you're after us because we were a part of the revolution," Connor concluded. "You blame everyone that participated in it."
"You two were one of the leaders. After I'm done with the two of you I'm going to go after your friends too. Rupert, Simon, Josh, Hank, Gavin, North, and Markus himself." Aidan sneers.
"They'll catch you before you can!" I yell and struggle against the restraints.
"Even if they do, at least you two will be dead!" He then dumps gasoline on the both of us.
I squirm in my seat and spit out the gasoline that got in my mouth, making a disgusted face as I do so.
"I don't think so!" A familiar voice says.
Connor and I both look behind Aidan to see Rupert holding a gun up at him.
"Rupert!" Connor and I both exclaim.
Rupert's POV
"I'm getting something," Markus says. There's a moment of silence before he speaks up again. "He sent me his location, we got to go now!"
"We need back up!" Josh says.
"There's no time!" Gavin says as I hear him running.
We all meet up at the restaurant we were once in. We take two separate cars, Gavin in his car and Hank in his. Markus, North, and I drive in Hank's car while Simon and Josh go with Gavin. Markus makes sure to tell the two drivers the location before we pull off. Hank and Gavin have their sirens and lights on as they speed through traffic, both cars hitting at least 100 miles per hour.
I get bored in the car and put on 'Holding Out For A Hero' by Bonnie Tyler.
'I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight'
Everyone gives me a look and I shrink back in my seat.
"Okay, we'll drive in silence," I say and turn the music off.
What was supposed to be an hour drive to get to wherever Aidan has Connor and (Y/n) was cut in half taking us only 30 minutes instead. Hank and Gavin made sure to turn the sirens off as to not alert Aidan of our presence.
We all get out, weapons at the ready if we have any. I made sure to bring a gun just in case so I pull it out of my jacket and clock it back.
"We need a plan," Simon says in a hushed voice.
"Gavin, you take Simon and Josh and find a back way into the building. Hank, North, Rupert, and I will—" Markus starts, but I don't wait, I start running towards the abandoned building. "Rupert!" Markus whisper-yells after me.
I make it to the entrance of the building. The door is left slightly ajar, enough for me to stick my head inside to see what's going on.
"You two were one of the leaders. After I'm done with the two of you I'm going to go after your friends too. Rupert, Simon, Josh, Hank, Gavin, North, and Markus himself." Aidan sneers at the two tied in chairs.
"They'll catch you before you can!" (Y/n) yells and struggles against the restraints.
"Even if they do, at least you two will be dead!" He then dumps gasoline on the both of them.
I watch as (Y/n) squirms in her seat and spits out the gasoline that got in her mouth. The gasoline doesn't really affect Connor as he continues to glare Aidan down. If looks could kill, Aidan would drop dead on the floor right about now.
I take this as my opportunity to squeeze through the small opening of the door as quietly as possible and aim my gun at Aidan's head.
"I don't think so!"
Connor and (Y/n) both move their heads around Aidan so they can see their savior in all his glory.
"Rupert! They exclaim.
"Drop the gun and gasoline," I say, motioning with my gun for him to drop the items on the floor.
Aidan drops the gasoline but not the gun. It's still in his hand, stiffly by his side.
"I said drop the gun you son of a bitch!" I yell and put my hand on the trigger, ready to shoot if needed.
"Rupert, don't!" Connor warns. "If you kill him, that section of the city we were just in will explode."
I open my mouth, about to tell them we disabled the bombs, but that's when Markus, North, and Hank come running in.
North slaps the back of my head.
"Ow!" I rub my head with one hand, while the other still has the gun aimed at Aidan.
"Next time wait for Markus to finish the plan before rushing in." She scolds me.
"Let's hope there isn't a next time," Hank mutters and also aims his gun at Aidan. "Let my kids go!" He growls.
Aidan chuckles darkly and turns slowly towards us. Once he turns I see Gavin, Simon, and Josh come in and sneak up behind Aidan until they're behind Connor and (Y/n)'s chairs, trying to untie them. Gavin has his gun out aimed at Aidan in case he turns around while the two androids try to get their friends out of their binds.
"I was so close to fulfilling my plan and I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids." He sighs. "But I know when I'm defeated."
Aidan raises the gun to his head and shoots himself before any of us could try or even attempt to stop him.
"No!" Connor and (Y/n) yell simultaneously.
"All those people," Connor mumbles, hanging his head low in defeat.
"They died. They died because—" (Y/n) starts with tears in her eyes.
"Oh, the bombs are disabled," Simon says from behind her as he's still trying to get the binds off.
"What?" They both ask.
"Yeah, I was trying to tell you guys that before these three came running in after me," I say and scratch the back of my head.
Hank drops his gun and rushes over to his kids.
"Son, are you okay?" He asks Connor first, kneeling down in front of him.
"Yes. I'm fine." Connor looks at Hank and gives him a soft smile.
"I'm okay too, thanks for asking Dad." (Y/n) says in a sarcastic tone.
"I was getting to you, sweetie." He turns to look at his daughter.
The three of them start laughing.
Gavin walks over to me, Markus, and North. The four of us smile at the three of them. Police sirens are then heard coming our way. We all look to see officers lined up, ready to take on any threat in their way.
"What the—" Hank starts.
"I called for backup while we were in the car," Josh speaks up as he finally gets Connor's binds off of him.
Connor stretches his arms and wrist before helping Simon with (Y/n)'s binds. It didn't take the android detective long to free her after that.
"I hope you don't mind." Josh finishes.
"Not at all," Hank says and smiles at the android. "Who knows what could've happened."
(Y/n) stands up, stumbling as she does. I rush to her side immediately.
"Take it easy," I tell her.
"Agh! I got up too fast. I already feel a headache coming in." She says and shuts her eyes tight.
"That actually could be from when Aidan hit us over the head," Connor says.
I look at Aidan's dead body and shoot it. It gets silent and the others look at me, even the officers that are rushing in hold their guns up, thinking the threat is still here.
"Sorry. Had to make sure he's dead." I chuckle and put the gun away.
Markus looks at the other officers. "It's okay. The situation is handled."
They nod and put their weapons away.
"Is there a paramedic? We might need one for these two." North says.
"They're right outside, ma'am." An officer responds.
She nods and her and Markus rush outside to get them.
Connor comes around the chair and I back away to let him have his moment with (Y/n). He hugs her tightly as if her life depended on it and a few seconds later he pulls Hank into the hug too.
I look back at Gavin to see him glaring at Aidan's dead body.
"I should've been the one to kill him." He growls.
I walk over to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"It's fine. It's over now. They're safe and that's all that matters."
Gavin shrugs my hand off his shoulder. "Don't touch me plastic prick." He says, but I see the slightest smile on his face and I know my words got through to him even if he doesn't want to admit or show it.
Markus and North come back in a few moments later with paramedics behind them.
"I don't need a hospital." (Y/n) groans upon seeing the paramedics.
"(Y/n)," Gavin says warningly.
The girl gives him a hard look, one that he returns.
"They're there to make sure everything is okay with you," Connor reassures her.
I can tell that (Y/n) hates hospitals and I know Connor knows the reason why. Maybe it has something to do with her brother. It makes sense, right?
"We'll be there all the way." I say to her, "All of us."
"Whenever you need us," North adds.
"Just like today." Josh chimes in too.
(Y/n) looks at all her friends and family around her. Simon puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you guys. Thank you for saving us too. I don't want to imagine what would've been left of us if you guys hadn't arrived here in time."
"We'll always be right on time," Markus says, the rest of us nodding in agreement. "And we'll always be there for you, but not only you but each other too. Because we're all in this together."
This book is finally coming to a close only one chapter left!
—ASE715