"You don't understand.
And I can't explain."
—A S T R I D—
THE CRIME WORLD HAD MANY ups and downs. Everyone knew what the cost was when you enter it. It breeds evil, greed, envy and ignorance. I pitied the people who thought they were invincible.
The higher the place, the steeper the fall.
But the one thing that was worse than the others? Paranoia.
It made you things that you knew was not possible. And in a room full of your loved ones, you look at their hands and wonder if they would stab you when they were near you. It made you look over your shoulder in panic even in 6our brightest times.
"Where's Austin?" I hadn't seen him in the past few hours. And that probably has been the longest I have been away from him in the past few days.
It had been a few days after I was discharged from the hospital, and my throat was still healing. Though being almost healed now, it was still hard to speak without any pain.
Me and 'Pa had been on full bed rest and lockdown until we were able to properly walk without wincing.
The rest was good, it really was. But staring at the same four dark walls started to feel more like forced isolation.
Initially, I sneaked into Austin's room to find his bed completely empty and not a wrinkle on it– it was almost as of he never slept in, in the first place. So... that led to me into Luc's room, kicking him out of his bed while he completed his project.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" He groaned, as if I were the one forcing him to do his work.
"What better than annoy the shit out of you, caro fratello," I muttered with poised sweetness, that we both knew would annoy him further, "But seriously, where's he?"
"Probably out there finding himself a girlfriend?" He didn't bother look at me, as he continued to jot down whatever he searched into his book.
"A girlfriend?"
"He's a hopeless romantic." Luc sighed, looking at me, "And he's proud of it."
Makes sense—
But it was weird that no one has seen Austin in a few hours. He had always informed—
"Do you know where he is?" I asked. Maybe I was being paranoid, but being paranoid was a lot better than being sorry.
"At the café downtown." He answered, casually, "Relax, I'm sure nothing is wrong."
How could he just— Nevermind, if he's not coming with me, then I'll leave alone.
"You're either helping me," I announced. I don't give a single flying fuck if he doesn't come with me. I am the fucking Falcon and I won't ever need anyone, "Or I'm going alone."
He sighed— fucking sighed— in annoyance before turning to face me, "Fine, just give me a minute to change."
N Y C T O P H I L I A
"Are you sure this is the place?" Luc groaned for the uh, I-don't-know-what time.
"No, Luc we are at the wrong fucking place searching for our brother for the last half an hour because I was fucking bored." I grumbled, my gaze never leaving the monitor.
"And why are we not telling our old man again?"
"Because I might be wrong." I said, "And I don't want to raise false alarms because I might be wrong."
"So you bought me here because—"
"Don't pout, Luc."
"I'm not pouting, you're pouting." He huffed. He raised his eyes and blinked. "There." He muttered pointing to the corner-most camera.
Austin.
He was sitting there, peacefully, sipping his coffee and scrolling down his phone. Someone— a brunette woman— approached him, her loose hair swayed with every step she took. Seduction.
Please don't tell me he actually believed that act—
But maybe it was because she was so ravishing and graceful, or maybe it was because she came of as a friend that Austin decided to follow her.
"Wait!" Luc exclaimed, squinting his eyes, "pause and zoom in."
I did as he told me too. Pressing the space bar and then zooming in, the video was focused on where the woman sat beside Austin.
Austin— as naive as he was— peeped under the table, his hand gripping the wood in a death grip as if it were going to relieve him of his frustration.
The brunette had him as a hostage with her gun pointed to Austin's knee under the table.
"'Pa trained us in seduction," Luc said, "He knew there would be women who would use it against us."
And maybe he was speaking from experience, but I felt proud to at least know they weren't proud to the 'men-are-the-world' mentality.
Austin's expression never once faultered, he breathed.
The woman held her hand towards him and reluctantly, my naive brother took it. He should have known she wouldn't harm him in the middle of a café.
"Bitch." I muttered under my breathe.
"Now what?" Luc asked.
Walking across the knocked out man in the control room, I looked over my shoulder to him, "Gotta find our missing brother, should we not?"
—
—A U S T I N—
Austin knew it was useless. Knew it would do him no good as he struggled against the metal that binded his wrists and ankles to the wood of the chair. Knew it was useless and yet... he tipped his chin upward, the last thing he remembered was the brunette woman, that had purred in an almost magical way in his ear and the next—
The next was absolute darkness.
"Careful, now." The voice— as rough as it was— Austin was sure it was feminine. "You're the ticket to my train, I wouldn't want my ticket to be wrinkled."
Austin wanted to laugh at the humor, but the throbbing in his head left him dizzy.
Sure enough, Austin moved his gaze through the faint light towards where the woman— he assumed— stood. He was right.
The aged lines were clear at the corners of her eyes and mouth. The browns of her eyes gleamed brightly in the faint light, accentuating her brown hair in a dangerous manner. The woman was old, from the lines on her face, he knew that, then why did she not feel like it? Maybe it was because he was bound to the chair that made him weak and helpless but the woman herself looked like a predator. Like Astrid.
God, where the hell was he?
The place looked like a living room of an apartment. The smell of the blood was old, like it had been here for years. The rest was way too normal for a place to be used for a ransom. The room itself looked like no one has been here for years. The dust covering the old television and couch was all too—
"So..." He sang, he was sure it had been a few hours since he'd been in here, he just needed to buy some time until 'Pa or his brothers find him, "What made you choose good ol' me?"
The woman raised her brows in amusement, her lips quirking in something that wasn't quite a smile, "Tell me, Austin." She mused, "What exactly do you know about your sister?"
Austin knew there were two ways he could play this wretched game: deflection or dumb.
He chose the former.
Austin was leaning towards not answering the woman. He closed his eyes. The chair was comfortable enough, and he was sure he could fall asleep if he wanted to.
"I know more about your sister than you do, kid." At that Austin reopened his eyes, "Astrid worked for me."
Of course. Of course, Astrid had to fucking go and work for the most shady people out there.
"Amazing." Austin muttered under his breathe, sarcastically.
The woman snorted, "A bitch of course, but she..." The woman stopped, as if searching for the right word, "As much as it pains me to say it, she was good at what she did."
That was the problem, wasn't it? When you're not good enough, you're a liability and if you're too good at what you do, you're hunted.
Austin frowned as he looked at the chains that circled his wrists. "And you want her because?"
Could be many reasons. Astrid could have killed her relative or she could have threatened or stole from her.
"I want her to do something for me." The woman said, fixing her cold, calculating gaze on Austin, that almost made him flinch.
"And I suppose that is a suicide." The woman hummed in response, "Why can't you just send one of your lap dogs to do your dirty work?"
The guard at the corner— who Austin had not noticed— laughed.
The woman gave a lazy, dismissal flick of her hand and motioned him near her, "As I said— she is good at what she does."
"A fucking legend." The guard murmured, lighting the brunette's cigarette.
"Thank you for your input, Agent 2461." Austin knew what it meant: No one asked your fucking opinion.
Austin stiffled a snort.
"You're awfully calm for a captive, kid." The brunette woman said, puffing out the smoke that made Auatin cough. He was used to these.
"I am born in the world of crime." Austin said, as calmly as he could, "I was trained to stay calm and think."
The woman hummed in response, "You see, I helped your sister run." She purred, taking a long drag from the cigarette, "In exchange for a favor— anything and anytime."
She left the rest unspoken: she was here to collect it.
"Run from what?"
The woman laughed— laughed— the sound wasn't as maniacal as Austin had thought of, "Oh, she hasn't told you, has she?"
"Why was she working for you?" Auston voiced his thoughts. The blank gaze settled on him, Austin felt small under it... loke he wanted to shrink away into nothing.
"Oh boy, you have no idea, do you?" Olga clicked her tongue. He knew so little about her and at the very same time, he was sure he knew more about her—as a person— more than this woman.
Probably more than Astrid would like.
"How do you think she became the Falcon?" Austin had no idea. He knew of the underworld merely because he hacked around it, not into it.
"She really didn't tell you anything?" This time the question was more sympathetic and Austin wondered if there was anything under the facade of this woman.
It was a rhetoric question, still Austin found himself shaking his head.
"The only way to leave The Agency is death," The woman said, dragging her delicate hand on the wall, "She lived here with her sister—"
"Sister?"
The woman threw him a look of annoyance, "Don't test me, boy."
Austin rolled his eyes.
"Her sister's parents fell in love and ran away– together." She continued, "They passed their debts onto their children. We collected it."
Translation: Astrid was merely another one of those helpless people who had died in the crossfire.
Collateral damage.
"Are you serious?" The words left Austin before he could comprehend what he was saying, "You forced her into joining your stupid cult?"
The woman smiled. "I wasted my entire life trying to make the agency a better place. You should be happy your sister got out alive."
A loud thud echoed with in the room. Austin snapped his neck towards the guard to find him unconscious.
"Sharing all my darkest secrets, are ya'?" Austin wanted to scream at the stupidity she possessed.
Fucking Astrid.
It was fucking Astrid.