A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, they're a good motivator to keep updating. I hope you enjoy where this is headed…fasten your seatbelts.
Chapter Six:
There's a warm smog clinging to the air tonight as rain sprinkles over the city. We're at the docks, Elektra leads the way, I follow closely behind her, listening out for any sudden movements nearby.
The van is parked by a large red shipping container, we made sure to bring it here tonight, it's Friday and a shipment or exchange of some kind is due. The plan is to attack when whoever we're after approaches the van.
'Remember Brussels?' Elektra says-I can tell she's smirking from her tone. The slightest smile tugs at my lips, 'I'll never forget Brussels.' I reply. We took down an entire gang of criminals at the river's docklands in Brussels.
I feel tense, 'why isn't anyone showing up?'
'We have to wait it out. Matt…Are you okay?' She asks gently.
'Why?' I ask, annoyed that I'm this transparent.
'You just seem…more distracted this time round…'
I fall silent, I was pretty smitten last time we met. All we did was hook up and take down bad guys, rinse and repeat.
'I'm fine.' I lie, I'm just glad she can't read my mind.
'Whatever you say.' She resigns herself readily to my lies, Elektra never pushes me emotionally. It's what I like about her. She just lets it be. No explanations, just a strong physical connection. It's a good set up, I love it. But this time, I'm not aching to jump into bed with her. And I know why.
The capricious bond between Karen and I has affected me in more ways than one, and I'm not happy about it, but I can't do anything about it either. I don't want to lose her but I can't have her close. Not as close as I want to have her. I'm stuck, and I've never been stuck over a girl. I find my curiosities satisfied after a month or so with most…but Karen has my attention, but it's in the most frustrating ways. It catches me off guard, I'll be working out what to do about the Hand and the instant my mind wanders it lands on Karen. I find myself just breathing her in, listening to her heart beat. God, I sound like a creep, but it's not. I just…I'm not used to wanting a woman and not having her. But I can't allow myself a fling with Karen because I might not be able to end it.
'Hey…' Elektra's hushed voice snaps me out of my thoughts. I listen intently, 'someone's coming…'
She's right, I can hear footsteps, loud and clear but slow. I pause, alarm begins to trickle its way through my thoughts. I detect a scent in the air…It can't be… It's a scent which belongs to a familiar perfume…Oh God… A perfume I know well. Karen.
'Karen… They've got Karen…' I say.
Elektra doesn't bicker with me, or wonder how they've managed to get Karen. Instead she's already working on a solution, I can tell by the way her breathing slows and she falls silent, deep in thought. I hear a gun cock. He's holding her hostage. He knows something isn't right. The footsteps grow louder. He's below the shipping container we're huddled together atop of.
'I'll hang back, take out any extra cavalry he's shown up with. You take him out and get her somewhere safe.'
'Why do I have to take the guy with the gun?'
'Because you have the mask and Karen can't see my face.' Elektra says before taking a few swift steps and disappearing from my senses. I can't detect her anymore. She's been trained well.
I turn my attention to the goon with Karen. Her heart races. I don't understand how she got here. What the hell is going on?!
I pull on my mask and drop down from the container, landing in front of them. I hear his heartbeat hammering faster than Karen's.
'You don't know what you've done!' He cries, I can smell his sweat, he's scared.
'Let her go.' I order him in a calm tone.
'You shouldn't have fucked with the exchange… You've killed me. You've killed me!' He yells. A groan escapes Karen's lips, he's pressing the gun harder into her head. I slowly approach him.
'How have I killed you…?' I ask, buying time- I need to get close enough to get the gun away from him.
'You've killed all of us!' He sniffs Karen's hair, but her-oh, he's gonna like her…he might even spare me if I give him her…'
I can't tell where he's aiming the gun. I keep approaching him, 'No!' Karen shouts, I duck on impulse. Bang!
He shoots a hole into the container behind me. I take the opportunity to propel myself toward him and tackle him to the ground. He has the gun in his hands, he holds it firmly, trying to aim it at me as I try to wrestle it from him. I hear a grunt, and the man shouts in pain. Karen's stamped her heel into his calf. It gives me the upperhand long enough to grab point the gun away from my own head.
'I'm dead!' The man shouts, 'you've killed us all!'
I don't understand. Bang!
I freeze, warm blood drips from my face. I-I think he killed himself….
Karen pulls me off him, I turn and face her, shaken, angry.
'What're you doing here?'
'I was following a lead…' Her heart speeds up, she steps closer to me within seconds a warm hand wipes some of his blood from my cheek, 'you've saved me twice now.' She says, and for some reason I don't pull away. It's the stupidest thing I've ever done. I stay standing still, my jaw basking in the warmth of her touch.
I reach out and graze her cheek with my fingertips, they drift to her lips and then back to her cheek. I brush a strand of damp hair behind her ear.
'Who are you?' She asks.
The way her hand caresses my jaw makes nerves swell in my gut, what if she recognises me standing this close to her.
'You're not safe here. You could have gotten hurt, or worse.'
'So could you.' She replies. It's the first time in a long time that anyone has felt concern for me. She grazes my mask, grasping her wrist firmly, I pull it away. She catches her breath as the aggressive grip I manoeuvre her arm with. We're stood so close that I can feel the heat coming off of her body.
'Go home.' I instruct. Her heart beat suddenly starts to slow down, that's not a good thing.
'I…he injected me with something…' her voice trails off into a whisper, within seconds she collapses in my arms. I check her pulse, heart beats just slowly, it's a tranquiliser. She's knocked out. I have to take her home. I trust Elektra to report whatever she finds to me. I feel Karen's warm body shudder gently in my arms, she'll catch hyperthermia if I don't get her into dry clothes and hook her up to an IV. I have to take her to my place, that's the only place I know that has a makeshift IV drip. I don't trust hospitals. I have so many questions to ask her, how did he find her? Did she track him to this place?
When I left her at the apartment, she seemed pretty set to stay in and watch the game. A pang of guilt hits me, I heard her stifling a sob through the door. I need to work out what's going on with her. How does someone with no intention of leaving the house end up at the docks being held hostage by a goon? I'm mad at her, but I'm more concerned than mad.