AN: Hello everyone! Thanks for all the awesome reviews! :) I'd like to thank falmur for the meaningful suggestions she gave to me regarding this chapter. I edited it upon her advice, and I hope you all like it. (Thanks so much again, falmur. I hope you keep the suggestions coming.)
Just the same though, thanks everyone for all your encouragement. This has surely been one of the most interesting things I've written, all thanks to you. :) All of you ROCK!
Thanks for reading guys and I hope you like this chapter.
-I own nothing.
"It's almost 7," Peter remarked, eyeing Derek scrambling to control the bleeding and prevent infection on Addison's thigh. It was a painful process, one that involved Derek being hit unconscious by Ed due to his incessant struggles and Addison fainting out of pain. If it weren't for the fact that Addison was in immediate danger, Derek would've taken advantage of his unbounded hands and beat the crap out of the men.
He motioned for Ed and Carl to take Addison and Derek to the van. "We're leaving. We move in to the highway and we watch out for anything out of the ordinary. Be sure to be alert. The police are going to be hounding us. We take the girl and hold her until her father lays the money on the ground, exactly 25 yards away from her. Then you," he gestured to Carl, "let go of Derek Shepherd. You," he gestured to Ed, "grab the older man and we speed off."
"We leave Derek there?" Ed questioned.
Peter nodded. "Anthony Montgomery will take his place, don't worry. But not until we get a souvenir," he grinned. "If everything goes as planned, we leave the highway and make sure no one's following us, and we drive back here."
"Is this the part where we finish them off?"
"Both of them," Peter confirmed. "Right here."
-
Anthony shifted as he drove his car, checking the directions he was given another time. They had decided he would drive there alone while the FBI followed closely. Look-outs were already positioned in the area, and Agatha Jones was to ride with Detective Sanders and Bizzy. His hand shook as he gripped the wheel tightly, praying that whatever plan they had agreed upon would work.
He turned the corner and found himself at the exact spot Peter had told him to go to. It truly was deserted, like a horror movie straight out of Hollywood. There was nothing but concrete everywhere, the Seattle skyline like light-years away. He was certain that if anything gruesome happened tonight, no one would know from days on out. It was a good thing, however, that there were trained men already positioned in the place, hidden so well that even he could not see them.
Stepping on the brake, he reached up and wiped the sweat off his forehead, his other hand unconsciously setting on top of the briefcase that held the 200 million dollars. That afternoon, they had come up with plans A-Z; plans that were according to the things they could possibly anticipate. To him, tonight was a turning point, and if Peter still managed to outsmart them, he would be damned for good.
He was, however, thankful that there were no more packages sent to them for the remainder of the day. He didn't know if he could have survived through it. Her personal belongings and a part of her flesh were enough to drive him insane, but he had to hold on to the hope that they would find her, get her to safety, and prosecute the man on time.
-
The ride to the empty highway was uneventful. It seemed that for more or less an hour, Peter, Carl and Ed had grown a heart, considerate enough not to eavesdrop or take notice of Addison and Derek at the back of the van.
Derek cradled Addison against his chest, his whole body like jelly from all the beatings he had sustained hours before. That, coupled with the fact that they had not eaten and had been severely maltreated made him feel exhausted and weary, and all together near hopeless. He stroked Addison's hair unconsciously, thankful that for now, he had stopped the bleeding on her thigh.
Peter had cut off a huge chunk of it, almost the size of a fist. Derek had to use part of his shirt and his entire coat to put pressure and relieve the bleeding. She had fainted in the middle of it, from the pain he had guessed, and he would have died right there and then too if he weren't thinking about Addison's welfare.
It was remarkable; how he had gone from completely indifferent to wholly devoted and caring in a matter of hours. In two days, he managed to take a 180-degree turn. It frustrated him that it took all of this for him to realize Addison's worth, but he was thankful that all hope for a brighter future was not lost. He vowed to spend the rest of his life proving his love to Addison, standing by her side through everything and loving her the way he should have in the first place.
She was awake, but was hurting too much to speak. She could barely move her leg, could barely stand up and support her own weight. The beatings, the violation, the lack of food and a hospitable environment were taking its toll on her, and she was in worse shape than Derek was.
"This is going to end soon, Addie," Derek whispered, his voice hitching in his throat. "We're on our way to meet with your dad. They'll set up a negotiation, I think. And you're going to be okay. We're going to be okay." His effort was futile, however. Addison merely nodded and closed her eyes, knowing she was bleeding slowly. She had lost a lot of blood, and it would take a miracle for her to survive through the night.
"We'll be okay," he repeated. "I… I'm sorry, Addison."
She looked up, her eyes meeting his and recognizing the anguish behind the calm and collected façade he tried to convey. She reached her hand up, even if took so much of her strength and stroked his face. "What for?" she whispered softly, running her fingers along his jaw.
He shook his head, unable to keep his own tears at bay. "For not being able to protect you."
There was so much raw pain in his voice that everything else almost seemed to fade for Addison. It wasn't his fault. None of this could've been his fault. If any, he was the reason she was holding on now. "Don't be. You could've done nothing either way. They could've killed you."
"I'm your husband, Addison. It's in the vows; to love you and to cherish you and to be there for you through thick and thin." He paused, gathering his thoughts as he choked back his sobs. "I'm a failure."
It was Addison's turn to shake her head, ignoring the spinning sensation that suddenly enveloped her whole body. "You're not," she said firmly. "You may have had your fair share of mistakes, but it doesn't mean you failed me."
"I failed both of us. I stopped caring. I stopped fighting. I stopped believing in us."
"Then I failed both of us as well," she declared. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry for Meredith. I shouldn't have started a relationship with her in the first place. I shouldn't have… hurt you that way. I'm sorry about New York. I'm sorry I ignored you. I'm sorry for walking away when I caught you with Mark. I'm sorry I didn't fight or gave you a chance to explain. But more than anything, I'm sorry that I even pushed you away and gave you reason to hurt. I'm sorry."
Addison gulped, her face paling considerably at his sentiment. She knew it was more than his words that caused her to feel in pallor, but she couldn't help but think that their reconciliation was too late. She knew in her heart tonight was going to be a fate-deciding night, and patching things up with Derek made the situation all the more real. Silent tears fell down her cheeks as she mustered all the strength she could to reach up and kiss him gently on the lips. She pulled away after a second, Derek's taste fading in her lips. It was too fast a kiss, one that didn't seal anything between them because she barely felt it. But it was a kiss still, and it was the product of the strength she sacrificed even though she needed it badly for later.
"Addie," he whispered, his tone soft and calming.
"I'm sorry, too," Addison croaked. "I'm sorry I broke your heart," she said simply. She knew those few words encompassed every hurt, every pain, every suffering she had subjected Derek to in the past months. She knew that in breaking his heart, she had broken hers too, and that no apology could ever heal that unless they both truly forgave each other. "I'm sorry I don't deserve to be the love of your life. At least, not anymore."
Derek shook his head firmly, tightening his embrace and willing her to believe it wasn't true. "I don't believe that. You're the love of my life and you'll always deserve to be that. Nothing can ever change that fact."
"But I hurt you," she protested meekly.
"It doesn't matter. We hurt each other. But please… don't ever imply to you aren't good enough. Because if either one of us isn't good enough for the other, it's me. I don't deserve your love, Addison."
Peter turned his head from where he was seated and eyed the couple, his heart clenching at the pure and honest love that emanated from them. And then, as if by force, a wave of jealousy enclosed him, and all his pent up rage started to bubble beneath the heart he seemed to grow in the past half hour. He balled fists and roughly moved aside, pulling Derek by the feet and causing him to let go of his hold on Addison.
"What the--" Derek was startled out of his intimate talk with Addison by the forceful pulling on his feet followed by Addison wincing in pain as her head hit the van's floor lightly.
Peter's breaths were ragged and shallow, his face contorting in anger. He stared down at Derek, his whole frame towering over the doctor's body now laying down on the van and fighting to get up. He put a heavy restraining hand on Derek's shoulder before motioning for Ed to move from his place and assist him.
The moment Addison realized what was happening, she struggled to get up, her leg twitching at the sudden movement. As she regained her balance, she started clawing madly at Peter, all of a sudden not caring that they were in potential harm. What mattered was that Derek was surely going to be the subject of the man's torture and she couldn't stomach the idea. But as soon as Ed took his place, restraining Derek's hands, Peter grabbed on to her hair and yanked it, pulling her skin with so much force that tears started to well in her eyes.
Derek, for his part, fidgeted and kicked hard at Peter as Ed held on to his arms. He didn't care where his feet hit, all that mattered was that he hit the son of a bitch in any way he could. It was the first time either of them retaliated and paid no heed to the logic their brains had been shouting at them. There was chaos at the back of that van as Addison clawed, Peter pulled, Derek kicked and Ed suppressed. And for a moment, the vehicle was filled with sounds of struggling, of panting, or cursing and belittling.
"Stop hitting me you bitch!" Peter yelled, his whole body shaken with anger and hostility.
Addison ignored the pain searing from her lower body and continued to pinch and claw at Peter, her heart pounding against her chest. "I hope you rot in hell!" she screamed. "You and your good for nothing creeps! You deserve to die! You deserve to--"
Smack! Peter had lifted a heavy hand and slapped her point blank on the cheek, causing Addison to yelp in surprise and retract her hands, her palms automatically cupping the side of her face. Peter pushed her aside roughly, elbowing her ribs and turning his attention back to Derek. Gone was the faux calmness, the pseudo tolerance. In place of that man was a monster, twice more frigtening than the man who had initially imprisoned them. His whole body heaved in anger, his whole being radiating determination and mercilessness.
Derek kicked harder, faster, his legs tiring but not once giving in to the exhaustion. He saw what Peter did to Addison, and he was filled with renewed strength to fight. Unfortunately for him, however, with his upper limbs lost, he could only do so much until Peter tied his legs together tightly, the rough rope scraping against his skin and pulling it raw.
He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a swiss knife, one that was as big as his palm, and extended the different parts of it until he came upon the wine screw. Suddenly, his face shone with delight and cynical enthusiasm before being masked by a dark and grim look that spelled trouble. He grunted, staring at the swirled metal, coiled and twisted just like his being.
"You're not the only one who gets a souvenir," he sneered at Addison, raising his hand and, like a bolt of lightning, stabbed Derek in the stomach.
Derek recoiled in pain, as Addison threw herself over Peter to try to stop the beating. But he only pushed her away so roughly before lowering it again forcefully against Derek's trunk.
"This is for my family!" he yelled, stabbing him once more.
"Stop!" Addison yelled, her eyes filling with tears at seeing Derek's expression.
"This is for my land!" he yelled again, lowering it another time, piercing Derek's skin deeper than the previous time. He breathed heavily, his body shaking in revenge.
He raised his hand again, his fist clutching the army knife tighter and tighter, his knuckles turning white. "This is for being with a woman we all know you don't deserve!" he shouted, remembering his own wife, her pretty face clouding his vision as he took another stab at Derek.
In retrospect, the wounds were not at all deep, but they were extensive, and hit Derek in parts he didn't know existed. That, coupled with the twisted body of Peter's weapon of choice made the pain thrice as much, sinking in to his skin with so much force and tearing his flesh from outside in. Derek bled, his body convulsing slightly in shock.
"Addison," he whispered, trying to feel his hand for Addison's. But before he could move another inch, the weapon hit him once more on the chest, close to his heart. The blow was hard that he was sure he had a fractured sternum.
"This is for not appreciating your wife when she stood by your side through everything! Have you no idea how much I would have given up a thousand lives to have spent the past 25 years of my life beside my own wife? And here you are, taking her for granted as if she weren't human! You're a sick son of a bitch for treating her horribly!"
"Stop!" Addison yelled again, her body shaking with fear at the man who was hurting her husband. "Stop!"
Peter turned to her, disbelief written across his face. "You want me stop?" he bellowed. "You want me to stop hurting the man who hurt you? If you were my daughter," he said, his heart clenching at the memory of his own daughter. "If you were my daughter, I would've killed the bastard who treated you this way!" taking another jab at Derek.
It went on and on and on until Derek had sustained about 30 stabs, blood oozing from his shirt and and coating Peter's hand, spraying the back of the van. Peter breathed heavily before wiping the sweat off of his forehead, grunting to tell Ed to release him. The burly man obliged and ignored Addison crawling frantically to Derek's side, tearing off a part of her blouse and skirt to act as a bandage on Derek's ruined stomach. The first thing she had checked was if it had punctured a lung or his heart. But upon initial inspection, she was thankful that the blows were concentrated near his belly button. She pressed her hand on Derek's forehead, wiping the sweat and blood off of it and kissing him gently.
"Derek?" she whispered softly, her voice quivering.
Derek rolled his head and opened his eyes, staring at her with so much love in his eyes. It didn't matter that his whole body ached and that he was weak, or bleeding so profusely that he could die any second. What mattered at the moment was Addison genuinely worried about him. "Addie," he called. "I love you..."
Addison nodded, taking Derek's hand in hers and bringing it to her lips. "Hold on, okay Der? Hold on, for me."
-
Anthony stood in the middle of the highway, the briefcase resting by his foot as he tapped against the concrete nervously. He could felt like he was being watched, no doubt by the police officers, his wife and Agatha Jones. But he couldn't draw comfort from that. He couldn't until he saw Addison alive and well, with Derek unharmed too.
He was startled out of his thoughts by the roaring of a black van approaching, its headlights blinding him for a moment before he lifted his hand to shield him from the light. His heart started to beat faster, his whole body tensing at the sight of it. He knew who was inside of the van, and but he didn't know what was to befall them all. It stopped about 100 yards from him, the door sliding open and revealing Peter Jones in a black ensemble.
"Anthony Montgomery," he bellowed, laughing sadistically. "It's great to see you again," he said, lifting his feet and walking ever so slowly towards him.
"Where my daughter?" Anthony asked, his voice more confident than he felt.
"Patience, my friend. She'll be with you shortly." For a moment, there was no sound but the rhythmic beat of Peter's feet walking to him.
It was a miracle, despite Peter's flawless plans so far, that he didn't notice the members of the force hidden but watching him carefully. Anthony could only breathe a sigh of relief.
"Do you have the money?" he questioned.
Anthony nodded, bending down to pick up the briefcase. "It's right here," he declared, opening the briefcase and revealing the bundles of dollar bills neatly stacked inside of it. "200 million dollars in cash, right here. Now where's my daughter?"
Peter stopped about 50 yards away from him, grinning. "Carl! Ed!" he shouted, his voice echoing all over the place. "Come out," he barked.
And then, as if a scene out of a movie, the silhouette of two burly men came into view as they exited the van, each them roughly pulling a person, of them gripping Addison tightly by the wrist, the other practically dragging Derek out of the van.
Anthony's eyes widened, seeing his daughter leaning heavily against the burly man treating her roughly. She was weak he could tell, but she was fighting to be strong. Their eyes met briefly before both Addison and Derek were shoved forward, Derek almost tripping over but Addison breaking his fall just barely.
Behind a large post, Bizzy and Agatha watched, their breaths hitched at the scene unfolding before them. Bizzy's heart ached as she watched her daughter, the makeshift bandages on her leg and the over-all frailty that she exuded almost too much for her to bear. That, and the sight of Derek's bloody shirt made her whole body tremble with fear and worry. Agatha placed a gentle, comforting hand on Bizzy, her eyes welling with tears.
"Just wait," Agatha said, her eyes transfixed at her husband, her mind trying to comprehend how he had changed so drastically.
Bizzy could only nod.
In front of them, Addison and Derek were held in line with Peter, Addison's eyes meeting her father's. Her emerald orbs welled with tears at the sight of him, her whole body longing to be comforted by his strong and loving arms.
"For a while longer," Anthony mouthed to her, trying his best to not run right there and then to embrace his daughter tightly.
She nodded, and tilted her head to Derek, her eyes reassuring him. He was weak, too weak to even hold his body upright by himself. He was leaning heavily against Peter's minion as he fought to stay strong.
"The money," Peter said. "I want you to walk slowly to here," he gestured. "I want your hands up where I can see them."
Anthony obliged, raising his hands as he carried the briefcase over his head, taking slow and measured steps closer to his daughter and her captor. When he came almost face to face with Peter, he lowered his hands and outstretched the briefcase, handing it over.
"I want my daughter first before I give you the money," he said, his eyes narrowing in seriousness. But then he caught a glimpse of Derek's blood soaked shirt and his head hanging in exhaustion. His heart beat sporadically in his chest at the sight.
Peter laughed. "Aren't you excited, Attorney." But nevertheless, he gestured for Carl, who was holding Derek, to get ready. He reached his hand out suddenly and grabbed the briefcase, everything unfolding in slow motion and in fast forward all at the same time. It happened so quickly, that before Anthony could realize it, the briefcase was snatched out of his hands and Derek was thrown to the ground forcefully, Carl rushing to take hold of Anthony and shoving him to the ground as well.
"What the—"
Addison started to scream, seeing Derek hit his face against the concrete, drawing blood from his forehead and his chin. Her heart beat frantically, seeing her father being pulled much like the way she was handled when she was first kidnapped.
Peter only smiled and walked to Derek, kicking him the stomach before ordering his men to take Addison and Anthony back to the van and to leave Derek on the ground.
They were on the move, Peter behind them on the lookout when all of a sudden—
"Peter!" someone yelled, catching his attention. The sound was so sweet, so familiar, like home that he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him.
And then it came again. "Peter!"
He turned around, and his eyes widened at the sight of his wife running across the concrete highway, her eyes frantic, her hair blowing in the night wind.
"Stop!" she cried, her voice strained.
"Agatha," he whispered, still not believing she was there.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Anthony nudged Carl forcefully on the ribs and ran, punching Ed in the face and succeeding in releasing Addison from his surly bonds. Both burly men toppled over slightly, and Anthony took Addison and willed her to run, shielding her body with his.
But upon realizing what was happening, Peter snapped back to reality and ignored his wife still running towards him. He bent down and drew his small pistol from shoe, stumbling slightly but regaining balance as he pointed the gun directly at Anthony.
"Peter!"
"Anthony!" Bizzy cried, her fear evident at seeing the gun Peter held in his hands.
Peter wasted no time and pulled the trigger, the loud crack echoing across the place as Anthony turned around in time for the bullet to swerve past him.
He had missed. And for that, Anthony was thankful.
But the gratitude was short-lived as Derek, now standing erect but just barely, saw Peter pulling the trigger once again, aiming at Addison's form sheltered unsuccessfully by Anthony's, and he jumped so far in a heroic act of chivalry, jumping right beside Anthony and Addison and shoving them to the side, placing him on the bullet's clear path.
The last thing he heard before everything went black was Addison's bloodcurling scream of terror.
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