Nic cursed, he could see Emma's feet flailing in the air beneath her as she held onto the gutter with just her hands, bringing himself into a crouch prepared to launch himself off from the roof if he needed to catch her, holding his breath he watched as she hugged the gutter with her forearms then planted her feet on the wall.
'Not good, not good, not good,' a cold sweat trickled down her back, 'why did I forget I was afraid of falling?' Her heart was still in her mouth as she relived the last few terrifying moments, the bracket she'd been resting her feet on had broken off leaving her dangling in the air. Emma could almost feel Nic's glare burning a hole through her, it didn't lessen as she got a firm grasp on the wall with her feet. She began moving up the gutter again more carefully this time, the metal was ice cold beneath her fingertips, glad that she had decided to put on the gloves, she readjusted her position slightly angling herself away from the window above her.
"CREAK!" Freezing at the sudden noise she resisted the overwhelming urge to look up, trusting that her dark grey clothing made her blend into the building she tried to keep her breathing slow and steady, 'If they aren't expecting to see a girl clinging to a gutter halfway up a building then they won't, they might not even look down.' Her near fall hadn't pushed her hood back so her blonde hair shouldn't be catching the guard's attention, she only had to wait until they left, her fingers ached from holding up most of her body weight for so long but she didn't dare readjust her weight.
"Damn it!" Nic swore aloud, a guard had opened the window to the Director's office leaning out of it to have a smoke, Nic dropped straight from the roof to the ground, creating a dust cloud around his feet as he landed, 'Time for that distraction,' picking up a large rock he ran towards the main entrance of the building. It was the only building in Ergastulum that he knew that had glass doors, hurling the rock with all his strength it shattered the glass instantly, red lights flashed inside which he could only assume was accompanied by a blaring alarm. 'I hope this buys her enough time.'
Smoke wafted in her direction, Emma blinked a few times to chase away the irritation it caused her eyes, 'How long does it take to smoke a cigarette?' her entire body was aching from hanging still for so long. The guard above her cursed, hurriedly slamming the window shut, Emma breathed a sigh of relief as an alarm started blaring below her, 'Thanks Nic, nothing if not subtle,' resuming her climb she drew level with the window, it was only a couple of feet to her right. Kicking hard off the wall, Emma fell for half a second until her hands grabbed the stone window ledge, pulling herself up she managed to balance with her feet on the ledge, leaning her body against the window. Working the window open she smiled wryly, "Maybe that guard showing up was a stroke of luck, that window was probably locked before," she dropped into the office lightly carefully to make as little sound as possible, glancing around she double checked that no one was running toward the office, shouts drifted up the stairwell, "Good work Nic."
Reaching into the bag at her back Emma retrieved the makeshift fingerprint kit they had put together, holding a pen torch in her mouth she carefully sprinkled some of the black powder on the computer mouse, most of the fingerprints in the room should be the Director's but to minimise the risk of picking up someone else's she chose the mouse, it was unlikely he'd let anyone else use the computer considering it probably had sensitive information on it. Dusting off the excess with a makeup brush a clear print came up on the mouse, breathing a sigh of relief she carefully pressed some sellotape over the fingerprint, sticking her tongue out in concentration she lifted the tape off of the mouse and pressed it onto the piece of card. Biting down on her tongue she carefully lifted the tape off the card leaving a good impression of the fingerprint on it, "Phew," wiping some of the sweat from her forehead Emma hesitated before approaching the safe and replaced the equipment back in her bag dusting the excess powder off the desk, she'd practiced lifting fingerprints for most of the afternoon but wasn't sure how it would stand up to a biometric lock. Silently she swung the picture concealing the safe round on its hinges, gulping she approached the lock pad, placing her index finger behind the print on the card she pressed it onto the lock, "Moment of truth," she whispered to herself.
The beeping of the lock sounded loud in the quiet room, glancing anxiously over her shoulder Emma reassured herself that no one was coming, sounds of fighting could still be heard meaning Nic was still keeping the guards busy. A few more seconds ticked by until the lock lit up in green light, the door clicking open, letting out the breath she'd been holding Emma swung the heavy door open and ducked inside. The shelves inside were filled with flasks and test tubes, quickly scanning the rows she repeated the information they had gotten from Marco that morning, "The id code is XC25980R, it's an irritant, but non-flammable, XC25980R, XC25980R..." stretching on tiptoe to read the labels in the top shelf she finally found it, "Yes!" reaching up she gingerly took down the flask with the right code on it, it was tightly stoppered, but she quickly put it in the padded case she'd brought along. Closing the door to the safe behind her the red flash of light assured her it had relocked, 'Now to get out of here,' Emma thought as she was about to replace the picture frame back on its catch.
"Well, well, what do we have here," Emma's blood ran cold at the voice that came from behind her, turning around she saw a handsome young man leaning against the doorframe. "Looks like a cat's broken in," he took a couple of steps towards her, Emma's back hit the painting behind her, "what were you trying to steal little kitten?" She remained silent, her hood was still up hiding her face and hopefully the look of panic on it, "Haha, it doesn't matter if you don't tell me, your fate is the same either way," Emma gulped as he brushed his hair out of his amber eyes, in the dim light they almost seemed to glow.
'I have to get out of here now,' Emma made to dash for the window, but before she could even blink she found herself pinned to the wall, the tanned forearm pressed against her neck, 'it's so hard to breathe,' the man's amber eyes bore into her own, he slowly pulled back her hood revealing her face. Digging her fingernails into his forearm she struggled to release some of the pressure on her neck but he was too strong, a wheeze escaped her as he increased the pressure on her windpipe, "Let me go, I didn't get what I came here for, so why don't we call this quits huh?" Trying to sound as confident as possible was difficult when her voice came out like a strangled cat, but she kept her gaze steady not letting her fear get the best of her.
"Well seeing as it was such a cute kitten that tried to burgle us it would be a shame to kill you, but then again if I just let you go then what would my employers think? No one will hire a man who shirks his duty for a pretty face."
Emma snorted derisively, "Pretty face? Don't make me laugh," continuing she choked out, "no one has to know."
The man tutted scratching the back of his head with his free hand, he leaned in closer, so close that their noses almost touched, strands of his blood red hair falling across his eyes, "And what will you do to prove that I can trust you?" her heart pounded as his face got even closer, she couldn't even turn her head, then he blew lightly at her ear, she squeaked involuntarily kicking out at him. "Bad kitty," he tutted pinching her cheek, "if we can't have a little fun then I'll have to take care of you in a much less enjoyable way," he brushed a fingertip along her jawline.
Squirming under his touch, Emma averted her gaze from his, looking down she saw only the bottom couple of buttons of his shirt were done up exposing the planes of his well-muscled chest, heat rose to her cheeks 'Why am I looking at him like this? Actually wait why are the bad guys always so hot?' Looking up to stop herself ogling him she found herself sinking into his eyes like they were liquid pools of gold, 'Stop!' she slapped herself mentally, her lungs burned as she struggled to draw a breath, black spots edging in on her vision 'this is just the lack of oxygen talking.'
"Put her down!" The voice echoed loudly throughout the room.
The man turned around to look at the newcomer, "I hate interruptions," feeling the pressure on her neck loosen slightly Emma breathed in deeply. Drawing one of the knives at her waist she slashed at his forearm, "Ouch!" ducking under his arm as he moved it back instinctively, she ran across the room to stand by Nic, "Looks like this kitten is still to be housebroken," he glared at Nic, irritated at the interruption. "I knew the commotion downstairs was a decoy but I thought the guards might put up a little more of a fight."
Nic raised his sword pointing it directly at the man, he edged forward slightly hiding Emma behind him, she seemed a little shaken but otherwise fine, satisfied he turned back to face his opponent, the guy was casually inspecting the blood soaking through the silk shirt where Emma had slashed him, completely ignoring him. 'Who does this guy think he is?' feeling a tug on his t-shirt he turned one eye on Emma, she shrank back slightly under the intensity of his gaze.
"He's lightning fast, like faster than Doug," she signed her face full of concern, Nic grunted in reply, "sorry, I ..." he briefly placed a hand on her head comfortingly, then turned back to the man, removing the tags from around his neck he held them up.
"Hmm," the man looked up from inspecting the wound on his arm, seeing Nic's tags he laughed, "Ah the little A/0 thinks he can play in the big leagues, name's Alfie," retrieving a set of tags from his pocket he held them up for Nic to see, Emma let out an involuntary gasp, S/5, there were very few Twilights in the city ranked higher than Nic the only one that came to Emma's mind was Ginger from the Paulklee Guild, and she was definitely a lot faster than Nic.
'I've already maxed out on Celebrer,' Nic cursed silently, the best outcome for this scenario was at least giving Emma a chance to escape, hopefully she'd already sneaked into the safe before this guy had shown up, reaching one hand behind his back he signed "Run," to Emma. Not waiting to see her protest he leapt across the room swinging the katana down at Alfie's neck, the latter didn't move, smirking at the last minute he stopped the blade with one hand. Moving too fast for Emma to follow he threw Nic into the wall, the impact shaking the entire room, groaning Nic got to his feet, blood trickling down the right side of his face, in this small a space his katana was more of a hindrance, he reluctantly sheathed the blade lashing it to his belt.
As the match turned into hand to hand combat Emma watched on helplessly, 'Nic's completely outmatched, in speed and strength,' she hated to admit it, but it was true, despite only one rank separating them the gap in physical ability between the two was astounding, she cringed as Nic took another blow to the jaw crashing into the bookcase. Alfie barely looked out of breath, each blow was precise and powerful, he hoisted Nic up by the collar, seeing that demonic smile spread across his face pain squeezed at Emma's heart, 'He enjoys this far too much.' Driving his knee into Nic's solar plexus Alfie let him drop back onto the floor, he pressed the toe of his shoe into Nic's face pinning him to the floor, Emma silently crept up behind Alfie keeping out of his line of sight, long knives crossed in front of her she made to slash at him again.
Twisting his body around Alfie threw out a fist hitting her cheekbone, the force of the blow propelled her across the room knives clattering to the floor as they fell from her grasp, stunned she struggled to sit up, Alfie rolled his eyes, exasperated, "Now look what you made me do, there is no place for kittens in this fight, only tomcats allowed." Using the distraction Nic swung his forearm into the back of the taller man's knee forcing him off balance, rolling away Nic sprang to his feet landing a roundhouse kick to Alfie's ribs following it up with an elbow to his face. Alfie staggered back a few paces then lightly skipped to the other side of the room putting distance between himself and Nic, wiping at the blood pouring from his nose he cursed, "You'll regret that," enraged at the lack of reply he charged at the smirking figure.
Meeting him head on their fists connected sending a shockwave throughout the room, Emma sat beneath the windowsill a little scared at the intensity of the fighting between two such high level Twilights, shivering she watched them continue to exchange blows, after provoking Alfie, Nic seemed to hold his own a little more. 'His anger is probably affecting his judgement,' Emma realised, looking out she saw one of her knives lying a few feet away, Nic was pushing Alfie back towards the door, seizing her chance she slid across the floor grabbing the knife and stabbed it deep into Alfie's calf, then ripped it free as momentum carried her along the floorboards. Roaring in pain he tried to turn towards her but Nic quickly shoved him back out of range, Nic jumped behind the desk putting it between them and Alfie, Emma remained crouched by the corner of the desk.
"Sorry but I'm done playing with you," he drew the gun in one fluid motion, levelling it at Nic he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot sounded impossibly loud, everything seemed to slow down around her as the bullet headed straight for Nic's chest, she screamed his name flinging herself in front of him. Pain blossomed in the middle of her chest where the bullet struck, Nic watched helplessly as she collided with him then dropped limply to the floor, time froze for a second as he stared at her still body. An angry tide rose inside of him, picking up the desk he hurled it at Alfie who still had the gun pointed at him, he ran at him smashing his fist through the desk to reach the target of his rage, splinters flew in all directions but he barely noticed the cuts they left him, Alfie staggered to dodge the blow as it missed him by an inch. "I'm going to crush every bone in your body!" Nic bellowed unleashing a flurry of blows at Alfie.
Smirking Alfie blocked the fists flying his way, "She that special to you? A kid like that?" Nic only responded with more punches fuelled by his rage, grunting under the strain of the relentless flurry of attacks Alfie was forced back to the opposite wall, "I'm sick of this," catching the latest punch, he cocked the gun and pressed it to Nic's forehead. Nic froze, he wasn't as fast as this guy so he couldn't possibly move out of the way before he pulled the trigger, then again he might just kill him anyway, as he debated he saw something catch Alfie's attention.
"Drop the gun," Emma stood unsteadily by the exposed safe door, the tip of her knife hovering over the fingerprint scanner, Alfie just smiled at her, "I said drop it," ignoring the aching in her chest, she raised her voice.
Alfie whistled, slowly removing the gun from Nic's head he flicked the safety on, then holding out the gun at arm's length, he dropped it on the floor, "Wow, are you sure you're a normal surviving a hit like that?" Emma just stared him down, not trusting herself to reply, nodding towards the lock he added, "You sure you want to do that? You should know any tampering or damage to the lock will incinerate the safe's contents, willing to give up what you came for?"
Picking up the gun, Nic glanced at the young girl, there was a hole in her hoodie from the bullet but there wasn't any blood soaking the fabric, his relief was almost instantly replaced with confusion, 'That was a direct hit she should be dead, but wait did this guy show up before she got in the safe?'
"Better destroyed than left in your hands," her eyes held a steely glint of determination, driving the knife into the lock Emma flinched as a hissing sound came from within the safe followed by a wave of heat that she felt through the steel door, Alfie stood there dumbfounded as the fire in the safe quickly burned out. Taking the chance Nic scooped up Emma's other knife from the floor, then picked up the girl herself and jumped out of the window to the street below, entrusting herself to Nic she closed her eyes as the ground rushed towards her, he immediately ran for cover in the alleyway ducking into an abandoned building a couple of streets away.
He set Emma down on her feet, they were in a storeroom of the abandoned building Nic had picked, he smacked her around the back of the head firmly, clutching the back of her head she looked at Nic with a hurt look in her eyes, his gaze softened slightly and he pulled her into a loose hug. "Never do anything that stupid again," he scolded her, his voice loud in the empty room, too surprised to answer Emma nodded against his chest tears stinging her eyes, holding her at arm's length Nic looked at the lack of blood on her then pulled down the zip of her hoodie. 'How the hell did she get a vest?' he looked at the bulletproof vest she was wearing, the bullet still lodged in it, "Are you hurt?"
Emma shook her head, "Just bruised," she whispered, coughing she loosened the velcro straps of the vest, she could feel the bruise from where the bullet would've hit growing, making it harder to breathe, then she saw the deep gash in Nic's arm, "you're bleeding!" He tried to brush her off but she persisted, "If you keep bleeding like that you'll collapse plus if you bleed everywhere it'll just create a trail to follow, now sit."
Nic reluctantly sat down on the crate she pointed to, reaching into the bag she carried Emma pulled out a small suture kit, her pen torch and a candle. Lighting the candle, she held the tip of a pre-threaded needle in the flame for a few seconds to sterilise it, cleaning the wound with a little antiseptic she got to work, drawing the edges of the wound together she pushed the needle through the skin and back out the other side, working quickly she stitched the wound closed, taping some gauze over it. "Any more?" Emma asked, biting his lip Nic nodded then tugged his t-shirt over his head, his torso was covered in emerging bruises and minor cuts, but there was one below his collarbone that was a little deeper. Blushing slightly at the sight of Nic's chiseled body she kept her eyes focussed on the cut as she worked on closing it holding the pen torch in her mouth to give her good light in the dark storeroom, breathing out she handed him the t-shirt, grabbing hold of her hand he pointed towards his back then spun around on the crate. The cut on his back was small but deep, it was just below the tribal tattoo that covered his upper back and shoulders, Nic shivered as she gently traced a few older scars with her fingertips, "Sorry," she whispered knowing he couldn't hear her. Dabbing the antiseptic onto the wound, Nic tensed, Emma flinched at causing him more pain, but it was worth it if it stopped the wound getting infected later on, she finished by tapping a piece of gauze over the stitches, feeling totally drained she rested her head on his back for a few seconds.
Her breath tickling his skin Nic shifted slightly, causing her to sit up, he gingerly pulled the t-shirt on, careful to not pull on the stitches, Emma licked her fingers and put out the candle, tidying up her first aid supplies. Nic suddenly stiffened, "Someone's coming" he signed, pulling Emma with him, he ducked into a small cupboard in the corner of the room, Emma squeaked as he tugged her close to him, covering her mouth with his hand he pulled her close to him so he could close the door, it was a tight fit.
Her imagination ran wild at who might be wandering around, 'What if it's Alfie? I don't think Nic and I can beat him,' she knew they'd been lucky enough to escape once, but doubted the Twilight would let it happen a second time. As panic set in she began to hyperventilate, Nic lightly stroked her cheek with the thumb of the hand covering her mouth, and tightened the arm around her waist, 'I have to calm down or whoever it is will probably hear me.'
Feeling Nic's chest rise and fall behind her, closing her eyes she focused on matching her breathing to his, she slowly relaxed in his arms, 'Good girl,' Nic praised her silently, continuing to stroke her cheek, she could hear the footsteps outside the cupboard now but they didn't come any closer and slowly faded away. Her heart was nearly bursting out of her ribcage, being so close to him like this made the blood rush to her face, looking up at Nic he nodded, no longer sensing any danger he let go of his grip on her and opened the door, Emma stumbled out of the cupboard breathing in the cool air she turned away to hide her flaming cheeks, Nic turned her around to face him signing, "We should get going."
Emma nodded, "Yeah, should we stop off by Dr. Theo's first?"
"What for?" Nic asked puzzled, "You already stitched me up."
Emma looked back equally confused, "Well we need to give him what he asked for don't we?"
Nic's eyes widened in surprise, "You mean you got it"
Emma scoffed, turning her head away, "What do you take me for? I always get a job done." Reaching into her bag again she pulled out a small box, opening it revealed a small flask surrounded by cotton wool, "it's a miracle it didn't break, when Alfie saw me with the painting off its hook he thought I was about to try and open the safe but I'd already been in and out, sorry I had to make him believe I didn't get anything so he'd be less likely to come after us."
Nic ruffled her hair, smiling, "Good work." She closed her eyes for a second enjoying the warmth of his large hand, they exited the building by the window they had come through, Emma barely protested as Nic gently picked her up and jumped down to the street, although he landed lightly on his feet she still felt the impact, the bruise on her chest aching.
They ghosted through the back alleys until they reached Theo's clinic, as usual the lights were still on even though it had gotten quite late, Emma placed the box containing the chemical on the desk before perching on one of the clinic's beds allowing Nic to explain what had happened. Taking off her hoodie she carefully peeled the velcro straps away, she flinched at the noise of the velcro separating but Nic and the doctor seemed too engrossed in their conversation to notice, tossing it aside she gently massaged the growing bruise, a purple, blue star bursting across the centre of her chest. Stretching experimentally, nothing else hurt too much, 'That'll be a different story in the morning,' she rubbed her neck a little, shivering as she remembered the way Alfie had choked her, 'it's probably bruised too.'
"She did what?!" Emma shrank back at Theo's shout, he stood by the bed towering over her, "What on earth were you thinking jumping in front of a bullet? You could've been killed!" Nic frantically waved at him but Theo ignored him, his angry glare terrifying her.
Emma looked down at her clenched fists, "My body just moved on its own, there wasn't really any thinking involved," her voice barely above a whisper in the face of Theo's anger, "it's not really a big deal though, I'm fine."
"Let me see," Theo ordered, her hand hovered at the collar of her t-shirt, "now," hearing his voice soften just a fraction Emma pulled down the collar revealing the upper edges of the bruise. "Fine," he sighed after examining the bruise quickly, "none of us says a word of this to Nina," he warned, tone provoking only meek nods from the two of them, as they made to leave the clinic he called out one last time, "I prefer the idiots in my clinic to be alive, try and keep it that way both of you."
They walked back to the apartment in silence, still on edge both of them glanced around at regular intervals but no one seemed to be following them, reaching the stairs leading to the apartment Nic lightly pulled on Emma's arm, he motioned for her to sit on the steps, she'd been fearing a more extensive lecture from him, biting her lip she kept her eyes firmly on her shoes. Nic lifted up her chin with a finger but Emma still looked away from him, not needing any further scolding, sighing Nic spoke aloud to get her attention, "That shot would've killed me, why did you protect me?"
Finally looking him in the eye she replied, "You're my friend, of course I would protect you."
"I'm on borrowed time anyway, the reason I was born was to kill and die to protect normals. My life isn't worth..." his cheek stung as the slap hit him with full force, the skin burned against the cold air as he continued, he lifted up the tags holding them in between the two of them. "I'm not the same as you and Alex and Worick, I'm a weapon to be used, a monster, I can't even pretend to be like you." He said it matter-of-factly his expression twisted into a bitter smile, he'd heard it hundreds of times even from his own father: Monster, inhuman, aberration, it didn't matter to him anymore, his life was too short for him to care enough.
Emma used her whole body weight to push him onto the ground, surprised Nic let himself fall onto the road, she punched his face as hard as she could, "Never say that again," tears dripped onto his face as she cried over him, "I won't let my friends die if there's even a chance I can save them I'll take it, even if it costs my own life. You aren't a monster or disposable, people care about you; Worick, Alex, Nina, Dr. Theo, Inspector Adkins, Mr. Monroe, Marco, Connie, Granny Joel, me, you're our friend, if you're not there who'll buy Nina soda or make Worick get up, or save Mr. Monroe's butt, or break the clinic or give Chad a headache or tease Alex, or play professional hide and seek with me." Her voice cracked as the tears continued to rain down on Nic, "You. Are. Human." Nic accepted the punches that accentuated each of those three words, "It doesn't matter if you're stronger or faster than most people or if you're different, you're still a person, you laugh with us, get annoyed, enjoy things, you get hurt just like everyone else, you're worth just as much as anyone else in this city, worth more than some so called 'normals' who hurt people for the fun of it. You protect people, you're warm and kind and, and, and nothing would be the same without you." She couldn't go on anymore, her voice became lost as she cried her fist lightly hitting Nic's face once more, crying noisily Emma collapsed onto his chest unable to stop the tears, Nic wrapped an arm around her stroking her hair, feeling his warmth her crying intensified, chest wracked with sobs.
They lay there in the street as Emma cried into him, 'No one ever told me that I really mattered before,' even Worick, his closest friend, had only told him to live so that he could pay for what he'd done, feeling the sobs subside slightly he slowly sat up keeping one arm around the crying girl he used the other to keep his balance.
Emma looked up at him, her face a mess of snot and tears, her mouth twisted in a line as she struggled to hold back another flood of tears, swallowing the urge to cry she croaked out, "You're not allowed to die, you're too important. I won't let you." Throwing her arms around him she squeezed him tightly, burying her face in his chest again Emma hiccuped between small sobs, her tears had already soaked through his t-shirt a while ago, the material itched her face as she rubbed against it eyes red raw from the crying.
Her order for him not to die felt so different from when Worick commanded the same thing all those years ago, this time it was out of genuine concern for him as a real person as opposed to the bitter anguish of a thirteen-year-old boy. 'Thank you,' Nic softly pressed his lips into her hair, the touch so brief Emma would later convince herself she imagined it, now resting his chin on her head, he rubbed her back slowly as her breathing gradually returned to normal. Releasing him from her hug Emma sat back swiping away her tears with the heel of her hands, catching her hands Nic stopped her from rubbing the skin around her eyes raw, he softly brushed away the remaining tears with his thumb, sniffing Emma wiped the snot off her face, suddenly glad that Nic couldn't have heard her ridiculous crying fit. Realising that she was still in his lap, Emma scrambled to her feet, looking away she held out her hand to Nic, grabbing it he pulled himself up, Emma tugged him along as if making sure he wouldn't disappear only letting go once they reached the door, once inside she ran to the bathroom hiding her tear and snot stained face.
Smiling at her childishness, Nic collapsed onto the sofa, "How'd it go?" Worick asked, whispering to avoid waking Alex who slept with her head on his shoulder, raising his hand in a thumbs up he closed his eyes for once falling asleep almost instantly, a weight felt like it had been lifted off of his shoulder, allowing him to sleep soundly for one of the first times in his life his heart.