When we stepped inside the cool, slightly damp air of the building, all of us went dead silent. Ahead was a dark hallway, illuminated by lights from the doorways ahead. The granite floors were dilapidated, but clean, and I was surveying the area for any guards hiding in the shadows. I saw none, and neither did Finn, so in unison we moved forward, flattening against the nearest wall to keep ourselves hidden in darkness. As we neared the first door, wide open and pouring a contrasting white light out onto the dark floor, I could hear some kind of buzzing sound, like that of a tesla coil. Finn paused us with a hand up, as he carefully peeled open the bag and handed us each a loaded handgun. He handed the bag to Dad, and nodded at each of us.
I grasped the cool metal in my hand, feeling the weight of it, and the responsibility of a man's head on my shoulders if I were to use it. I'd never killed anyone before, but for Victor, I'd easily commit homicide. This was my key to Ike's demise.
Finn flattened himself next to the door, and carefully angled his head to where his eyes were just peeking around the corner. Quick as a flash he flattened himself back again, out of the light, as we all waited, ready. His face was grim, as he carefully peeled himself away from the wall, and motioned us in after him as he strode into the room.
We followed, and at first I was lost in a bright light, as my eyes adjusted. When I was finally able to see, I looked around the room for a brief moment. The sound I heard was an electrified metal rod, sticking straight up and pulsing with light. The rod was connected to some kind of generator, and two long chords snaked out of the bottom, towards a chair where a man sat, head hanging down where his hair covered his face, shirtless, practically naked save for the cover of a towel underneath his numerous ropes he was bound in. Finn carefully touched his face, and we all lifted our guns on instinct as he jerked back, a quiet but deft sound coming from his lips as his wild eyes took us all in.
"Clay," Dad grumbled, eyes appraising his less than choice appearance. "I hired you cause you said you were the best," He reminded.
Clay had a big mop of messy brown hair atop his head, with striking green eyes that didn't quite fit his average look. He was bruised and battered, one of his cheeks swollen still and his nose looked strangely crooked, though the bruises were old and faded.
"The best," He agreed in a pant, taking in Dad's face. "I just didn't say the best at not getting caught."
Dad narrowed his eyes. "We'll untie you. There's a getaway car about four blocks down, extra clothes in the trunk, keys in the glove compartment. You'll drive. If that car is gone by the time we get there, I will know who did it." He stared at Clay with eyes of steel, and Clay nodded without hesitation, probably glad Dad wasn't just killing him then and there.
"Where's Victor?" I cut in, as Finn pulled out his pocket knife.
Logan and dad kept watch on the door, but he looked back at the question.
Clay shook his head, and I caught an accent I couldn't identify, as he spoke, "It's useless, Honey. They're gonna kill him as soon as they catch sight of you."
My eyes hardened. "Where?" I repeated.
He rolled his eyes as Finn cut his bound hands, rubbing his red wrists as he informed, "Upstairs, Second floor. All I know is that he's alive but barely."
I moved to leave, my shoulder was grabbed by Dad, who looked at me with warning eyes, "Don't lose logic now, Jane. Stick to the plan."
"The plan was that I would be leverage for Victor's life. Now that they've seen the decoy he's probably already-,"
Dad's hand came over my mouth, as he shushed me. "They haven't caught you yet. As long as they don't have you, they still have Victor. You have to believe that."
He slowly let his hand off of my mouth, as I took in a deep breath, and let it out in a sigh. "Is everything ready?"
Dad pulled the duffle bag forward, opening it to reveal the numerous weapons they'd stored inside - the distraction. Small bombs, perhaps the size of my thumb or smaller, were nestled into a padded strap and rolled up in the corner of the bag. Dad pulled those out, and nodded at me. "We'll start setting up. You take this-," He handed me a small black earpiece, and picked up the walkie, "And when you find Victor's whereabouts, find a dark corner and wait. We'll give the signal, and that's when you grab him."
I nodded, standing up when he began passing out the weapons.
I turned, heading back out into the darkness, until a hand caught my arm, and I spun to meet eyes with Logan. We stood there in the darkness, eyes locked. His own had conflict laced in their depths, but I was set. I wasn't going to back down now.
He bit his lip, as he examined my face over and over, as if for the last time, before he whispered, "be careful up there."
He leaned down, and placed a single, lingering kiss on my cheek. Warm hands on my neck. For some reason, this kiss, apart from all the other kisses he'd stolen from my lips, wrenched my heart the most.
This. This was his goodbye.
Instead of saying anything, I placed both hands on his cheeks, and gave him a withering smile. I knew all of my emotions were showing on my face. Every vulnerable feeling. His eyes widened a bit, but before he could grab me again, I stepped backwards, and turned, jogging carefully and quietly away from him.
Now, I was alone. And every sound as I went further and further from that bright doorway made my heightened awareness prick. I checked every open doorway, though none was lit, and hid in every corner I could. Soon I reached a slightly brighter, more open area, and as I peeked in, I quickly pulled away as I realized it was a lobby area, and guarded.
"Ey, Dave," I heard a male voice call, "You check the west hallway?"
"Nope," Who I assumed was Dave answered, his voice getting closer to me as he continued, "Headed there now."
I reached up, and pressed the button on my ear piece, whispering as I backed away from the opening, "Got a Fanny Pack around the ankles at twelve."
Which was code for 'worst case scenario headed your way soon.'
"Fanny pack? What the hell-," Logan's voice was cut off and shuffling ensued as Dad's voice came over the line.
"It full of food?"
I crouched behind a doorway, peeking around just as he rounded the corner, seemingly alone, and pulled the earpiece out of my ear as I ducked back, whispering, "Nah. Dinner for one."
"We'll handle it. You in any trouble?" He asked as I pushed my earbud back into my ear canal.
I tensed as his footsteps passed my hiding spot, holding my breath as I waited for him to pass, before releasing it and whispering, "Nope. I'm dandy."
"Good. Stick to the recipe." Code for stick to the plan - obviously.
"Come on," I sneaked towards the doorway, with a slight grin, "Always gotta throw a little of your own flare into the dish."
"Jane," Logan growled - this was the one bit of code he understood. "Don't be stupid."
"So boring," I pouted. "Fine. I'm headed towards the target, as planned."
No one answered, so I assumed Dave had found his way down. I waited.
Shots rang out from down the hall in their direction, and orders were barked from the lobby. Footsteps marched past me, and as their footsteps faded, silence was all I could pick up. Carefully, I made my way out of my hiding space, inching closer to the entrance to the lobby. Two men were left, guarding the door. They were watching the cameras - faced towards the entrance. I could sneak past if I was careful. The lobby was the center of operation - such was obvious from the tables and chairs strewn about. If I was quiet I could crawl to the nearest table, and hide behind the chairs enough to obstruct my view. The tricky part was reaching the stairwell without garnering suspicion, or making any noise.
With a silent breath, I carefully eased my way out into the open, eyes trained on the two in front of me, as I moved like a spider, hands feeling across the ground as my legs moved in a crab walk. I was sure I looked comical, but my ears listened for any noise coming from the stairwell, or any sign of backup for the group behind me.
I reached the chairs, hiding myself as well as I could, and poked my head around the backrest, watching the two from under the table.
From where I stood I could see the camera feed - shit. Stairwell was no good. Cameras covered the doorway, and each floor. I watched as the cameras changed - eight seconds between each one. A plan formed as I thought of how risky this would be. I had a watch on my wrist given to me by my father before we left the hotel. I could keep count of the seconds before the cameras changed. They changed views six times before going back to the stairwell. I would have to time it just right so that I was never on the same stairwell as the current camera...and I'd have eight seconds to get out of view of each one.
Taking a deep breath, I waited, watching the cameras to wait for the moment I would have to move. The cameras went back to the stairwell, and I started moving.
One second, two seconds, three seconds,
I was at the door, dead still as not to raise the attention of the two near the cameras as I watched and waited.
Five seconds, six seconds, seven seconds...
Now!
Carefully I pushed open the door, gingerly but as quickly as possible. Feasibly I had at least thirty two seconds until the stairwell camera switched back into view, but to avoid each camera I had to be precise.
One second, two seconds,
I slinked into the doorway, letting it close ever so gingerly.
four seconds, five seconds,
I moved like a cheetah up the stairwell, stopping just before I turned the corner into the view of the camera.
Six, seven...,
I moved, taking the stairs two at a time, hoping to god I hadn't gotten the order wrong in the camera changes. But I had little time to watch and wait.
Three, four, five, six...
I paused at the door, waiting with breath held as I carefully peeled it open, peering out into the hallway of the second floor. Now was the tricky part. I knew there were cameras here, but their location wasn't clear from the view I could see on the monitors. From what I could see it was mostly hall views, so I carefully looked for cameras or guards before I made my way out into the open. Nothing, though I heard footsteps down the hall.
Quickly, as I straightened myself to stand, I grabbed the door handle across from me, thankful that it was unlocked as I threw myself in, shutting the door ever so gently. It was a supply closet, from what I could see, nothing too special or damning in here, that is unless you find anything scandalous about a broom handle with no broom attached. No whereabouts of Victor. But most importantly, no cameras or guards.
I listened to the footsteps passing outside, pressed as close to the door as I could be without touching it, as it wasn't the sturdiest or quietest door in the world. I waited for the footsteps to pass before carefully opening the door, and peering out.
I stepped out into the hall, and slunk down the way he came - he might have been making his rounds, but the hallway to my right was dark and unused - light poured from around the corner of the hallway to my left, and I had my suspicions that he was guarding something specific over there.
My suspicions were confirmed as I reached the end of the hall and peered around the corner, and I heard Ike's voice.
It echoed, so I wasn't exactly sure which room it came from. There were three rooms illuminated down the hall - one room had the door standing open, the others were closed.
Ike was angry - I could tell by his inflection, though I couldn't hear what was said. He was pissed. I suddenly got worried, maybe he was angry that I hand't been caught. Was he taking it out on Victor...?
I made a cursory glance around the hallway, looking for cameras, or for any sign of the guard making his way back around, but I saw nothing. This seemed too easy...
But ignoring my gut feeling, I slinked down the hall, feeling exposed in the lit hallway as I made my way towards the sound of Ike's voice. As I got closer, I could hear what he was saying.
"You may have had her for a little while, but I'll have her forever, screaming my name---,"
My stomach churned, as I swallowed down bile. His voice muffled again as he moved away from me, but I knew what room he was in. Third room down from the open door. With feather light footsteps, I carefully made my way over, taking out my gun from the back of my jeans. I was just about to slink up next to the door, but I heard Ike speak just as the handle turned.
With no time to think, I threw myself up against the wall next to the door, just around the corner of the hallway. I looked around, and flinched as I caught site of a camera. Please be cycling the stairwells, please be cycling the stairwells...
I froze in place as Ike stepped out of the room, grunting as he slammed the door.
"I'll have him begging me to end his life when I'm done with him," Ike mumbled to himself, as I held my breath. "He'll see...,"
As I heard his voice making it's way down the other direction, I carefully peered around the corner. He was walking briskly, his back was tense and angry.
I waited as long as I could, afraid I'd already been seen, and then burst out from my hiding spot and grabbed for the door. Locked! Dammit!
With no time to think and hands shaking, I raked my hands through my hair and came up with my bobby pin. Deftly, I forced my hands to settle as I landed on my knee, bent the pin and shoved it into the lock. I wasn't sure how I did it - it was a blur of all of the training I'd put myself through as a stupid kid who didn't like locks: especially locked principle's offices - But before I knew it I was turning the handle and throwing myself into the room.
I closed the door behind me and quickly turned my gaze to the one I wanted to see.
He sat with hands bound behind him, shirtless, battered and bruised, as he hung his head low. His hair covered his face, but I knew he was conscious because when he heard me enter, he took in a deep breath and let it out.
"Back for mor---," His sentence cut off as he lifted his head, and his once defiant eyes went blank with shock.
I wasn't sure he recognized me at first - I was wearing a blond wig and I had an outfit on I'd never wear otherwise, but as he opened his mouth, and closed it again, I was sure he knew exactly who I was.
"Oh, Victor," I murmured as I quickly made my way over, "Your face..."
His nose was swollen, one of his eyes wasn't swollen shut but looked as though it had been that way, as the bruise was an ugly green color - older, and his jaw was purple where he'd been punched over and over.
"No," He started to say, but I shushed him, carefully looking at his injuries as I took his face in both my hands.
"It's okay, I'm here now," I assured.
"No, Jane," He said, and his voice was urgent, "You can't--you can't be here," As I moved closer, he used his shoulders to push me away, "No Jane, you don't understand-," He began to panic, "You have to leave!"
"Victor, I'm not leaving without you!" I pushed back on his shoulders, careful not to be too rough as one of them was purple.
His golden eyes caught mine, his breath coming in and out in heaves. "Jane, please, he's going to-,"
"I know, Victor," I murmured. "I know what this is. I know."
"Jane, then...," Victor paused then, taking in my gaze.
He took in my expression, the way I didn't ask him why he was panicking.
"You knew?" He guessed, and his voice was thick. "You knew exactly what this was."
"Only one of us is going to get out of this, Victor," I carefully pushed his hair out of his face, "And I won't let it be me."
"Jane-!" He growled, but I stood up as the lock tumbled on the door.
I turned around, standing in front of Victor, as I took my gun out once again. I was only aiming for one man.
"No, no Jane don't do this, Jane-!" I pointed the gun as the door flew open, and as I'd thought, his body guards came in first. But Ike wouldn't let them get to me first - he'd be there, he wanted me for himself. This was his weakness.
Victor struggled against his restraints as the body guards went for me, but I saw Ike, and I squeezed the trigger - I didn't hesitate this time.
My ears rang as I flinched at the loud sound, and the gun was ripped from my hands, as I was tackled to the ground. I struggled against the men restraining me as Victor yelled above us to let me go. I rammed my elbow into the left guy's face, and slammed my palm into the right's nose, affectively loosening his grip enough to allow me to wrench free entirely. Ike was no longer in the doorway, and I ripped the gun free of the bloody-nosed body guard, pointing it at them with no hesitation in my gaze as I stepped around Victor. With one hand still pointed at the frozen men, I grabbed my knife from my front pocket and leaned forward, releasing his ties with one pull of the sharp knife. I handed the knife to Victor when I was done, and he stood up violently from the chair, as I side-stepped to keep my pistol pointed at the two.
"Don't you move a fucking muscle!" I spat, "Either of you, or I'll do the same thing I did to Ike."
Right on cue, a bloody hand slammed into the entryway, and droplets splattered onto the wall. Ike, the shoulder of his shirt already covered in blood, stood seething, eyes on me and me alone.
"Victor, go," I ordered, eyes on my target.
"Jane I'm not leaving you!"
"I said go!" I spat at him, and without hesitation I ran and slammed straight into Ike, catching him off guard.
The body guards followed me, and Victor grabbed one of them, effectively shoving him to the ground with the knife to his neck, as I crawled over Ike's groaning self and grabbed a hold of his neck, pointing my gun to his face.
"Fucking mess with me? You want to fucking mess with me now? Screaming in your bed? Fuck off!" I spat in his face, as I pointed the gun next to me to his body guard who was heading for me, and shot. I hit him in the hip, and he stood for a full second before he fell to the ground with a gargled, almost disturbing noise in the back of his throat.
I turned my attention back to Ike, just as a fist hit me in the side of the head. I fell off of him, falling to the ground as he wasted no time grabbing my hair and dragging me. Ike pulled me with him, still going strong even as the blood from his shoulder soaked his chest. He got a hold of my gun as he held it to my head, almost cradling my neck as Victor stared at us, eyes wide.
"Drop the knife, pretty boy," He murmured, and his breath was labored. "I won't hesitate to kill this bitch this time."
Victor looked me in the eyes, and when I shook my head, his grip loosened on the guy underneath him, and the knife rolled from his shoulder to the floor, a deafening metallic clang causing my eyes to close tight. God-dammit.
Ike's men came from the woodworks just then, and my ears were ringing so loud I almost didn't hear him shouting to ask what took them so long. The body guard forced Victor to the ground, as Ike roughly passed me off to his men.
God. Dammit.
***
Y'all it's been too long. TOO LONG.
This chapter is dedicated to a wonderful fan named FreekyFriction, because had I not seen her hilarious list, Frothing At The Mouth For Updates, I would not have been as motivated to get this chapter finished. Here's to you for both flattering me and making me feel like George R.R. Martin Update-wise! <3 Love you guys so much!