Two AM was here. It would take us eight hours to reach where Victor was being held. I hauled the last duffle bag full of assorted weapons into the trunk, slamming it shut as I turned and looked at the three standing there, waiting.
"See? Told you I had it."
Logan raised an eyebrow at my obviously labored breathing, but didn't say anything.
"So, how 'bout it?" Finn asked, eyes settled on me in a serious expression.
I rolled my eyes and held up my hand, with one arm bent behind my back in a rightful pose of respect, as I vowed in a loud voice,
"I, Jane Harrison, promise that this is not a suicide mission, but a retrieval of stolen property - which is completely disrespectful to call Victor property by the way-," I began, shoulders relaxing a bit as my hand curled into just one finger pointing loosely into the air.
"Keep going," Logan ordered, cutting me off with a stern expression.
I really needed to stop rolling my eyes. But with one more eye-roll, I stiffened back up, and began again.
"A retrieval of stolen property, and an ass-kicking to send Ike into oblivion. O' this I solemnly swear," I finished off with a flat tone, my hand dropping as soon as the words were out.
"Happy?" I huffed.
Logan grinned, as Finn's arm dropped onto his shoulders. "Very," They replied.
"Quit with the buddy-buddy act and let's go," I grumbled, turning on my heel. "We're wasting time."
Instead of heeding my command, they laughed together as they followed me to the car. I swore I could even hear Dad chortling to himself. I didn't want to think about the new information I was bursting with, so I tried to ignore his presence as much as possible.
I got into the passenger seat of the car, as Finn settled into the driver's seat. Logan and Dad were getting settled in the back, and I was fiddling with the radio when I realized Finn was staring at me. All emotion was gone from his face. Only the hint of an edge to his eyes.
I stared back, sober as well.
"Are ya' prepared?" He asked, and I heard the shuffling come to a halt in the back.
I stared into his familiar gaze, swallowing thickly. I knew what he was asking. There was no guarantee of what we would find. Victor may have already been dead. I'd considered the possibility, but quickly discarded it from my mind. I couldn't think like that.
But I couldn't help the wry smile that crossed my face, as I tilted my head. "Of course not. Was I prepared six years ago?"
He stared at me for a beat more, before he broke out into a devious grin. "'Suppose not."
"Then stop asking dumb questions and let's go," I replied, shooting him a wink.
This time, his laugh was loud, setting the mood for the night to come as he threw the car into drive. "Alright then!"
He sped out of the old muddy drive on two wheels, as I cranked up the radio and tried to pretend that this was a normal dumb adventure that I was embarking on; instead of the horrible journey it was. AC/DC, Back in Black roared over the speakers, and we flew down the old dirt road as if the wheels weren't touching the ground - with how many bumps we hit at 70+ miles and hour, we probably weren't on the ground too often.
Logan was in the back, holding onto the handlebar for dear life. Dad sat with his head against the seat rest, eyes closed as if he were being floated along on a cloud....a very tumultuous cloud that threw him every which way. Maybe he was used to it. It probably felt like home to him.
I was pantomiming the guitar solo, falling back into my old self as I easily slipped into the persona. It was easier to believe I really could kick Ike's ass this way. I wasn't used to having company on my death-missions. It felt strangely comforting. And also stifling. I wanted to feel free and independent, but at the same time I was immensely glad to have this time with them, in case I wasn't able to make it out.
Logan, despite being thrown against the door and hitting his head on the ceiling a few times with the extra....air-catching dips and hills in the road, gave me a small smile when I glanced back at him. In this persona it was easy to grin back.
We finally hit the smooth...ish....freeway - Smoother than the dirt road, at least - and took the turn on two wheels. I was pretty sure Dad was asleep, because when I looked back, Logan had unfortunately been crushed against the door by all 200 pounds, and was in the process of shoving him back over to his perspective seat. He simply settled back into his original position when he landed. I had forgotten that the man could sleep through an earthquake - and had, once, when I was little and we'd taken a vacation to California. Perhaps his constant traveling had made him even more used to tumultuous journeys.
I tried to push the bitterness of that thought away, as I turned back around to stare out of the windshield. Dad had his reasons. He wasn't the only guilty party. Though, he did cause a lot of it.
"Are we takin' shifts?" Finn called over the music - not having to raise his voice too much as it already had a booming quality that had the ability to drown out even the loudest of decibels.
I, however, had to turn the music down a bit to speak. "I'll drive next. Logan, you want the next shift?" I turned around, as he was now looking at me with a miserable gaze that conveyed that he realized just how long a trip this would be.
"I'll take it," He replied, blue eyes flickering uncomfortably to Dad as we hit another rough pothole.
Anything to save him from the possibility of being crushed again by a man twice his size.
***
Two hours later, I was behind the wheel. Logan was in the passenger seat for easy-switching, and Finn and Dad were fast asleep in the back. I'd turned off the radio at the one hour mark, when we got to the end of The Dark Side of the Moon.
Logan and I hadn't spoken much, except to discuss possible gas-station routes and the cheapest options. In fact, after he kissed me that last time, he made not another move to touch me.
Part of me was glad. And that part that I wouldn't tolerate was disappointed. I stayed relaxed, although there was a million things I wanted to ask him. I didn't let those things cloud my mind. This had to wait until we got Victor back. I couldn't allow distractions to keep me from my plan.
On that note, I did say this,
"I hope you know, Victor is going to skin you alive."
Logan glanced at me, and a small smile twitched at the corner of his lip. "Why's that?"
"Well, you've kissed his girlfriend...five hundred times and counting. I can't say I'm blameless. I'd be shocked if after all this he didn't dump me."
Logan snorted. "He left me lying, bloody nosed on the concrete and carried you slobbering drunk into his room. Like you were a china doll. He wouldn't leave you for anything."
I stared out the windshield, my heart wrenching. My voice was almost inaudible as I whispered, "Part of me wishes he would."
Logan was silent for a long time. "Victor...is determined. Stubborn as an ass without the charm." He ignored my eye-roll at his jab. "He knows what he wants. And he knows he's going to keep it. So...when he says he loves you no matter what...he means it."
Logan and I fell silent again after that, both of us contemplating his words. I couldn't tell what Logan was thinking, but I knew what I was thinking. If I was going to be worthy of a man like that, I had to put a stop to everything. Logan wasn't an option. He wasn't. I was putting my foot down. It would hurt him, but sometimes that had to be for the best.
Victor was my everything. He'd been my everything since he walked into that interrogation room. This was a life or death situation, and I feared it was either or. Both of us couldn't live. Not while Ike survived.
And it wouldn't be Victor to die. I'd make sure of that. I didn't want Dad to be the one to take Ike's life. Dad wasn't the one terrorized for years. Dad didn't have his life ruined by Ike. The love of his life was safe at home while he himself made his mistakes.
No. This was my fight. My revenge. I'd kill Ike, or I'd die trying.