The sound of feet shuffling closer to stairs made the hairs on Derek’s arms stand on end. Leo grabbed his jaw gently - yet still stern - and forced Derek to look at him. His face was like that of a river that looks calm, but beneath the surface you can see the earth and stones getting tossed around in the water. “Derek, this is important. You have to do everything I tell you to. I won’t be able to focus on fighting if I have to watch out for you. So I need you to tell me that I can trust you to stay safe and out of the way,” Derek nodded, determined. He damn well knew he wasn’t worth anything in a fight, “good. You are going to hide behind the counter there,” Leo pointed over to the kitchen counter near them, “and no matter what you hear or what they yell. You. Stay. There. Unless it’s me telling you run, you stay. Okay?”
“Yes,” Derek said with a nod. Leo smirked grimly and then leaned forward to kiss Derek’s lips chastely before turning to stalk closer to the stairs. Derek didn’t waste any time and hauled ass over to his designated hiding spot. He could see why Leo had chosen it. Hiding wouldn’t help anything in the long run, what Derek needed was cover so he didn’t get caught in the crossfire.
After crouching down - his heart beating as if it was going to make the most of its time before possibly being forced to stop - Derek peeked around the corner. Leo was crouched down next to the doorway that led to the short hall with the stairs. In his hands he was holding two guns - one in each - the things were black and sleek and the safety was off on both. Derek moved his eyes from the guns to take in the rest of Leo. His entire body was tensed and ready, but his expression was empty. He glanced at Derek then mouthed; catch, and threw him a phone. A really old phone. Had they not been in the situation they had he would have laughed. This is a carpenter phone, Derek thought. It was an old brick of a Nokia. And it was dark blue.
Derek looked up to see what Leo wanted him to do with it. Maybe use it as a weapon? Leo mouthed something again, but Derek couldn’t catch it and just shook his head slightly in confusion. Leo tried again this time slower. Speed dial.
Derek nodded and pressed the button while the first couple of men started pounding up the stairs - no use in trying to go up stealthily given the way they had blasted down the front door. The dial tone and the following rings seemed too loud, and Derek caught himself glancing nervously towards Leo.
“Don?” The voice was deep and rumbling. The kind that would make people think of raw testosterone and strong hands. Derek knew he’d heard it somewhere before, but given the situation he ignored it.
“Uhm, no. I’m calling from his phone.” The man didn’t miss a beat before saying, “No kidding.”
Hello Captain Sarcasm. “I think Leo wants you to come to the Green Pub,” Derek heard a car door shutting in the background, “about twenty armed men just blasted down the door and most of the windows.”
“Don’t end the call. I want to be able to hear what’s going on.” The first gunshot rang out followed by a dozen more and the man on the phone growled in rage. Derek couldn’t help himself, he hesitantly peeked around the corner to see two men on top of each other at the top of the stairs. Their eyes stared emptily into the air while blood dripped from various wounds and down on the floor. Derek cringed and looked at Leo, who was still crouched in the same position with the same facial expression. He looked utterly undisturbed by the whole ordeal.
Three men’s heads suddenly appeared. They sneered at their dead partners - one of them even kicking them - as they tried to get past the bodies. Leo closed his eyes briefly and concentrated on listening, before whipping around and firing. The first of the three went down from a bullet through his head - his blood splattering on the man behind him - and landed on top of the other two. He’s trying to make a goddamn wall of bodies! Derek was utterly mortified, but that emotion was quickly overwritten when the other two started firing. Leo ducked back behind the wall. When there was a break in the rapid firing Leo took the chance to send off two more bullets. Both hit the second man - one in the shoulder, the other smack in the centre of his chest.
The last of the three grabbed the second to use as a shield, before the body toppled down to the others. Sweat ran down from his temples and he had big wet circles under his armpits. Both him and Leo had stopped shooting and were waiting for the other to make a move.
Heavy steps and creaking boards made the third man smile in smug victory. Leo glanced back at Derek - their eye contact lasted a second at most - and then threw his upper body out so that he could shoot the man. With a yell the man fired a bullet without aiming and went down together with his shield.
“Damn!” Derek’s eyes shot back to Leo, whose eyes had widened in surprise as he looked down at the gunshot in his thigh. A little red puddle was already beginning to gather beneath him. Derek felt a dread so gripping and painful tightening around his heart and lungs, he thought he might suffocate. The only thing keeping him in place, keeping him from running over to help Leo, was his promise to stay put. Fucking hell. With a grim expression Leo ripped off some of his shirt and tied it and his belt around it.
Bam. Bam bam.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Leo smirked and Derek looked, confused, towards the stairs. The sound of guns going off and men yelling was coming up from down below them.
“Yo, cupcake.” Derek jumped, startled. He had completely forgotten about Captain Sarcasm. “Yieah,” Derek said, his voice going up an octave due to being so scared and nervous. “Tell Leo to get his arse down here an’ help me.”
Looked like their rescue had arrived. “Leo!” Derek yelled. Leo nodded his head to show he was listening without taking his eyes from the stairs. “The guy from the speed dial wants you to join him downstairs!”
“Stay here,” Leo yelled - you had to yell to be heard over the sound of guns and screams. No, really? It was funny how Derek managed to stay sarcastic in all situations and moods. Had to be his second nature or something. So he stayed like a good boy while the screaming got less and less and eventually turned into moaning.
“Missed me?”
“Holy shit!” Leo grinned, he was crouching down on top of the counter Derek was hiding behind. “Do you seriously want me to shi-“ Derek could barely hold back a cringe, “You’re, uhm, covered in-“ something that looked suspiciously like brain matter slid down Leo’s cheek and landed on Derek’s thigh. This takes getting inside the head of your enemy to a whole new level.
Leo looked down at himself as if he only just now noticing the mess on his clothes - and everything else for that matter - and shrugged before jumping down and offering Derek a hand. Derek gladly took it. His muscles were shaking and he wasn’t too sure his legs would hold him.
“How many of the one’s still alive do you want me to put to sleep?” Derek’s heart leaped in surprise. It seemed it would take nothing to spook him right now. Captain Sarcasm stepped into view. He was dressed in what used to be a dark grey suit with pinstripes and a haphazardly buttoned black shirt. He was lighting up a cigarette and the lighter gleamed silver as he flicked it shut with an audible click.
Suck. “’Sup cupcake?” Blow.
The smoke was formed in perfectly round circles and he had a certain smug and confident air about him. Derek immediately knew this guy was going to be a grater on his temper - and not only because of the whole cupcake thing.
“Don’t call me cupcake,” Derek said and glared. Captain Sarcasm laughed, a deep belly shaking one, and ruffled his short red hair. A piercing gleamed on his right eyebrow.
“Sure thing, Muffin.”
Derek could feel a migraine forming. A migraine known as Captain Sarcasm, or if preferred; Mister Speed Dial.
“Three to interrogate should be enough,” Leo said casually. Derek frowned, “You’re just going to pick three and then kill the rest?” Captain Sarcasm glanced at Leo then to Derek, then back at Leo as if he was asking if Derek was stupid or something. Leo also looked rather surprised at the question.
“Sure,” Captain Sarcasm finally said. Derek was about to argue and bring with him the whole corps of morality, but then his eyes caught on the bloodstained clothes they were wearing, and he decided this wasn’t the time or the place for such a discussion. And quite possibly not the people either.
CS’s - short for Captain Sarcasm - eyes drifted down. “You want me to check that out for ya?” he asked and blew out another set of perfect circles. Derek whipped around and sat down in a crouch so he could see Leo’s wound more clearly. The cloth and belt wrapped around it was completely soaked with blood. “Bloody hell,” Derek muttered and looked back up at Leo. His face was beginning to look slightly ashen. “We need to get to a hospital. Right now.” Derek stood and grabbed Leo arm so that he could support him if need be.
“Not necessary,” CS said and crouched, “Besides being devilishly handsome and a once in a century marksman, I’m also a doctor.” Somehow Derek had a hard time believing that and looked at Leo for confirmation.
“He isn’t my Capo Bastone, or underboss, for nothing,” Leo said and groaned in pain as CS poked the makeshift bandage. “Looks bad,” he commented dryly, and poked a bit more. You have got to be shitting me, Derek thought and sighed instead of slapping the “doctor’s” head.
“But you’ve handled worse,” CS continued and looked up at Leo, “What’s going on?”
“I’m getting the feeling back in my body,” Leo hissed and bit his lip, drawing blood, “By the way Paul, you poking me isn’t helping.” Paul/CS grunted and muttered something that sounded like the kind of curse that would make a dock worker wince. “You were fine downstairs. Adrenalin?”
“No. Being within about a ten metre radius of Derek returns the feeling to my body.” Derek’s jaw dropped down in shock. How come Leo hadn’t told him this? Stuff like that seemed pretty important. Paul looked at Derek and gave him a once over, and then huffed like he was utterly unimpressed.
“I’ll go then,” Derek said and made to leave, but Leo captured his arm in an iron-grip. “Please stay,” he said, his face a mix of anguish, determination, and love. “But it will hurt less if I leave,” Derek argued and tried to pry off Leo’s hand - which of course was impossible, “I won’t go far, so don’t worry.”
“I can’t help but worry. Derek you’re my everything. I will take any pain if it means I can be even a moment longer with you.” Derek didn’t notice the hot tears flowing down his cheeks until Leo stroked them away.
“Don, that’s cheesy.” Derek glared down at Paul who just ignored him and continued doing whatever he was doing down there.
“No it’s not,” Derek said and gave Paul’s back the ultra mega death glare. Leo chuckled and leaned forward, letting their lips meet in a passionate kiss that channelled all the worry and fear they’d had for each other. Derek wrapped his arms around Leo’s hips and let his tongue sweep against Leo’s lower lip. Leo growled and teasingly bit Derek’s, making Derek moan.
“That’s it folks.” Paul stood and threw his arms up in a screw-this-shit manner and stalked downstairs. Derek immediately parted from Leo and looked back after him. Tending to Leo’s wound was more important than a thank-god-we’re-alive smooching session.
“He’s waiting for us downstairs. He’s trying to give us some privacy, don’t worry,” Leo said and leaned forward. But Derek leaned back at the same time. “Leo, you’re literally bleeding out on the floor,” Derek pointed down at the small puddle to illustrate his point, “I’m going to get him back up here right now.”
“Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t my blood?” Derek glared, which Leo correctly understood as a big no. “Fine,” he sighed, “let’s go to the headquarters.”
~
They were sitting in a white-tiled room, Paul stitching up the wound after having pulled out the bullet, when the door opened with a loud bang. They all looked up, Derek and Paul in surprise, Leo as cool as ever. The man who had just burst through the door was sweating and his eyes were wild.
“Report,” Leo demanded, thereby giving the man permission to speak.
“We just found out a similar attack happened to Miss Valdruiqes while she was on her way to a business meeting. We found the bodies of her bodyguards on Charton Street, but she was nowhere to be found.”
“What?” Derek shrieked.
“Has there been a demand for ransom? And how many of our people knew where she was going?” Leo asked, his voice laced with steel.
“E-everyone with access to her schedule, which would be her secretary, your secretary, the bodyguards, the driver, Caporegime, a-and Capo Bastone.And no, there have been no demands about a ransom.”
“Contact our mole in the Chinese mafia and see if they had anything to do with it,” Leo said, while his hand sought out Derek’s.
“That’s another problem, Don. We haven’t been able to contact our mole for the past thirty-six hours.” Paul’s head whipped up at that, “Why wasn’t I informed about that immediately?!”
“I-I, w-we thought we’d give him a few more hours,” the man stuttered, sweat drenching his forehead and lips, and his eyes flitting about. “And how well does thinkin’ normally work out for ya?” Paul growled.
“Ah, uhm...”
“Get out and make sure there isn’t anything else you’ve forgotten to mention.” The man fled the room so quickly Derek almost saw a smoke trail behind him. After the door slammed shut Derek turned to face Leo who was sitting on the white couch. “Chinese mafia?”
“Business gone bad. I’ll tell you about it when we get to our room.”
I have discovered that writing action scenes is hard... *sniffle*
But oh well, practice makes you better and blah, blah, blah.
I am finally beginning to lead up to the final "act" - if you can call it that - of this story. So that's nice.
Now for some annoying news - not sad, just hella annoying. My chemistry exam is coming up, so I'll be preparing for that together with some other exams. This is also why updates has been so irregular lately. *Sigh*Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.