They knew what to expect. They knew the obstacles that the Professor had prepared for, and what they assumed was coming sooner than later. They were going to have to get ready for the police to try and infiltrate the Mint. They would try, but the Professor was quicker than them. He already suspected it, so they knew exactly what moves to make to force them to back off. That was the exact reason that they had Alison Parker, the lamb. She was the most important hostage. She was the one thing that kept the police from forcefully entering and killing everyone, including the innocent hostages if they absolutely had to.
Ava held a coffee in her hand, taking a sip from the cup. She stood in front of a group of clearly fearful hostages that had been fully stripped into the red matching jumpsuits not even thirty minutes ago. They were given masks and fake guns. They were being used as shields of some sort because the police would have to be stupid to enter a building with so many hostages who were dressed the same as the captors and just started firing. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference between anyone, especially with the realistic-looking weapons. Nairobi was already starting the printing of the money, Berlin was off ordering people around, and Helsinki and Oslo were in charge of different hostages. Ava was by herself with a group of hostages who were fearing for their lives. They seemed almost calm because Ava was the one watching them, and she understood why exactly when Berlin had previously been in the room. Berlin was a bit odd. He definitely wasn't normal, but he never really had been either. He was his own person. Charming but demonic at times. He could be very sadistic if need be.
"You're not like the others." A young woman commented as she stared up at Ava from the ground. Ava furrowed her eyebrows as she looked down at her.
"Why do you say that?" Ava took another drink of the bitter coffee. She needed sugar at the very least for it, but she was left with black coffee.
"You seem to be the most normal."
"And what's normal?" Ava shook her head. She set her coffee cup on the stairs and then walked straight over to the woman. She kneeled so that she was right in front of her face. All of the hostages were staring at them, wanting to see what was happening. "Is normal even normal? That's the question, you know? I'm a pretty fucked up person but so are you, right? You have your darkness even if you don't want to admit it?" The woman was starting to regret even speaking up because Ava kept rambling. "You're right, though. I'm not exactly like the others but don't get it twisted. I'll shoot you in the face and won't think twice about it if you think about trying anything on my watch." Ava snapped, standing back up completely. Her eyes wandered around the hostages, noticing the fear in everyone now. It was a look that she hadn't received from them until this very moment. But Ava wasn't being very truthful. She'd never even hunted an animal before. Shooting a human didn't even cross her mind. Ava went to turn back to her coffee, but she spotted Martin at the top of the stairs. He seemed to hear all of that. Ava's eyes averted away from him, grabbing the coffee from the stairs and taking a gulp.
"Valencia," she heard Martin's voice and she immediately sighed in frustration. The last thing she wanted after the long confusing day that they all had was to be tied up talking with Martin. "Can I talk to you?"
"Clearly, no Phoenix. Can't you see that I'm busy? Don't you have a job to be doing?" Ava said to him, but she didn't even look away from the hostages.
"Oslo is covering this shift. So, you have a minute to talk to me." Oslo looked toward Ava and gave her a small smile. Ava sighed in relief that she was no longer babysitting the hostages and nodded towards Oslo, thanking him silently. Ava started walking up the stairs, but purposely didn't even look Martin's way. "Please Valencia, just let me talk for five minutes." Ava kept walking up the stairs as Martin followed her. "God damn it listen to me!" He yelled out finally, and Ava stopped completely in her tracks. She turned to face him, her face completely cold. She stayed silent, though. "Has anything happened between you and Berlin?" Ava's cheeks were burning a bright pink now as he spoke his words and she could feel her blood boiling.
"I give you a second and you say that." She shook her head and scoffed. "No. I shouldn't have to answer the fucking question but no. You've just been a jealous bitch the last few months. That's all that's gone on. "
Martin sighed, almost wishing that he could believe that. He let his jealousy get the best of him too many times. "So not the last seven months then. We've been together longer, and I've heard of him before. Andres, not Berlin. Has anything happened between Ava and Andres?" He was speaking quieter now when he used their real names. Ava shook her head in disbelief that he was still speaking about the same topic. He had never specifically asked her that before, so she had no reason to lie. But she did now because something had happened in the past. Years ago, but it did happen.
"Yeah," Ava admitted. She could see the defeat in Martin's face as it fell completely. He was expecting that answer, but it didn't make it any easier. He wasn't oblivious to the looks that they were giving each other even on the day that he showed up at their apartment. They seemed to look at each other longingly.
"He's the one you lost it to, yeah?"
"Yeah." Ava sighed, a frown forming on her lips. She was thankful that it came out now because it seemed to be eating her alive, even if it was years upon years ago.
"He was what? Twenty something years old sleeping with a sixteen year old?" Martin tightened the grip on his gun in anger. Ava almost wished she had taken it before mentioning anything.
"He didn't take advantage of me. I wanted it." She didn't want to start a fight on their first night at the Mint. It was crucial that they all learned to work together if they were to succeed. "But that was ages ago, and I don't feel the same way about him anymore. I've been trying to tell you this all along, but you never listen." The lies kept slipping out, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him how much she longed to touch Andres. "I'm not going to plead with you to trust me, Phoenix. You need to learn to trust both me and Berlin, or this is over. I can't keep begging for decency when I haven't done anything wrong except what you asked of me."
Martin nodded slowly. He wanted to run off to find Berlin and leave him with a bullet in his chest, but he forced himself to stay put, trying to work it out with Ava first. "He might've been your best friend growing up, but are you so sure of his loyalty now? I feel like you trust him with everything in you and it's going to get you killed. He's not a stable person. Hell, he pulls a gun on everyone!" Ava's face was flat as she stared at him silently. She had nothing else to comment on because she knew he was speaking from insecurities, even if Berlin was an unstable person. She trusted him completely with her own life. "Who would you side with if it came down to it? Me or him?"
Ava stepped back a little in disbelief from the question and she couldn't help the small laugh that left her lips. "He's in charge, Phoenix! Shut up and learn to fucking deal with it!" Ava was yelling now at the top of the stairs. She was sure that some of the others could hear them and the hostages that were on the bottom floor. It was a stage and Ava and Martin were having a show.
"Is there a problem?" Denver's voice was now heard as he walked around the corner and stood down the hall. He was staring at the two of them. Ava looked immediately at Denver and shook her head then she looked back at Martin, noticing the black eye again. "Is he bothering you?"
"No, Denver. Thank you." She sighed frustratingly as Martin glared back at Denver. Ava reach out a hand to Martin's arm, touching his bare skin as the top of the jumpsuit was pulled down. He seemed to calm down almost at just her touch.
"Let's get back to work." Ava hurried to Denver's side, walking with him. They were all occupied with hostages constantly. They had to stay busy making sure that they didn't try any attempt to escape or riot. She knew the hostages for the first few days would be easier to control but soon they were going to lose patients and she knew that.
The night was slowly starting to creep around and the first day of the heist would be completed. Ava knew better than to sleep the first night. They would sleep in shifts, altering who slept at each time to make sure that they had people on guard constantly. The first night of the heist was going to be a hard one. Ava was almost certain that they were going to make a move, but the question was just when. It could be at the very moment, an hour, two hours, or maybe they'd make a move at two a.m. when they suspected that most people would be drifting to sleep. Ava passed out sleeping bags to all of the hostages. Just as she handed one to the last hostage the phone rang. The Professor's calls were always urgent. He was able to see things that they weren't. Ava hurried to the phone, picking it up quickly.
"Professor." She spoke.
"They're trying to enter now." The Professor spoke at the end of the other line. Ava turned to the hostages, noticing most of them watching her but she searched for Andres' eyes'. His eyes were locked on her and it was almost like he could read her mind.
. "We're on it, Professor." She tried to reassure him.
"Good luck." The Professor ended the call and Ava quickly hung it up and darted into action.
"Everyone!" Ava's once quiet voice carried so loudly as she looked around the room. "Get up and follow our orders! Masks on!" Ava stood directly beside Berlin, letting him take control of the room. She grabbed her own mask, pulling it on her face along with the hoodie to the jumpsuit. Nairobi, Tokyo, Denver, and Berlin followed suit as they put their own masks on. The hostages were right after. They pulled their masks on and picked the fake guns up from the ground.
"Let's go!" Berlin ordered, leading the way to the loading zone. The Professor was a smart man. Not only did he know most of the moves that they would make but he knew where they would move from most of the time. The cameras were proving him to be right. The group waited right in front of the doors, listening to the drill try to force an entrance into the building. As they were doing that, Alison was on the phone with the police. She was the only way that they would stop entrance so hopefully, she would read the lines and not try anything stupid. Ava could almost hear her own heartbeat as the fear was rising in her chest. "You ready?" Berlin asked as he looked toward Ava. Ava gave him a nod, forcing the fear down the best she could. "Alright, let's go!" Berlin called out as they hurried back behind the browning gun. It felt like an hour had passed but it was no more than twenty minutes that they were down there that the police retreated. They retreated after they heard Alison on the phone. The drilling stopped and the building fell silent once again. Ava was more than relieved that they didn't have to have a shoot out.
Ava was the one to lead the hostages back up to the front entrance. She made sure that they lay down in their sleeping bags. She sat down on the second to bottom stair, staring at the group of people that she knew were fearing for their lives. There were some that were already asleep after the long day that even they had, but some seemed to have insomnia and she was assuming it was because of fear. Ava was on the first watch of this group for the night. Her eyes were heavy as exhaustion was weighing on her. She was definitely going to need more coffee. She heard footsteps on the stairs and she immediately stood up and turned to look who it was. She sighed when she saw Berlin walking down the stairs towards her. She truly didn't want to deal with him or Martin right now. Her feelings were too conflicting.
"You're coming to relieve me so that I can sleep?" Ava tried to joke as she forced a smile on her lips. She stayed staring at him.
"Or we could put your boyfriend on babysitting and we can get some sleep together like the good old times. " Berlin teased her, taking a sip of the coffee that he was carrying. Ava rolled her eyes. She reach out to take the coffee from Berlin, taking a drink of it right after him. She was already starting to get used to the bitter taste of the black coffee. Some of the hostages were noticing the tension between some of the members of the group. They were all so different, but they had so many personal relationships with each other and there were certain hostages that noticed the dynamic between the leader, Ava, and Martin.
"That does sound tempting." Ava couldn't help it. She let her eyes wander down to Berlin's lips. She wondered if he kissed the same. Did he touch the same? Berlin could tell that he was getting to her. "Or better yet, you could babysit and I can go into a separate and fuck my fiancé." She wished that she wanted him the same way that she wanted the man in front of her. Why were her desires for him so high? What made her want him more than she even wanted the man that she loved for fifteen years? "And trust me, I am so much better than I was." Andres was interested. His eyes wandered down Ava's body and he didn't hide it. He stepped closer to her, bringing a hand up to rest on her lower back. This was all happening in front of hostages that were half asleep. Ava's heart was pounding a million miles per hour at his touch. She wished that the red jumpsuit was thinner. She wanted to feel his bare hand on her skin.
"Speak of the devil." Andres backed off completely, a chuckle leaving his lips when he saw Martin near the top of the stairs. He was amused because he knew he saw everything. Ava's head snapped up, a frown forming on her lips when she saw her fiancé looking down at her in anger. Martin hurried down the stairs, and Andres went to walk back up the stairs. He couldn't be bothered by Martin's anger. It didn't phase him even a bit.
"What the fuck was going on? I just talked to you about this! God damn it, do you think I'm fucking stupid?" Martin snapped when he was directly in front of Ava. Ava stared at him blankly. "Fucking speak you dumb bitch!" Martin's voice got louder but this caused Berlin to stop in his tracks completely. He wasn't expecting the words that came out of Martin's mouth.
"What the fuck did you think was going on? That I'd let him fuck me on these stairs in front of everyone? Are you that clueless?" Ava snapped back at him but this just angered Martin more. She was tired of putting up with his jealousy when she was stopping herself from making any moves on Andres.
"I'm so tired of your shit! You lying fucking whore!" Martin had woken a lot of the hostages that were sleeping because of his yelling. He edged closer to Ava in anger.
"Fuck you!" Ava hollered back at him. Martin huffed, trying to calm himself, but his anger was at a boiling point and it was starting to spill over. He pushed Ava back up the railing, his hand going straight to her neck, tightening his grip around it. Ava's eyes widened in complete shock as she fought for her breath. He had never shown so much anger towards Ava. Berlin was standing there watching until Martin laid a hand on her. It wasn't even a minute and he was back down the stairs. He grabbed a fist full of Martin's jumpsuit, pulling him roughly off of Ava and shoved him down to the ground. Berlin knelt down next to him, punching him over and over again in the face. Ava quickly brought a hand up to her neck, trying to catch her breath and process exactly what happened. "Berlin!" Ava yelled, hurrying to Berlin and Martin's side. "Berlin!" She yelled again because he wasn't stopping. Martin was on the ground defeated while Berlin pounded him over and over again. "Stop it! Please!" She grabbed ahold of Berlin's jumpsuit, pulling with all of her might as she tried to get him off of him. Berlin stopped abruptly and looked back at her and then quickly back at Martin.
"Lay your hands on her again and I'll blow your fucking brains out!" Berlin screamed at Martin, finally letting go of Martin, letting him fall completely to the ground. Martin nodded, defeated. Ava's eyes went straight to the phone as it went off. The Professor must've seen everything.