Max was going to murder somebody today.
He didn't know who it was going to be; there was already a long list of possible candidates. Daniel, for luring his daughter into a kidnapping. The school superintendent, who had been the one to approve Daniel as a substitute. Vihaan Acharya, his birth father, for having Daniel kidnap Lovetta.
He'd been job-hunting (still, despite the fact that he'd been looking for two months) and Nikki had the day off from work. In the middle of the afternoon, when he was getting ready to go pick up Lovetta after her field trip and Nikki was taking a nap, his phone went off. It was the school. Why the hell were they calling?
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hello, Max," Katrina McCormick replied, sounding frantic. "I'm afraid that something happened to Lovetta on the trip today. Could you and her mother come down to the school and talk to the police?"
Max swore his heart stopped for a moment.
"Max? Hello?"
"What happened?"
"We're not sure. James and Leo rejoined the group during the field trip without Lovetta and their chaperone, and they're refusing to talk unless it's to you."
"I'm on my way." He hung up and grabbed his keys.
"Max, what's wrong?" Nikki asked from the top of the stairs.
"Something happened to Lovetta on the field trip and I need to down to the school to find out what."
"Give me a second." She ran back to her room and came back two minutes later fully dressed. "Let's go."
They left and headed to the school, where there were several police cars. The cops that had driven them there were talking to the kids and chaperones from the field trip, but Max noticed one very specific chaperone was absent. Daniel was nowhere to be seen and Max immediately put two and two together.
"Max!" panted Katrina, coming out of her office. "There you are. Thank God. The chief is losing patience with the boys and he said he was going to take them to the station if you didn't get here soon."
"They're in your office?"
"Yes."
Max walked in and immediately, James and Leo stiffened at the sight of him.
"So, you're the father of the missing girl?" Sal asked.
"Nice to see you, too, Sal," Max sighed.
"Oh, Max. Didn't realize it was you. I'll leave you with the kids, as long as you tell me what they say."
He exited the office and the two ten-year-old boys were left with the worried father of their friend who they'd failed to protect. Both of them immediately refused to look him in the eye, which was understandable to Max given the circumstances.
"So, you kids were the only ones with Lovetta and Daniel when it happened?" Max asked.
"Yes, sir," James replied, his voice cracking with fear.
"There were half a dozen of them against the three of us!" Leo blurted. "And none of us can fight adults!"
"Whoa, what are you talking about?"
"Daniel was talking about Lovetta's other grandfather," James explained, "and that he wanted to see her. He also said you'd betray your family at the first opportunity."
Max balled his hands into fists as James fished into his pocket.
"He told us to give this to you."
He handed Max a folded paper, his hand trembling with fear.
"You listened to what Daniel said?" Max inquired in a chilling tone.
"We were afraid he'd hurt Lovetta worse if we didn't," Leo mumbled. "She was injected with what I suspect was a sedative of some kind after she bit one of the kidnappers."
"Of course they did. Those fucking bastards…"
"Everything okay in here?" Sal cut in, opening the door. Max shoved the paper in the pocket of his coat.
"Daniel Koresh is at large again. He's one of the people who kidnapped my daughter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a phone call to make."
He walked out of the room, a look of quiet rage on his face as the people who barely knew him got out of the way. Nikki went after him, grabbing his arm as they reached the car.
"Max, what happened to Lovey?" she asked.
"My birth father." Max reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Nikki, call David and Gwen. I'm calling the Millers because there's no way Vihaan Acharya should be out of prison, ever."
"Hello?" a familiar woman's voice said on the other end.
"Hey, Ered. It's Max. Could you tell me how the hell my dad got out of prison?"
Darkness.
That was all Lovetta could see. She knew her eyes were shut, so that was the cause of the darkness surrounding her, but she couldn't bring herself to open them quite yet. A slight pain in her neck was what made her wake up and look around.
She was in a place she didn't recognize—in a room with bars on the windows and one door. There was no way out, as far as she could tell, so she got off the small cot she'd been sitting on to try and look through the keyhole of the door. That proved to be a failure, since there wasn't a keyhole that she could look through.
Okay, Lovetta. You've been kidnapped by your dad's dad and you're probably in big trouble, but the important thing is to remain calm. There's no way this isn't some complicated scheme to get Max here.
"The bitch is awake," she heard a man say.
"Oh, thank God. We can stop guarding her."
"No, we can't. Not until the boss's bastard son arrives to get her."
"Hey!" Lovetta started banging on the door. "Where am I?!"
"Shut up!" one of them snapped, banging on the door in response.
"Is she awake?" asked a voice with a slight accent.
"Yes, sir."
"Open the door, then."
"Yes, sir."
The door opened and Lovetta stumbled backwards in an effort to avoid getting hit by it. The man who came into the room was tall, with the same dark hair Max had but flecked with silver and gray. His appearance was that of a disapproving, uptight grandfather who also happened to be a businessman. He looked down at Lovetta with disgust and disdain.
"So, you're my granddaughter," he stated.
"No, I'm not."
"Isn't Maximillian your father?"
"My dad's name is Max, not Maximillian."
"Max is his stupid nickname. His proper name is Maximillian."
"Oh. Then I guess I am your granddaughter by blood."
"By blood only. You are the result of my son's relationship with an unworthy woman."
"You're calling my mother unworthy?"
"She's a woman born of a whore. Unfit for my son."
"So love means nothing?"
"Their relationship brought about nothing but trouble. And you." He narrowed his eyes. "Do you know why you're here?"
"Because you want revenge on my dad for betraying you and so you sent Daniel to kidnap me. When he gets here, you're going to let me go but try and kill him."
"How did you know that?"
"Duh. That's like, every evil grandparent plot ever."
"Good to know you're smarter than most of your family, little girl."
"My name is Lovetta."
"Oh, yes. Lovetta Acharya."
"Lovetta Greene, you bastard."
He slapped her across the face.
"Know your place!" he snapped before leaving the room. "I'm going to wait for my son to arrive. Make sure she stays where she is."
"Yes, sir."
"And you're sure this is where the note said he was?"
"Yes."
"Okay. We're giving you twenty minutes," Agent Jack Miller stated. "If you don't bring her out by then, we're storming the place."
"Got it."
Max finished strapping the wire to his clothes and grabbed the baseball bat he'd brought specifically for beating the shit out of those who got in his way. Jack gave him a thumbs-up as Nikki wove through the crowd of agents to make it to Max.
"Max!" she called.
"Nik, what are you doing?" he asked. Instead of replying right away, she hugged him tightly, followed by a kiss on the cheek.
"Give 'em hell, Max. Save her and come home."
"I make no promises about myself, but Lovetta will be coming home. I promise."
"Max, we're ready," Ered called. Nikki raised her eyebrows at the sight of her childhood idol, then smiled.
Guess the FBI agent thing runs in the family…
"Love you," Max told Nikki before facing the building.
It had once belonged to Campbell, back before the businessman had gone straight. Now it was apparently the stronghold of Max's birth father, Vihaan Acharya. Max took a deep breath and headed inside. Almost immediately, he was spotted by guards, who ran to get their boss.
Fuckers knew I was coming.
Lovetta heard the door of her prison open. Her guards entered and tied her hands behind her back, binding her feet and gagging her, too. She suspected that they didn't trust her not to bite, and to be fair, that was true. She would've bitten them if it weren't for the gag. They carried her into a large central room, where she saw Vihaan standing in the center, facing her father.
"Let Lovetta go," Max growled. Vihaan smirked and snapped his fingers. Instead of Lovetta's guards tossing her to him, as she'd expected, several of his thugs came out of the shadows and attacked Max.
"Ah, Max, you still have so much to learn," chuckled Vihaan. Lovetta's guards left her on the floor, jeering as Max struggled against the thugs.
Gotta help him!
Lovetta started biting at her gag, nibbling through the fabric with ease. She was thankful that she had strong teeth, because within minutes, it snapped. To her horror, Max was thrown against the wall. He had no idea she was watching, so she made a desperate decision.
"DADDY!" she screamed, getting the attention of both Max and her guards. One of them slapped her.
"Shut up, you little slut!" he hissed. Max let out a snarl and went apeshit, running straight for his daughter. The guards attempted to fight back, but lesson number one of dealing with a protective father is not to get in his fucking way. They were down and Max scooped up his little girl with ease, cutting her ropes with his pocketknife.
"I'm taking Lovetta to her mother, then we're finishing this," he told Vihaan in a chilling tone.
"I'll be waiting right here, son."
Max started booking it towards the exit, Lovetta clinging to him like a baby koala to its mother.
"Daddy, what about you?" she whimpered.
"Lovetta, you're my top priority. If you and your mom are safe, this mission was a success."
They came out of the building, where Nikki ran forwards and took her daughter from Max.
"We're prepared to storm the place," Robert Miller told Max.
"No, I'm finishing this. It's my fault, so I have to be the one to finish it."
"Max, this is suicide!" Ered warned.
"Then I'll have paid for not shooting the bastard in the head when I had the chance." Max ran inside and Lovetta struggled against Nikki.
"No, Dad!" she yelled. Nikki clutched her daughter tightly, then turned around. David and Gwen had arrived with Neil and Lizzie in tow.
"Where's Max?!" Gwen yelped.
"Daddy ran back inside!" Lovetta sniffed. Nikki glanced at the building, then down at her daughter. She then handed Lovetta to Neil.
"Take care of my little girl."
"Nikki, what the hell are you doing?!" Neil snapped.
"I lost Max once because of that bastard! I'm not losing him again! Not now!"
She ran for Ered, grabbing a gun and ammo from her childhood hero and heading straight for the entrance.
Max found himself outnumbered as he faced his father once again. Vihaan had the expression of a smarmy movie villain, watching his thugs do his dirty work instead of doing it himself.
"You're a fucking coward!" Max spat, his body reaching his limit as he struggled against the people he'd once worked with.
"No, Max. I just prefer to save my energy."
A gunshot rang out, startling the guys beating up Max as one of them dropped, a bullet wound in his head.
"Get the fuck away from him!" Nikki screeched.
"Nikki, what the hell?!" Max yelled.
"I'm not letting our family get torn to shreds like this again!" She aimed at Vihaan. "You've hurt my family too much!"
"So you're the whore who captured my son's heart," Vihaan scoffed, crossing the room. He didn't have an ounce of fear in him as he approached Nikki. "I must say, your intelligence and personality aren't much to be desired."
One of the few thugs who'd been by his side instead of beating the shit out of Max grabbed her, startling Nikki into dropping the gun. Vihaan kicked it to the side and grabbed Nikki's face, right under her chin.
"On the other hand, your body…"
"Don't fucking touch her!" Max screamed, his face turning red with fury.
"This must be why he fell for you—because you gave him what he wanted. A pretty face to occupy his time." Nikki started laughing maniacally. "What's so funny, you bitch?"
"It's hilarious that you think that's what Max and I are. You just think that because that's all your relationships ever amounted to—you using them for your own ends rather than trying to have actual emotions. It's why you're such a sadistic son of a bitch."
"You think you're smart, don't you? You're a woman without a single brain cell to comprehend your current situation."
"And you're a dumbass who's failed to realize that this place is surrounded by law enforcement. You won't be getting out of this."
He dropped her to the floor and backhanded her across the face. Max swung his leg backwards and got the guy holding him back in the balls, making the man drop him so he could grab the gun Nikki had dropped. He then pointed it at his birth father and fired a warning shot, hitting the wall behind him. Vihaan narrowed his eyes.
"So, you haven't learned a damned thing, have you, son?" he said in a voice that oozed with poison.
"I've learned a lot. Just none of it from you."
"You can't even shoot straight."
"That was a warning shot. Let's cut the shit and face each other one-on-one—just you versus me. No thugs, no cops, none of that. We'll settle this the right way."
Vihaan smirked and flexed his wrist.
"Like true men, you mean?"
"Fighting doesn't make you a true man. Protecting those you care about does."
"Oh, spare me the bleeding-heart logic." Vihaan took off his jacket and Max tossed the gun to the side. They both took fighting stances and Vihaan made the first swing. It connected with Max's arm, but he was prepared for it. He grabbed Vihaan's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back, slamming him into the floor. The older man growled and flipped them over so his son was pinned to the ground. Max put up a block and managed to avoid being hit until he could escape.
"You forgot that you taught me everything I know."
"I didn't forget. You're just lousy at this."
A solid kick was landed to Vihaan's abdomen, sending him backwards. Nikki watched as the gang leader slammed his elbow into his son's head, knocking him to the ground and making her scream in horror. It was then that she smelled the smoke and knew what was happening.
They're setting the building on fire!
"Max!" she yelled, right before her boyfriend landed a strong punch to Vihaan's face, a crack ringing out. Blood spurted out of the older man's nose, Max kicking him in the jaw to send him to the ground. She knew she had to make this end. Vihaan was down.
Quickly, she dove across the open room and grabbed the gun Max had discarded.
"Max! Quick!" she yelled, sliding it to him. He picked it up, his foot on Vihaan's throat. The smell of smoke reached his nose and he knew what was happening as much as Nikki did.
"Let him burn," Max declared, landing a curb-stomp to his birth father's rib cage before running for Nikki and dropping the gun. "Let's get the fuck out of here!"
The two began to rush for the exit, Nikki's heart pounding faster than their feet against the linoleum. The fire was spreading quickly now, the thugs in Vihaan's gang having added gasoline to the flames. Unfortunately, Max was still hurt from his fights with Vihaan and his thugs. He stumbled, his legs giving out.
"Max, hurry!" she urged. The flames were surrounding them now, making it difficult to breathe.
"Get out while you can," he replied. "Leave me behind."
"No! I can't! I lost you once; I'm not losing you again!"
She brought his arm over her shoulder and supported him, pulling him out just as a flaming rafter hit where he'd been crouched a moment earlier. He slumped onto her, losing consciousness. Her heart stopped for a moment, but she kept going until she found the door. She kicked it open, bringing her and Max into the cold of January.
"They're out!" she heard Neil yell.
"Is that ambulance here?!" Ered called.
"Max, we're out," Nikki whispered. He didn't respond.
"Mom! Daddy!"
She caught sight of her daughter running towards them, Neil trying in vain to keep her from getting close. Paramedics were on hand, along with the fire department.
"Give him to us, ma'am," the paramedic urged.
"I'm riding with you."
"He's severely injured. We need as much space as we can get to work on him."
Reluctantly, Nikki relented and hugged her baby girl, who was sobbing her eyes out. They were both moved away from the fire by one of the firefighters, Nikki glad that it was all over.
Then a gunshot rang out.
Pain bloomed in Nikki's back. Lovetta was screaming and Nikki turned to see a grievously-injured Vihaan holding a gun.
"That's what you get, you stupid slutty bitch," he cackled before collapsing. Immediately, he was grabbed by the three Agent Millers and put into the back of a car. Nikki felt woozy and fell forward, hearing Max scream her name in horror.
The world went black around her.
*cackles maniacally*
You didn't think they were both going to make it out unscathed, did you? Also, side note: I published an explicit version of chapter five, "Reunion", on AO3. If you want to read the full version of the events of that night, you'll have to check it ou.
So long and thanks for all the fish!
