"I'm not leaving now, or later or ever because I love you... I'm here to stay" -Athens
I folded up my sleeping bag, tossing my hair to the side and shuffling over to Arturo who was whispering rapidly in Pablo's ear.
"Do you want to screw this up" he seethed as I scowled, leaning in closer trying to make out that they were saying.
"Whose screwing up?" I questioned watching Arturo wince and turn to face me with an evidently forced smile.
"Oh nothing Maria," he said through gritted teeth. I nodded turning my back to face the wall, pretending I had stopped listening in to their conversation.
"I have to convince fattie to take me to Monica" he murmured to Pablo.
Poor Arturo was missing his lover and only wanted to catch up for a chat... or so I thought.
"Helsinki" he groaned jumping up and down clutching his stomach in pain.
"I don't feel good" he wheezed pretending to double over.
"Take me to Monica please, I need to talk to her" he cried dramatically over-exaggerating his words.
Helsinki agreed tenderly pushing him away before I handed back my folded bed to Nairobi. "What happened to Arturito?" she demanded, pulling me to the side.
"He wants to see Monica" I answered leaning against the wall.
As we giggled and conversed Tokyo whizzed around the corner panic scrawled all over her face. "Ladies, 16 hostages are escaping, we need to go. now" she screamed as I sprinted up to the control room seeing Berlin pace back and forth loading his gun and pulling a bulletproof vest over his chest.
"What's happening" I shouted pulling down my zipper and tugging on a bulletproof vest. "Hostages are escaping through the loading docks" he yelled clocking his gun as I picked up an M16 from the table, loading it as well.
"Athens it's dangerous, and you're a hostage," he said pulling the gun out my arm.
I rolled my eyes, snatching the gun out his hand and walking out the door. "Life's dangerous doesn't stop me from living, does it?" I returned running down to the docks pulling the mask over my face.
An explosion rang out from downstairs, as I cursed running faster down the stairs. Rio, Helsinki and Moscow joined me down at the loading area, glancing questioningly at my face but making no comment.
꧁__________꧂
A hand knocked on my door as I rolled over covering my sweaty face with a pillow. "What's wrong" I hissed burrowing myself underneath the mountain of blankets resting on my bed.
"Athens, are you okay," Berlin asked, sitting on the edge of the bed frame.
"Take a guess" I moaned pouring myself a glass of water from my nightstand and gulping it down.
He pressed a hand to my forehead, as I lay back down on the bed throwing my pile of blankets back over myself. "Your sweating Athens, get rid of some of those sheets," he said dumping a handful onto the floor beside me.
"Did you not sleep yesterday?" he questioned folding the loose clothes scattered over the floor and desk.
"I did, I just woke up today and felt like a roasted pig" I groaned.
"Did you take aspirin then?"
"I took 15 Berlin, nothing has happened" I complained blowing the hair out of my face.
"Get up then, take a shower, eat some food, then get some air, maybe then you'll feel better" he advised pulling my arm up to get out of bed.
"Fine" I moaned, slumping out of bed, blinking fiercely trying to adapt to the change of gravity.
"Go take a shower, I'll make you something to eat," he said turning away to leave.
"Why are you babysitting sick people Berlin, aren't you to classy for that sort of shit?" I chuckled.
"Things are different because it's you" he shrugged.
꧁__________꧂
"Athens, help" Helsinki cried as I ran over, helping them lift a large sheet of metal to cover the massive hole in the wall.
As the police fired rounds into the cover, I pressed my feet into the ground trying to use all my strength to hold the door up.
As Denver's arms gradually failed, the sheet of metal dropped to the floor as I ducked down, rolling over to gain cover at the sides of the hole. "Cover me" Nairobi screamed as I pulled my arms out, shooting recklessly at the police.
Adrenaline was coursing through my veins alongside guilt. Keeping the hostages at bay was my personal responsibly, and so much care had been taken to make plans and even gain a legitimate job at the mint to pull off my cover, but it had been blown away like smoke, or someone's breath extinguishing a candle. Leaving you only able to hold on to the fumes which slowly blow away as well.
She bent down beside Helsinki, pulling down the zipper of his suit, frantically searching for the bullet. "The vest stopped it" she yelled pulling him up one-handed. "your okay, get up, get up" she cried.
As they fired another heavy round of bullets inside, I covered my ears, pulling my gun out and continued to shoot blindly into the air. I didn't know where I was shooting, Or who I might be hurting, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't even breathe.
As they threw in a smoke bomb, I choked, reaching my hands out over the ground and trying to find the can, before I picked it up and threw it out the hole, feeling a stinging sensation blister through my hand.
"Shoot to cover" Berlin's voice rang out, as I jumped up, making a mental note to stick Arturo's head in a blender if I ever got out of here alive.
I leaned out the side, shooting at the slowly advancing police cursing as I loaded in another cartridge. "They're getting closer" I cried.
I pulled out from the line of fire, resting my hands on the wall panting for air. As distant cries of the others flashed into my ears, I shook out of my thoughts running over to the back of the loading docks.
"Cover me" I screamed racing to the other side of the docks, wheeling out the browning machine gun. I pulled off the fabric covering the gun, shouting at the others to get out the way. As I ducked feeling the bullets whiz past the sides of my face I rested the gun at the front of the doors shooting out at the police.
As they immediately retreated, dropping their shields and rushing to cower behind the sandbags I yelled over at the others to pick up the sheet of metal and cover the hole.
As the others wedged blocks under metal pipes to hold up the door, I kneeled to the floor holding my head in pain and throwing my mask to the ground. I was dizzy from all the emotions, adrenaline and smoke that had intruded inside of me in the past 20 minutes. What was actually 20 minutes had felt like a lifetime.
What a glorious way to end the day that was going so well at the start of it. Really puts life in a bigger perspective.
62 hours into the heist and 16 hostages had truly exploded their way out into the soothing arms of freedom. I curled up into a ball, resting in an armchair as Denver marched around the table screeching into the phone.
"Where the fuck were you? Why didn't you warn us, What is wrong with you?" he cursed. As Helsinki barged into the room a bleeding Oslo in hand. I sprung up like a cat, bending down beside Oslo, evaluating the damage to his head.
"It's a strong blow, possibly brain trauma," I said tracing a finger over his head. I pulled his eyelid up gazing desperately at his unfocused pupils. "He's also unresponsive" I groaned. "Helsinki's he's in bad shape"
"No, no, no Athens" Helsinki cried pulling out injections and bottle of medicine. "Oslo will be fine, I'm going to give him furosemide, and he'll be fine," Helsinki said injecting it into his arms.
Nairobi and Denver sobbed beside me, as I stood back next to Berlin grasping his hand tightly. "The chances of him waking up is in the negative numbers Berlin" I murmured.
꧁_________꧂
I sat in the arranged square of hostages, biting the skin around my nails staring around the hall. There was a thunderous silence ricocheting off the walls, and as the gang marched around, doing their shifts, the spark in their eyes fused.
I couldn't imagine life outside of the mint anymore. Three days in and it was as if I was locked in a tower, like Rapunzel for my entire life. I couldn't imagine the sun on my skin, or the wind breezing through my hair or the taste of fresh air anymore. The rooftop incident tainted my appetite.
The only thing that circled around my mind, like a train travelling around a never-ending rail line was how much of a loser I felt like. 16 hostages had escaped under the sly mind of Arturo, the only other thing that I could think about was serving Arturo the most excruciating death he could imagine on a silver platter.
Cutting off his limbs one by one, digging a hole and burying him alive, locking him in a vault for the rest of our time inside, shooting him in the head, letting Helsinki whack him around the head with a pipe. The possibilities were fucking endless and I wanted him to hurt, I wanted him to be spitting out blood and begging us to spare his life.
I wanted him to cower in pain, be so fucking traumatized that he wouldn't be able to spit another word out of his mouth. Call me evil if you want, he deserved it all.
"Was anyone hurt?" Mercedes urged Rio who was pacing up and down our rows collecting our trash ignoring Mercedes rapid-fire questions.
"I won't shut up, My student Pablo Ruiz is missing, I want to know where he is," she said courageously standing up to Rio.
My goal had escaped but lucky for him because if he hadn't, the next goal wouldn't be his nuts it would be his head and the football would have changed from my foot to a machine gun.
"Sit down" Rio hissed as she winced sitting back down on the floor. "Your little student escaped alongside the 16 others who did last night, they blew up the door and escaped you don't have to worry about him I'm sure the police warmed him a cup of soup and a hug from mommy" he scowled marching back down the aisle.
She swiftly jumped up again furiously clapping. The fucking nerve.
As the others clapped alongside her, I rolled my eyes standing up with the others and clapping with them as well. If anything I was clapping away my dignity.
"Sit down" Rio screamed pointing his gun in Mercedes's face. But the woman continued clapping.
"He said fucking sit down" Tokyo screamed shooting up into the air. The hostages shrieked cowering back down as Mercedes continued to stand. What did the woman not understand about sitting her ass down?
"Sit down, please," Tokyo said the tears swimming in her eyes.
And finally, she did.
꧁__________꧂
2 shots, 2 hits" I mumbled under my breath shooting up at metal cutouts. The bullet sliced through the metal aiming exactly where I wanted to hit. The heart.
I smirked brightly, throwing the gun down on the floor and approaching the table where everyone was sat eating and drinking. "A party without me" I whined pulling up a chair beside Berlin and biting into a chicken skewer.
"The hostages will stop being subservient after a certain period of time. When they see no change, and they start becoming as agitated as you lot their survival instinct will kick in." The professor said as I bit the end of my stick, looking up at him.
"What are the bankers going to do try to give me paper cuts with the euros?" I laughed downing a bottle of beer.
"I doubt they would try anything that dangerous, but they will try to escape" The professor chuckled. "Or they might even be successful"
"We are armed, they know we can blow them into pieces" Nairobi chuckled.
"The hostages will stop fearing us after some time, and it is crucial to reacquire authority, which in this case will be gained by kindness. Creating a bond more special than the one that has already been established"
"You mean trust like this?" I grinned forming my hand into the shape of a gun and shooting down at the table.
"Athens you can't joke around in the classroom" Denver chuckled smacking the back of my head.
"What unites people?" the professor proposed as I stared confusedly around at others.
"food?" I suggested popping a grape into my mouth.
"Of course you say food, you fat cow" Denver laughed as I shoved a cracker down his throat watching him choke in pain.
"That shut you up" I snickered.
"How about sex," Tokyo said.
"Well yes but sex unites in couples," the professor said nervously.
"Or more" Nairobi chortled nudging my shoulder.
"Well, threesomes, foursomes or larger group structures do exist," the professor said.
"What the fuck do you mean by a structure?" Tokyo gasped.
"But professor, what unites more than sex?" Nairobi asked.
"What unites us all?" the professor asked.
"Well you all now hold a small place in my heart, Denver's being the smallest but the money" I shrugged.
"The money"
"One of the most complicated things I've had to plan was how to regain that trust between the hostages and the gang and not only have them as our ransom but as our business partners and after much thought I've reached a conclusion" the professor smiled.
"money... or freedom"
꧁_________꧂
"This might come as an embarrassing question but have you ever thought about putting a price tag on yourself?" Berlin asked.
"Well if you want my honest opinion, I think no matter how much money we print inside here I'm still way out of budget" I smirked.
"I'd just about agree you are worth much more than the offered one million"
꧁________꧂
I held the light up to Oslo's eyes, watching them not dilate and have the same cloudly focus as before. "Not responsive" I sighed turning away and gripping Helsinki's shoulder.
"Not trying to eclipse any moods here but the man is sustaining inevitable brain damage, I doubt he will ever be the same again even with treatment"
"He's still got a chance if we take him to a hospital maybe he can be saved" Nairobi yelled.
"Nobody leaves" Berlin replied quietly. "Even if they had a hole through their heart, professors orders nobody leaves"
"The professor can kiss my ass" Nairobi screamed, "Where was the professor when 16 hostages escape, huh? Where was he when they fucking smashed Oslo's head in, like a pumpkin. We call an ambulance and let them take him away"
"Are you drunk Nairobi? Nobody leaves its an order" Berlin said.
"16 hostages escaped, the rules have changed" Tokyo cried.
"The hostages don't have a clue about the plan, Oslo does"
"The guy can't even speak, fuck it, lets vote" Rio said jumping into the defensive of Tokyo.
Berlin pulled out his gun, pointing it directly at Nairobi's temple. "This isn't going to be a nice democracy"
"No it isn't," Nairobi said pulling out hers alongside Rio and Tokyo.
I scowled picking up two guns from the table and holding them alongside Berlin.
"The guy is fucking braindead, I didn't say it because you all are emotional rats, but the guy couldn't be saved even by a miracle, he either leaves in a bodybag with us or in a casket alone" I yelled.
They all dropped their guns as I threw mine against the wall, a small dent appearing in the wallpaper. "He's clinically dead unless you want to babysit an empty shell of a person be my fucking guest, Oslo knew the risks he signed up for, we all do, didn't you say Tokyo you would rather be free and crippled then in jail and healthy, now is the time to stop eating up your own words" I spat.
꧁________꧂
Nairobi marched along the hall, drawing out a line with a stick of chalk. "Now it's time to make a tough decision, you decide whether you want to be an accomplice and gain a million euros, or be an innocent hostage and do the ethical thing to do... choose freedom"
"If you stick with us until the final battle you will receive 20,000 50-euro bills at your doorstep in a vacuum-sealed bag like a pricey leg of ham. If you want to leave please step over the line" Tokyo said gesturing over to the floor.
If I had a choice, I would have chosen the money. Not out of greed or want but simply for not knowing the dangers that swam with freedom. In this case, freedom was like the ocean, only 5% had been discovered, undiscovered creatures still lurked within, unlike the money where you solidly knew your fate and also cashed in a million as a side bonus.
꧁_________꧂
"What are we going to do with the brainless people who choose freedom" Nairobi asked.
"Lock them up in the basement, they're the ones who could possibly start another riot and your protection is my responsibility," the professor said simply.
"So we essentially trick them," I asked as the professor nodded towards me.
"Exactly like that"
꧁_________꧂
"Last chance people, cross the line and gain freedom or stay behind and work with us" Nairobi called glancing up at our nervous faces.
"Okay very well then," Tokyo said turning to face those who had chosen freedom, "Place your hands behind your head and walk with me to the loading docks"
What the professor had done was simple, divide the hostages into those who craved the money and those who stood by the law. Or so we thought.
꧁_________꧂
I poured out a glass of wine, swirling the amber liquid around the clear glass.
"The beginning of a new life begins tomorrow, aren't you nervous?" Berlin asked.
"I'd say more excited than nervous, I don't really like to think about it" I shrugged taking a sip from my glass.
"I need you to promise me something Athens, can you do that for me?" he queried staring down at my face.
"I need you to promise that if hells breaks loose, and the world around us splits in half, you don't wait around and you escape," he said as I chuckled holding my stomach with laughter.
"And consider leaving you, I would never"
"I've seen a lot of people come and go in my life, whether they leave for better or worse, people leave and if the world gives me the choice to stop someone from leaving me I'd take without batting an eye," I said solemnly.
"Berlin, I'm not leaving any time soon, so you can shove that promise us someone else's ass" I laughed biting into a cracker.
"I'm not leaving now, or later or ever because I love you" I finished simply.
"I'm here to stay"
Heres the 9th chapter, I hope you all liked it. Thank you all for commenting and voting throughout the last couple chapters it means so much to me and gives me something to write for. I had to split up a couple of things so apologies for that, I didn't really want to write today but I felt bad so decided against it and write this quickly in the span of 2 hours so sorry for that. I've also come to the end of season one so now I'm going to start writing on the events of season 2 meaning the story will come to an end after season 2. I do plan on writing a sequel about the bank of Spain so it isn't as if I'm going to abandon you all with them leaving the mint. The next chapter will be interesting as I already have a vague idea of what I want to focus on and anyways this authors note is getting too long so imma end it here. If you enjoyed please vote and comment.
Love Roza 🌹