Club Sub
Disclaimer: xXx, Xander Cage and Augustus Gibbons are property of Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures. No money has been made from this work and all characters were returned safely to their play box.
This was written shortly after the movie was originally release and has been sitting on a disk, when I realized it was actually a completed story. Thanks to Chells for doing a quick read through. All mistakes and errors are min.
Club Sub
Thud…thud…thud…
The bass lines beat in a steady rhythm, echoing the thundering of my heart.
Bodies teem around me, closing in, pressing against me intimately though I know no one.
Riots of colors flash around me assaulting my sense of vision. Purple. Black. Silver. Gold. Hot Pink. Electric Blue. An endless sea of color and motion from the lights over head to the bodies before me.
What overwhelms are the smells. The honest clean smells of sweaty bodies mixed with the cloying scents of colognes and the overly sweet, musky scent of some woman's perfume that just walked past.
It's a human meat market.
Bodies and souls for sale for the right price. Only one interests me though.
The price…The Right Price…
Their very life.
Don't feel sorry for that person though, we all know the possibilities when you play in this world.
A world of very few people who you can trust. A world mostly of those who cannot. The cannots are far greater.
I weave my way through the bodies, heading towards a metal stairwell, higher ground. Easier to see what is going on... get the lay of the land to find my target.
Someone below catches my eye and I pause mid-stride to stare at him.
An Adonis in living flesh.
He is tall. Hard to say exactly how tall. Tall enough for a normal size woman to wear heels around him…and not tower. That's usually a nice thing.
What really drew my attention is the energy around him. That unexplained something that caused crowds to part before him, to make way for him and him alone.
Call it animal magnetism. Charisma. Whatever…He had it…in abundance…exuded it from every pore.
He turns suddenly, scanning the crowds, as if he knows someone is watching him intently.
Our eyes meet and lock.
My purpose, my mission, my target, forgotten in the heat of his gaze.
The crowds part. I lose sight of him. I find a spot where I can watch the crowds.
Time to get back to the business at hand.
He's here, standing behind me. I can't see him, but I know it's him. The moment he enters my personal space my senses scream.
"You were staring at me," a deep baritone voice says, sending chills of pleasure down my spine. It's only my training that prevents me from shivering from the sensation. I turn to face him…
The sounds, the people of the club fade, as I stand there soaking in his beauty. He's gorgeous, not in the traditional way though.
His nose a tad too broad, lips too full. His features not classical. He's not a pretty boy. Then again, I never did go for the pretty boys.
Standing before me, looking me over, stripping me naked with his eyes is a man. A red-blooded, testosterone-laden man.
I return his gaze boldly, only to be lost in those eyes. What a combination, eyes dark as chocolate, skin the color of latte, and a honey rough voice.
"And?" I say holding my ground.
He laughs, a large booming laugh. Sexy, though not something one would want to hear while sound asleep. "I like you."
"Really now?" I know my sarcasm is all apparent in my words. I have a dangerous mouth I've been told.
"Xander Cage. My friends call me Triple X." He practically had to shout over the sudden roar of the crowds and the increasing volume of the music that pulsates around us.
My blood freezes. Time stands still. Here is my target, the one person I'm assigned to kill, standing before me. Here I am lusting after him
"X? Why you pornographic?"
I had been told my target is a man code named X and he has tattoos on his arms and on his back of his neck. I can't see them because he's wearing a leather jacket and standing in front of me. This is not how I imagined him.
He laughs again. "For you, I would be very triple x. I got the name because I'm an extreme athlete."
"Really?"
"Honestly."
I nod.
"Can I buy you a drink?"
"No thanks, though I appreciate the offer."
His smile widens. "Trying to brush me off?"
"No, I don't drink while at clubs. It's just asking for trouble."
His eyebrow arches upwards.
"Honestly."
"Smart, very smart."
He holds out a hand to me.
Every nerve in my body screams to walk away.
'Don't ever become attached to your target.' The words of my trainer reverberate through my mind.
You have to kill him…
His hand is warm and callused. I can feel the power, his strength but also gentleness. He holds my hand softly enough to keep hold of me, so we won't be separated as we moved through the club.
Thud…thud…thud…
I wake in the dim light of morning, not knowing where I am. I'm curled up against a warm, solid body. I raise my head, opening my eyes to look down on him.
I have failed.
I have succeeded.
I am lost.
Soon, I would be dead for my failure.
For now, I have enough time to savor belonging to someone.
Someone of my choosing.
I lay my head down on his broad chest. His arms tighten round me, as the steady beat of his heart lulls me back to sleep.
Glub dub…glub dub…glub dub.
We walk out of the hotel. A strange man walks up to us. He is in a nice suit but the side of his face horribly scarred.
"X, we have to talk," he says giving Xander a look.
The same look I saw in the eyes of my handlers often. The one that says you have fucked up royally, in ways you can not dream of.
I step out earshot. I don't allow myself to disappear into the crowds. That would just confirm their superstitions of me.
They speak to each other in heated tones, though I cannot hear the words being said. I know I'm the topic, judging by Xander's looks of disbelief in my direction.
My identity must have been confirmed at some point during the night.
Xander's look is now one of acceptance.
'He has known all along, who you might have been. He denied until now. Walk away…just fucking walk away."
Walk away my mind screams. Walk away and disappear.
I move to take a step.
There is no future, there is no past, there is only now.
Time to disappear…something I do well.
Stepping away, I see a flash from the building above. An all too familiar flash.
Senses scream move.
Damn it MOVE.
Logic tells me someone is finishing the job I have been assigned. I'm now just another incidental to be dealt with. My life is forfeit.
I catch sight of the shooter and mentally project the target path to Xander.
'Let it happen. Do your job. WALK AWAY.'
I turn and start to walk away. Then turn and dive towards him as I hear the high-pitched sound of a high-powered rifle being shot.
"Get DOWN," I scream, as I crash into Xander.
I feel the burn and then the intense pain of being hit by a bullet traveling fast and hard. My body screams a silent scream of agony. Pain blossoming and radiating outwards from my mid-drift.
I look down watching my shirt turn crimson. I lower my hands and know I probably will not have long.
I feel hands on my arms pulling me for cover.
"Oh God," I hear someone yell, fading as darkness slowly creeps over me.
"Hold on," Xander's voice breaks through the darkness. "Hold on. Help is coming. Hold on."
My hands grab weakly at his arms. I'm dying…fading. My vision tunnels…narrowing then turning gray. "Please hold me. Don't want to die alone."
I feel his arms wrap around me. He whispers words. Words I couldn't understand…too far gone.
The price…The Right Price…for a life…for his life is…
My life.
Glub dub…glub dub…glub…..
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beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepppppppppppppppppppppp ppppppppppp
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Beep…beep…beep...