Hey…okay, so this is the rewritten bit that I had. This was originally put up in…oh, I don’t know…August 2011? July? I don’t even remember anymore. But yeah, I’ve decided that since in the sequel to Delta, Pierre won’t have a POV, I’m rewriting all his POVs in Delta. So yeah. This is the rewritten part now put up in June 2012, but it’s still basically the same. Enjoy!
Gracias! <3 vb123321
Chapter Five
♣ Josh ♣
I was racing towards the car, my footsteps pounding on the uneven ground. Pierre was yelling something behind me, and I twisted, nearly falling over as I looked to where he was staring with a white face – the bridge. Astrid had crumpled to the ground, the man behind her doing the same despite the gun in his hands that he had obviously just shot her with. My body froze, my eyes widening as my brain went into overdrive to begin to act on what I was seeing. But my limbs weren’t reacting to the signals it was sending them, because how could Astrid be shot?
Pierre was swearing loudly, moving forward as if in a daze. He wanted to get to Astrid, but enough gears clicked in my brain to make my eye register the gunmen that were drawing nearer, their weapons aimed at us. Giving myself a shake, I snapped back into action mode, darting forward to grab Pierre’s arm. He wrenched it out of my grasp, his green eyes burning furiously as he looked at me.
“Get in control!” I yelled, right in his face. “She might not be dead!” My eyes flickered down to his hand. “The grenade – give it to me!”
Shock flared in his eyes. “What – no!”
Ignoring him, I yanked the grenade out of his hand, arching my arm and catapulting it into the air with all the aim of a Little Leaguer. It smashed into the ground at the edge of the forest, exploding with a large boom and causing several guards to fall over. Pierre grabbed my arm to support himself, his eyes widening. “That isn’t a normal grenade!” he shouted in my ear. “Do they usual explode that largely?”
Despite the situation, I couldn’t help laughing. “That’s Charlie’s doing, mate.”
“Who?”
I didn’t answer. Saying Charlie’s name reminded forcibly of what I had just done: thrown a grenade into a place where both he and Astrid could have been. Pierre seemed to be thinking the same thing; he shot me death glares as he started walking forward again. I was considering following him when a figure emerged from the dust the grenade had kicked up. It was Charlie, with Astrid carried shakily in his arms and a bag slung over his shoulder.
Pierre inhaled sharply as Charlie approached us, stepping forward to brace Astrid as well. Charlie gave him a very cold look for doing so, but even I could see that he was about to drop her. His face was smudged with dust and his eyes looked a little bloodshot from the flying particles, but other than that he seemed fine. Astrid, however…
“Is she…” Pierre couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Charlie’s face was dark, and when he spoke, his voice was so bitter that it startled me. “Why did you let her come that far?” he snapped. “What were you thinking?”
“We all came that far,” Pierre said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice as he braced Astrid’s head. “And she wanted to, she…” He trailed off.
“If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” I said tersely, giving them both a look. “I don’t know what you put in those things, Charlie, but they’re lethal.” The faintest flicker of a smile passed over his face, and I turned towards the trees. I could see more men coming, which meant more weapons, and we were far outnumbered as it was. “Come on, move!” I urged, springing forward to the car.
Yanking open the back door, I gestured for Charlie to put Astrid down on the seat, which he did with a little difficulty. Climbing in after her, he settled her head on his lap as he sank back against the seat. I walked around to the shotgun side, sliding in and reaching across to place the key in the ignition because Pierre was still standing outside the open back door.
“You’re coming with us?” he said to Charlie with a slight frown. “Young didn’t say anything…”
“I’m coming.” Charlie’s voice was sharp. “Now get in the car so we can get out of here.”
Pierre, looking annoyed, slammed the door and entered the driver’s side, muttering under his breath, “Who does this guy think he is, anyway?” If I hadn’t been so tense, I might have smiled. But the men were drawing nearer and nearer, so I gave Pierre a punch on the arm and told him to get a move on instead. With another annoyed look sent at me, he swiveled the steering wheel, floored the gas pedal, and began to move out of that area.
I twisted in my seat, meeting Charlie’s worried grey eyes as he rested a hand on Astrid’s chest, feeling for a pulse. Pierre’s stature screamed “tense” as he swerved wildly onto the road and continued roaring at thirty miles over the speed limit. I told him to edge up a bit, but he ignored me, his eyes constantly flicking to the rearview mirror.
“She’s alive,” Charlie said suddenly, and there was the sound of several sighs of relief. “Of course, I didn’t think she was…you know.” He shrugged. “You can sort of tell when you’re carrying someone.”
“Couldn’t have told us that, could you?” Pierre snarled, and I shot him an exasperated look as Charlie’s face darkened. The two of them, while they didn’t know each other that well, were never on very good terms. I was pretty sure it had something to do with Astrid, because although she considered Charlie as her best friend with me, he didn’t always feel the same way.
Charlie looked like he wanted to say something else, but all he said was, “I don’t understand, though. There’s hardly any blood, though he shot her twice.”
Raising an eyebrow, I studied her pale face. Her mouth was slightly open, her dark braid coming over her shoulder. As if wakened by my glance, her eyes fluttered open, looking around in mild confusion. Exhaling in relief, I placed a hand on her forehead, turning her eyes in my direction. “You okay?”
Her dark eyes opened completely, and she took a huge breath, like one saved from a drowning. Her face was white, and her teeth were chattering slightly, her eyes huge as she looked around her. “Wh-what happened?”
“You’re alive,” I said, relieved.
“No need to sound so disappointed,” she said with a weak smile, and I knew she would be all right. I laughed from the front seat, and Charlie cracked a tense smile. Pierre was looking at her, relief splashed across his face. I reached across him to tap the steering wheel with a stern look. “She’s okay; now, drive.” Shooting me another one of his annoyed looks, he turned his eyes back towards the road, although I noticed he kept looking at her in the rearview mirror.
“You were shot,” Charlie was saying to her, whipping his hand off her chest as she looked at it in puzzlement. “Remember? When you were crossing the bridge.”
Slowly, her face cleared. “Oh…yeah. Did I get the idiot?”
Charlie grinned. “Yup, you did,” he said, a small hint of pride crawling into his voice. “He fell like a stone… and then got incinerated when Josh threw the grenade,” he added as an afterthought.
Astrid glared up at me. “So you’re the imbecile who threw it?”
I spread his hands disarmingly. “What was I supposed to do? We had at least ten men on our heels!”
She considered that a moment, a smile appearing on her face. “In that case, thanks,” she said, and I rolled my eyes. She looked over at Pierre, who flashed her a smile as she met his eyes in the rearview mirror. Her face went a little pink, and Charlie’s jaw line tightened slightly.
“Brave little girl,” I said to her for distraction, patting her head in affection. She batted my hand away, scowling at me and then wincing slightly. Astrid immediately arranged a casual look on her face, but her movement hadn’t escaped us. I frowned at her as she avoided my eyes.
“So, Superman, how did you survive those bullets?” I asked, moving on to a lighter subject. She shrugged innocently, not meeting his eyes, and I added, “How do you feel?”
Astrid winced, placing a hand on her back. “Like I’ve been hit by a semi,” she replied with a grimace. “Other than that, fine.”
“Well, that’s okay, then.”
“Okay?” Astrid snorted. “You wanna get hit by a semi, hon? Then we’ll see how okay you are.”
Charlie laughed at that, and I couldn’t help feeling a little relieved at the familiar sound. His face had been so dark in the past few moments that I had been a little bit worried about him. “But you should be dead,” he said, looking at her. “I mean, you were shot in the back!”
Her face closed. “Maybe I’m lucky?”
I shook my head. “Astrid, you could have the luck of the devil, but there’s no way you could get through that alive.” I looked right at her, and she looked away, to my surprise. What hadn’t she told us? My frown deepened as I exchanged a confused look with Charlie, who shrugged. Pierre was also looking at me from the driver’s seat, but I didn’t see how I was supposed to know.
I shrugged, turning to Pierre. “Are we being followed?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself?” he shot back, but was already glancing in the side mirrors. “No, we’re not.” And then, when I looked relieved, “But my thought is they probably marked down the license number and will take it from there. So when we get back to the motel, I say we have about twenty-four hours till they’re on top of us.”
I frowned. “I don’t get it,” I said slowly, “we set all hell loose throwing a grenade and no one’s after us?” Then again, I thought, that could be the reason; maybe no one was around? But I was sure that the grenade hadn’t hit Decrioux’s manor. “Twenty-four hours,” I repeated, glancing at Astrid. “So enough time for you to rest up. Because you need it.”
“I’m fine, honestly,” she snapped, annoyed, and then sighed. “Oh, heck. I’m not getting out of this one, am I? Here, look.” She pulled up the bottom of her tank top: Pierre’s eyebrows flew up as he looked away from the road, and we all couldn’t help but see what she was getting at.
A shimmery grey undershirt, solid enough for us to know that it was no normal piece of clothing.
The next sound we all heard was our jaws hitting the ground as we stared at it. Thinking about it, it must have looked really perverted, staring at her stomach, and I didn’t blame Astrid for yanking the ruined shirt back down with a flaming face. “Eyes on the road,” she said to Pierre in a strange voice, and he turned around at once, a look of shock on his face.
“What is that?” I demanded in incredulity.
“Body armor,” Charlie answered, a line appearing between his eyebrows that only someone who knew him well could spot. “But where did you get it, Astrid?” His voice sounded almost suspicious as he gave her a searching look; he seemed to have something on the tip of his tongue but couldn’t quite remember it. I didn’t recall ever seeing the armor, but my memory wasn’t as good as his, either.
Astrid looked embarrassed. “I’ve had it for ages,” she said, looking away. “I always bring it on assignments, and I usually wear it. It’s just that I’ve never been this injured before so you never saw it.”
“It’s so light,” I marveled, my eyes flicking to her despite her irritated look in my direction that said she wanted to change the subject. “Doesn’t it weigh you down, like normal armor?”
She shrugged. “It’s not that bad. Just adds five pounds to my weight.”
“Well, you’re gonna have one heck of a bruise,” I said, running a hand through my hair and flopping back on my seat. I had to turn to look at her again. “Even with the armor, the bullets do some damage.”
Astrid winced. “Tell me about it,” she muttered. “I can feel them already.” She shrugged, a little painfully. “Oh well, I guess I should be glad I’m alive.” She looked at me. “At least someone is.”
I laughed. “What would we do without you, Astrid?” I teased.
“What can we do with her?” Charlie muttered, and she grinned up at him.
“It’s been a while, Charlie,” she said in a curious voice. “What have you been up to? And why are you here? Did Young send you?”
He rolled his eyes. “Do I have any boss other than Young? Who else would send me here, Astrid?”
She smiled. “Good point. But why are you here?”
He hesitated, and then passed his hand over her hair in a gentle move. “We can talk about it later,” he said. “I don’t know if now’s a good time to get all I need to say out. Maybe tomorrow, when we’re all rested up.” He sounded more like he was trying to evade the question than he was concerned for our health.
Seeing as Pierre was definitely speeding, the rest of the car ride seemed relatively quick. I kept a watchful eye on the rearview mirror to see if Decrioux’s men were following us, but there were no headlights at all, which almost made me more nervous. I thought that these men would be stalking us so they could see where we were staying and then flush us out. Charlie seemed to feel the same – he kept glancing in back of him. I met his eyes in the mirror, and he shrugged, looking as confused as I felt, although I had a feeling that he knew more about what we were getting into then I did.
Astrid closed her eyes again, her face still pale and drawn. When we got to the motel, she looked like she was nearly asleep. Charlie’s head was lolling on the seat as well, and he jerked awake as I touched his arm after getting out of the car. His eyes flashed open, looking almost panicked for a moment.
“It’s okay,” I said with caution. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“No, it’s fine.” He passed an arm over his face in a weary motion. I studied him in slight concern; he looked like he hadn’t slept in a while and there were large dark circles under his eyes.
Pierre appeared at the side, saying, “I’ll carry her. You look dead on your feet.”
Charlie hesitated but then nodded, and Pierre slipped his arms underneath Astrid’s limp figure, hoisting her out of the car and adjusting her in his grasp. Charlie clambered out after him, looking a little annoyed as he slammed the door shut. I grabbed the door, and we all stepped into the hotel. The girl at the desk looked up as we came in. Her face brightened as she saw us, and then darkened when she saw how Pierre was carrying Astrid bridal style. I grinned at her, and she blinked rather rapidly. Charlie rolled his eyes, thumping me on the back, and I sent him a wounded look.
“Do you have to be a flirt all the time?” he asked, stopping in front of the stairs.
“Uh-uh,” Pierre interjected, shaking his head and retreating towards the elevator entrance. “I’m not carrying her up four flights of stairs.”
“Um,” I said carefully, “I don’t think it would be a good idea to take the elevator, mate.”
“Why?” Pierre said. “It’s perfectly serviceable.”
Charlie looked exasperated as I replied, “Astrid doesn’t like them.”
“She doesn’t like them?” Pierre repeated, sounding bewildered. “How do you not like elevators? I mean, you don’t have to enjoy them…but they’re so much faster than using the stairs.”
Charlie looked like he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes. “Look, Josh,” he said, patiently. “She’s half-conscious. I really don’t think she’ll care. And anyway, I don’t think Pierre wants to carry her up four flights of stairs.”
“Although he does look cute,” I commented, smirking at Pierre. He rolled his eyes, and Charlie frowned fleetingly before hitting the “up” button. The elevator arrived, and I stepped in, Pierre and Charlie following me. An elderly lady was in it, and she looked in surprise at Astrid. I met her eyes briefly, and she looked away quickly. As the elevator bumped to our floor, Astrid moaned briefly, opening her eyes and muttering, “What imbecile decided to take the freaking elevator?”
I opened my mouth to say “I told you so,” but Charlie whacked me alongside my head and I shut up. Astrid shut her eyes tightly, moving even closer to Pierre, who was obviously trying to ignore the looks on our faces. As the elevator came to a halt, he was the first to step out into the corridor.. I hadn’t noticed how late it had gotten: shadows were etched across the floor as I pushed open the door to our room with my foot, ushering Pierre and Astrid in first.
I opened Astrid’s bedroom door open for him as he entered, watching as he laid her on the bed; she barely stirred. He eased her boots off her feet, putting them underneath her bed. I wondered if he was debating on taking her shirt off – that could get awkward – but he evidently decided against it. Straightening, he brushed past me, and I closed Astrid’s door behind me as I followed him out.
“How is she?” Charlie asked immediately. I rolled my eyes.
“The same way she was thirty seconds ago when you last saw her,” I pointed out, trying to sound patient. He looked annoyed, and I shrugged. “She’s fine. She just needs to get some sleep.”
Pierre was yawning on his bed. “Yeah, well, I told you we should’ve rested after the plane flight.”
Charlie looked over at him. “You mean you just flew in today?” he asked, sounding surprised. “And you’re already going over to Decrioux’s?”
Pierre and I looked at each other. “It was his idea,” I said at the exact same time as him. Charlie laughed.
“Well, both of you are idiots then,” he said, sounding satisfied. He rippled his fingers through the dark hair falling over his eyes, yawning. “Where am I gonna sleep?”
Pierre shrugged. “You can have my bed if you want,” he offered. “Or you can take the floor. Or if Josh wants to offer his?”
“Nah, I’m good,” I said, sinking down onto my bed with a sigh of relief. It hadn’t seemed like that long of a day a few moments previously, but then, lying on that comfortable bed, it did.
Charlie rolled his eyes, bowing mockingly in Pierre’s direction. “Wouldn’t want to deprive His Majesty,” he said with a touch of sarcasm, and then caught the pillow I threw at him.
“Sleep on that,” I told him, and Pierre stripped a blanket off his bed as well, handing it to Charlie with an odd look on his face. Charlie took it from him with muttered thanks, and the tension between them sharpened. I looked at them both in slight puzzlement, but decided not to get involved, instead sinking back into my remaining pillow and closing my eyes.