'How long till the airport?' Zereph's serious tone almost startled Yor as she spun the steering wheel at the U-turn while Zereph sat in the backseat with the handcuffed Ulterior.
'An hour.' Yor said 'I got the earliest privet plane I could back. We ought to interrogate him properly, by the book, back at the Garden-'
Yor was cut off by Ulterior's cackling 'One hour.... One hour. Trust me, Ms. Scarlet...This is going to be the longest one hour of your life.'
He then turned to Zereph, looking up at him with child like eyes 'Did you know, brother, that we will not reach the airport.'
Silence.
'Ask me why?' Ulterior jeered 'Ask.'
Yor and Zereph continued to ignore him.
'Well, suit yourselves...' Ulterior grinned, leaning back into his seat 'You know, I finally figured out why this drive has been so awkward. The chemistry between you two is all wrong.'
The two didn't speak a word but stole glances at him and each other by the corner of their eyes.
'We have a billionaire mafia boss who spent years rotting in jail after letting his mother die and his brothers rot on the streets,' Ulterior chided and not only did Yor feel that he was telling the truth but also Zereph's heart rate running faster than the Indy 100, his hands clenched.
'Ignore him,' Yor's voice came out drier than the Sahara dessert.
'And on the other hand,' Ulterior nodded to Yor 'We have a successful, respected, rich, law-abiding agent who was thrown into slavery because she wasn't good enough for her own mother and committed a murder at the age of 10...Huh, seems like you two are more alike than I thought.'
Ulterior pretended to mutter to Zereph in the loudest pitch he could 'Bit of a hypocrite, isn't she?'
Zereph didn't react but Yor felt his rage shoot through the roof. Ulterior leaned forward and whispered to Yor 'With that background, how in the world are you planning to save Agent Radius Rose? Want my guess? He probably wants you gone too-'
Her hands were clutching at his collar before her brain could cool from her rage. Her vision bled red as she buoyed him out his seat by the shirt.
'Hey, Zereph, Hey!' Ulterior chuckled 'Mr. Etharious, Control her, will you? Control your girlfriend, man!'
Zereph didn't even bother looking away from the window. Yor shoved Ulterior back into his seat so violently that he banged his head against the window. His eyes rolled in his head as Yor held a trembling finger at him 'Not. Another. Word. Understood!?! Not another word out of you!!!'
Ulterior nodded, imitating submissiveness, as he ran his figure across his lips imitating locking his lips and throwing the key away.
Ulterior shot her a wink and grinned widely like a child as he sunk low into his seat.
And then, out of nowhere, out of nothing, they were surrounded. Three bikers formed a vast "V" around Yor's bright red SUV.
Yor and Zereph's screams, Ulterior's maniacal triumphant laughter, a blaze of golden lights shattering the car windows. The bullets pierced right through Yor's coat and bounced off her bullet proof armor.
Yor momentarily lost sense of where they were. Streetlights above her, yells of civilians around her, she was cinging to the steering wheel for dear life.
'If you hadn't told me to not say another word, this wouldn't have happened. This one's on you, Scarlet.'
Ulterior's jab snapped Yor back to life and she spun the wheel, swinging the car into full speed. A second's relief, and then another burst of bullets.
Zereph grabbed Ulterior by the collar, his eyes blood shot 'WHO ARE THOSE PEOPLE!?! HOW DID THEY FIND US!?! TALK!'
'Amazing,' Ulterior said, faking concern 'One says "not another word" and another says "talk"...Like I said, the chemistry is all off-'
Zereph threw him to the side kicked the car door open, launching his upper abdomen out the car to shoot at the bikers in retaliation.
The SUV zoomed forward and Yor glimpsed the helmet clad bikers scattering as Zerpeh's bullets shattered one's helmet. Clearly, they were not experienced shooters. But the bolts of bullets continued to serge as Yor spun the car off the main road, practically burning rubber, clesving a gap between the three pursuers as they scattered.
'BULL'S EYE!' Ulterior yelped in glee as Zereph shot a biker square in the tire and sent him spinning into some poor lady's gazebo.
The other two bikers converged, ceasing fire, forming a graceful arc around the car. Yor spun the steering wheel and the car was waltzing down the street in a fog of smoke. The bonnet broke one biker's ribs for sure but the other biker dodged the headlights and lached onto Yor's cardoor. Yor picked the door open and stomped the biker through the helmet and in the eye. The man screeched before tumbling back down the road with blood spraying form inside the carcass of his helmet.
But just as they thought they were safe, Four consecutive bullets flew past Zereph's head. The biker Zerpeh had shot in the tire was back on the bike of their fallen aly's.
'Here we go again, Zereph, hold on!' Yor bellowed and with. A great net burst from the car's exhaust, the car shot forward like a bullet, breaking the "Construction Ahead" signs into splinters by the force of the acceleration as the car flew into the air, landing with an earth-shattering thud onto the footpath.
Zerpeh looked out the window to see the biker laying limp down in the pit, Ulterior now thrown flat onto his back by the surge of speed, grinning like a child enjoying a roller coaster.
'The other two may come back,' Zereph was the first to collect himself 'Hurry! Go into that alleyway.... It's getting dark, They won't be able to catch up with us if we put enough distance.'
Yor nodded steading herself and pressing down on the accelerator.
'Is there anywhere we can seek shelter?' Zerpeh asked 'We can't go back to the hotel. They must know about it already.'
Yor bit her lip. This was no time for pride. They had a dangerous criminal mastermind in the backseat, and they needed to get him to Erza ASAP.
'There is one place about ten minutes away-'
'Then what the heck are we doing here!?!' Zerpeh exclaimed 'Go there right now!'
Yor nodded and spun the steering wheel yet again, the SUV disappearing into the darkness of the setting sun.
Reyla knew, as soon as a slightly bleeding and sweating Yor, Zereph and Ulterior turned up at her doorstep after parking the crumpled up sportscar a few blocks down the road.
Zereph threw Ulterior onto a chair at the kitchen table and Yor tied him up with the world's securest knot making technique that she had learnt at the Garden and gagged up the scumbag.
After that, it took several minutes to calm Reyla down and another fifteen minutes to explain the situation to her.
'Oh my god....' Reyla whispered under her breath, dropping onto the couch 'How-When-This is just too crazy!'
Reyla looked up at Yor with large, insect like teary eyes 'Radius...Do you think we'll ever get him back?'
'I will.' Yor affirmed, wanting to kick the woman for showing weakness in front of Zereph and blatantly showing him that the two women ahd a personal connection to Gray.
And Zereph heard it, in her voice, that she was losing the belief in that phrase herself.
'Excuse me,' Yor said as she took off to the bathroom.
Yor took a deep breath trying to compose herself, exhausted and disheveled, her usually vibrant scarlet lipstick smeared and her eyes showing visible sign of fatigue as she stood on the balcony.
"C'mon, Yor..." she thought as she straightened up, brushing back the loose drands of hair form her eyes "You can't give up now. He's out there somewhere.... I know it..."
The city skyline stretched out before her and lights flickere din the distance. Her shoulders slumped as she heard his footsteps. He offered her a sleek silver cigarette case, his eyes to the city. The light from the skyline lit his face in silver, making him look almost angelic and his glass like eyes glowed like sapphires in the night, his golden mane brushing his forehead gently in the breeze.
'I don't smoke,' Yor said, feeling something in her gut twist at the crack in her voice. She sounded like she wanted to cry.
'You do now.'
"Screw it,"
Yor took the cigarette and leaned against the balcony railing.
'You know, for all your calculating genius and witty banter, I still can't understand...' Zereph started as he lit the cigarette for Yor 'Why finding Agent Radius Rose is so important to you.'
Yor let out a dark chuckle as she inhaled the cigarette 'You really think I'd tell you, the man who threatened Agent Radius Rose's life and participated in a bombing? Forget it!'
For a moment, that same darkness from their fight in the bar loomed over him 'You are so-'
'What?' Yor snapped, egging him on as she exhaled a cloud of smoke, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. If looks could kill, they'd both be lying dead on Reyla's balcony 'I'm so what?'
'Beautiful...'
Yor couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips, nor the blush that heated her cheeks. But then, Zereph burst out laughing as Yor almost choaked on the smoke she had accidently breathed in.
'You Should-You should see the look-' he managed between fits of crazed laughter, tears drawing to his eyes 'on your-your face!'
'Wow, so mature.' Yor rolled her eyes, biting her lips 'Cody must be more adult like than you and he's barely half your age.'
As the laughter died down, however, the cool silence returned. To fill it, Yor took a drag and smoke swirled around her.
'What's your name?' Zerpeh asked, his eyes staring into the distant glow 'Your real name?'
'Prianka Chopra,' Yor replied sarcastically.
'Pft,' Zereph smirked 'You wish you were that hot....'
'You wish you knew my name!' Yor countered.
Her signature scowl was betrayed by the soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Zereph noticed that, unfortunately, and victorious grin flashed on his lips for which Yor smacked him on the arm.
They grinned at each other for a moment before looking away.
'Okay,' Yor said, taking another dragged before passing the cigarette to Zereph 'Okay, you let me in a little with that picture...I'll let you in too...Besides, this story really can't be of any advantage to you...'
Zereph almost chocked due to gasping in the smoke from the shock 'Seriously!?! Well, Well...Looks like Miss. Perfect does have a heart.'
'Don't push your luck, Etharious...' Yor worked hard to put that scowl back on. Her voice softened, and Zerpeh was shocked once again, not knowing she was capable to do that.
'Shoot,' Zereph looked into the city skyline while he reliesed smoke into the air, knowing Yor would feel much more comfortable without eye contract 'It's storytime...'