数一数二
(shǔ yī shǔ èr)
the best; considered among the best
YVETTE STAYED ALERT AS SHE HURRIED ALONG AFTER FIVE. They swiftly rushed past the men who'd been stabbed by the knives earlier and made their way further inside the boat where Two and Three were.
"Hey, hey," One hissed at Seven from behind them. "You like that phone now, motherfucker?"
"One, shut the hell up," Yvette barked as they entered the dining area that reeked of blood. Two and Three glanced over curiously at One.
One waved his phone in the air. "This thing is amazing."
"Wow," Three mouthed sarcastically.
"Stop fucking around. We gotta find Rovach." He walked past them and climbed up the stairs as they all followed after him as silently as they could.
"Take this," Two murmured, passing a gun to Yvette.
"I don't need it — but thanks," she said with a grin, taking it from the blonde and holding it with the proper caution.
They reached the second level, entering another dining area where men laid scattered on the floor with blood pooling around their bodies. The smell of carrion began to cling unto the air, making them gag.
"Jesus," One muttered revoltingly. "What did you do?" He shook his head at the direction of Two and Three. "You goddamn animals."
Three huffed at him. "Don't look at me — she's the evil one."
"You did this?" Five asked Two in disbelief.
"Yeah," the blonde replied back nonchalantly. "Why?"
"You're sick."
"You're incredible," Yvette retorted.
"If we don't move quick, they're gonna pull them from the boat," Seven intervened sternly.
Three yanked out a steak knife impaled through a man's hand to the table. "Disgusting," he whispered as the man's corpse slumped to the ground with nothing holding him down.
"Let's find Rovach," One ordered as they began to move down the corridor once again.
A gunshot echoed throughout the silence, smashing a vase next to them in the process as Yvette dropped her head down to avoid the broken ceramic. "One!"
He was a step ahead of her and had whipped his phone out of his pocket instantly. Swiping a finger across the screen, he sent the men soaring across the room and slamming into the wall.
"Kitchen knives!" Yvette exclaimed as One sent them flying to the other side of the room, all the knives sent slicing right through their bodies clean.
"More men coming!" Three warned as he and Seven entered the kitchen to shoot them.
"Incoming," Yvette called out, pulling the lock out with her teeth as she sent an explosive sailing into the air. The boat gave a shudder at the small detonation that was meant to send waves of force into them rather than flames. She tapped her earpiece with a finger. "Four, you doing okay up there?"
"Could be better, sweetheart," he replied after a moment, and she smiled slightly knowing he was still alive and well.
"The boat's moving," Two called out to them, glancing out at the window.
"That — that's bad," One groaned.
Yvette yelped, ducking again as a bullet went sailing across her head. "A little help here, One?" she yelled, reaching an arm out to shoot at the guy.
"Magnet!" Three exclaimed as well. "Where's the magnet?"
"They're getting their guns," Seven announced, taking cover from the glass that was smashed to pieces on the table. "Fix the phone!"
"I'm trying," One protested.
"Try harder!" Yvette growled, swiping a leg to trip over a guy before she smashed her elbow into his nose and hitting the killing point in his neck.
"The screen is cracked!"
Seven breathed heavily, sliding his back against a wall. Sweat trailed down his forehead and arms, drenching him completely. "Shit," he breathed out. "They got our position. We need to move."
"Honestly, I didn't think we'd make it this far," One confessed loudly as Yvette covered her face with her hands and cried out in frustration. "Go kill the engine," he added at Two who left at once.
"Seven, behind you!" Yvette cried out just in time for a man to grab Seven by the shoulder.
Seven was faster — before anyone could blink, he stuffed one of Yvette's explosives in the man's mouth and pushed him away just as it detonated. The head was blown to bits and pieces as the body fell limply to the ground. Blood and flesh spilled to the ground, painting the wooden floor a sanguine color.
One gagged. "That is disgusting."
"It was a flashbang," Seven reasoned. "Holy shit."
One turned to give Yvette a look as she raised her hands innocently. "You said no Angel Fire."
He shook his head more to himself than at her. "We should split up," he called out to everyone.
Yvette spun on her heel at once and ran out to the deck where she knew the guards would be. Creeping along the shadows of the wall, she reached up and pinned one of the men. "Where's Rovach?"
He shouted, gaining the attention of the others who whipped around to find her. They barely had the time to cock their guns, because she had already shot one on the head and subdued the other three with her bare hands.
"Four!" Yvette cried out in a stage-whisper upon seeing him jump over the railing to get to the top. He faltered on his steps at her voice, glancing over as she sped up the stairs.
"Zero — "
"FUCK!" she shouted as the boat gave a sudden lurch, explosions going out from down below. She had been balancing on the ledge with her hands, except she'd now been thrown to the side as she slipped off the yacht. "FOUR!"
"Hold on!" he called out, sliding down the rooftop to get to her.
Tears sprang to the corners of Yvette's eyes as she gasped, her shoulder flaring up in agonizing pain. She was hanging off with one hand clutching onto the railing, another explosion sending the boat lurching as she cried out.
Strong hands were reaching for her, helping her back up to the boat. She was breathing shakily as Four led her up to the rooftop, crouching low. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, unsure where to hold her.
She was gritting her teeth, trying not to cry at the stabbing ache in her shoulder. Clutching a hand over it, she shook her head at him.
There were footsteps echoing from down below, and the two swiftly whipped around to find a few men entering the deck in search for them.
Four brought the walkie-talkie up to his mouth as he whispered, "I have Zero with me, and I think she dislocated her shoulder. We've got four guys on us. We're on the upper deck and we're screwed."
Yvette made a move to go down, but Four held her back at once with a hand around her wrist.
"Where are you going?"
"I need to lure them away — "
"No, stay down," Four whispered. "I'll go." But before any of them could even bother to distract the men, they'd both been spotted already.
"Who are you?" a man shouted, alerting the others. "They're up there! On top!"
"Come on, let's go," Four said, taking Yvette's hand in his as he tugged her along the rooftop. "Jump!"
She followed his order, leaping down as they both landed near the pool. Before they could move, she grabbed his wrist. "Four, I need you to pop my shoulder back in place."
He whipped around to snap his gaze over to hers. "What the fuck are you — ?"
"Over there!" someone yelled out from afar and she turned quickly to see two men running across the deck.
Yvette urgently locked eyes with Four who was panicking slightly by now. "Pop my shoulder — you have to do it now."
He shakily placed his hands around her shoulder, his face blanching as he looked as though he might throw up any second. "I don't know if I can — "
"NOW — SHIT, THAT HURT!" Yvette screamed as he pushed her joint back into place, tears stinging her eyes. Fiery pain enveloped her arm, but she was able to spin around and leap into the air. Her legs clamping around one of the men, she twisted his neck and heard a crack before she sent him slumping to the ground.
She heard punches being thrown behind her, and she spun around just in time to see another man kick Four into the pool. She didn't have the chance to approach them because Four had already grabbed a metal pole and swung it against the man, swiftly subduing him.
"Go find One," Four instructed her as he lifted himself out of the pool, shaking water out of his hair. "Hurry — more men are coming."
"Shut the fuck up," she snapped at him as they both crept down alongside the wall. "I'm not leaving you, so don't bother pushing me away." She yelled out in fury, smashing her elbow into a man's nose as five of them entered the scene.
Yvette tried to fight them, but it was much harder to do so with a dislocated shoulder that was popped back into place no less than five minutes ago. To add to that — she'd dropped her bag of explosives into the sea earlier when she'd slipped off the yacht.
Resorting to kicks and one-handed punches, she was able to take down two men. As she ducked the third's swing of a chair, she heard a slam of a body against the glass followed by Four's groan of pain. That split second of distraction earned her a flip as the man picked her up and slammed her to the ground.
She gasped, the breath knocked out of her lungs as she struggled for air. Spots danced in her vision, a bump sure to form in her head from the blunt force.
"Four — Zero, where you at?" came One's voice in her earpiece.
"One," she tried to say, but was cut off by someone's fist shoving into her stomach as she cried out in pain.
"Zero!" Four called out to her, but he couldn't get to her. Especially not when he'd been sent to the ground by a kick to the chest. "One, please! Help us!"
"Give me a hint, you guys," he replied.
Yvette attempted to lunge at the man who'd held her down, but instead he grabbed her arm and twisted it around her back. She screamed in agony, her shoulder blazing up once again as she was roughly pushed to the ground with her face grazing the floorboard.
"What's your 20? Anybody got eyes on the target?" Seven asked through the earpiece.
"I don't know my 20," One replied back. "Stay off the channel, I'm going for Four and Zero."
Yvette cried out, her legs kicking and flailing as she struggled under the man's grip. Her breaths were coming in short, tears prickling her eyes again as her attempts came out futile. She loathed this feeling — the helplessness as she watched Four get beaten up in front of her.
"Four? Zero? Where you at, you two?"
Yelling in anger, she finally managed to kick the asshole away from her as she twisted around to lunge at him.
"You're breaking your own rules," Seven pointed out knowingly. "I thought you didn't have family."
"You dick!" she exclaimed, throwing a punch at the man who'd pushed her and sent his fist hurling into her jaw as well.
From behind her, a horrible crunch resonated the air as Four's scream of torment filled her ears. Whipping around, she spared a glance to see he'd broken his arm from a man sending his foot down to it. "FOUR!"
Yvette shrieked when the man she'd been fighting picked her up and sent her slamming into the wall behind her. Pain shot up her entire back, spreading to her shoulder and up her head as she groaned, slumping to the ground as her vision blurred into two for a moment.
"It's a big ship, say something," One's voice came into her ear again.
"Up," Yvette managed to say before she narrowly avoided the man's fist.
"He's going to kill us," Four said through gritted teeth. "Look, Bond, you gotta get here fast."
A gunshot echoed, the sound piercing through the air followed by two more.
The man who'd been ready to slam his foot down into Yvette's face suddenly slumped to the ground. Breathing raggedly, she blinked as the world came back into focus. One was standing several feet ahead, gun pointed at the second man he'd just shot — saving her and Four.
"There you two are," One said pleasantly, coming over to help Four up to his feet.
"Took you long enough," Yvette wheezed, sliding her hand into One's as he lifted her to a standing position.
"Cleavers," he told them, holding the two youngest members of his team by the waists as they slung their arms around his shoulders for support.
"What?" they said in unison, limping along the deck with him.
"It's a TV show — come on, let's go. Fucking millennials," he clicked his tongue at them, urging them to walk faster. "Ship's sinking — come on."
➳ ➳ ➳
"All right?" Four managed to ask as they climbed into the helicopter. He was watching Yvette splay open the cloth that was to be placed around their heads to conceal their identities from Rovach. "Here, let me help," he said when she started to struggle.
"Thank you," she mumbled as he reached over to drape it atop her head.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you earlier," he whispered for only her to hear, guilt gnawing at his stomach as he recalled her screams of pain and agony from awhile ago.
He felt her slide her hand in his, weaving their fingers together as she shifted closer to him. "It's not your fault — not one bit," she said, gripping his hand tightly in hers. "I'm the one who should be sorry for not being able to — "
"If it's not my fault, then it's not yours either," he said firmly, brushing a thumb across her knuckles.
Even though he couldn't see her face — he knew she was smiling, her almond eyes turning into those crescents that he loved.
"There he is," Five called out as they spotted Rovach's little escape boat down below.
They lowered the chopper down and helped Rovach and two of his men up before flying away into the air. "As fast as she can fly to the villa in Dezar," Rovach instructed. "They sunk my boat."
Murat tugged his helmet off his head as he called out, "I was thinking of somewhere else."
Rovach froze at that — paling immensely.
Before his men could do anything, Three had swiftly held a rope tightly against a man's neck as Rovach attempted to push Three away. Seven drew his gun out at him instantly as he spat, "I'll blow your fucking head off!"
Rovach scowled murderously but sat back down as his eyes glimpsed across them. "Who are you?"
"No one," One mused, tearing the cloth away from his face to reveal his piercing stare.
One by one, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Yvette yanked the cloths away from their heads as well.
Rovach said nothing for a moment, eyes hardening at them as his mouth pressed into a thin line. "Murat!"
His brother merely stared back at him expressionlessly.
The next few hours was spent in silence as the chopper flew into Turgistan lands where the rebels were located. Yvette's shoulder that had been dislocated twice was popped back into place by Five, and she had fallen asleep against Four who kept his good arm around her. His other arm had been splinted, and was now wrapped and secure on his lap.
She shifted uncomfortably from the sitting position, waking up as she drowsily glanced up to Four who was fast asleep next to her. Smiling slightly, Yvette reached up and brought his head down to rest on her unhurt shoulder.
Half an hour later when everyone was awake, Rovach broke the silence. "I know you," he said quietly to One. "From the opera, right?"
One watched him with a steely gaze. "Welcome to Act Five."
"I knew it. What are you gonna do?"
One's lips twisted as he shrugged half-heartedly before sliding open the door.
In panic, Rovach's eyes wildly swept around the helicopter. "Murat! I'm your brother!"
Yvette snorted as she muttered under her breath, "Oh, so now he plays the brother card." Four chuckled next to her.
Without even glancing behind him, Murat said, "You didn't listen to me, brother."
Rovach shifted his glare at One. "Kill me here, huh? I wanna die with dignity." One cocked his gun and aimed it directly at Rovach's forehead. "Kill me here — KILL ME HERE!"
One silently passed the gun to Seven.
"Kill me right now."
Yvette barked out a humorless laugh. "Bitch — you don't deserve to die with dignity."
One hummed in agreement, hands reaching over to grip Rovach's suit jacket to push him off the helicopter as he struggled in his grip.
"Don't let them touch me!" Rovach cried out desperately. "Shoot me right now!"
They were hovering directly above the ground by now, the rhythmic spinning of the chopper's propellers loudly beating.
"No, no, no!" Rovach was screaming helplessly as One tried to push him off. And with one great shove, One sent him off the helicopter and into the hands of the oppressed rebels who showed him no mercy.
ONE WEEK LATER
"You know," Yvette mused, glancing up at Billy as they walked side by side in slow, casual strides. "I've always wanted to do this with you?"
"What?" he asked teasingly. "Smell pollution in the air?"
"No, you jackass," she said, laughing loudly. "Walk down the street and eat froyo with you."
He grinned, turning to shift his gaze toward her as he said, "I feel like our first date could've been something else — a bit more romantic than this, but our relationship started the other way around." He fed her a spoonful of his yogurt, knowing she liked the strawberries on his toppings. "What do you want to do after this?"
"Well," she said, pondering on it for a moment. "We're going to have to meet with the team later this afternoon, so we'll have a couple of hours to do whatever we want to do."
Slowing down to a stop, Billy turned to face her, cocking his head for a moment as he gazed at her. He didn't say anything, he was simply letting his eyes rove across her face as he smiled at her.
"What?" she asked, laughing slightly. "Do I have froyo on my face?"
He shook his head. "No — I just wanted to look at you for a moment." He reached up to graze a knuckle across her cheekbone before leaning over to capture her lips sweetly in his, tasting her Oreo toppings in her mouth.
She pulled away and held her face in her hand, feeling him lean into her touch as she searched his eyes. Noses grazing and foreheads pressed against each other, Yvette whispered, "I love you — I really do love you."
"Even if I make stupid jokes and sexual innuendos at the worst moments?" he teased.
"Even then," she said, reaching up to kiss him again.
Billy slid an arm around her waist, drawing her closer as he murmured against her mouth, "And you know I love you, right? No matter how many times I've already said it, I'll say it again and again."
"Even if I make movie references in life and death situations?" she sweetly threw back at him.
Chuckling deeply, he replied, "Especially then."
- the end -
A/N
DAWN OF US FINALLY CAME TO AN END! I'm so glad I decided to write a short fanfic of this movie, and I'm so thankful to everyone who read this! Thank you for your support and votes and comments on this book, and I'm happy that Yvette and Billy ends this book on a sweet finale!
Thank you once again!
-Fhreya