Chapter 10: Bleeding Hearts
Authors Note: Thank you all for your support last chapter I am glad that you enjoyed it. This will be a bit of filler, but next chapter will be action packed. We are coming close to the end as well. I really liked writing this story and I hope to write another one in the near future. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Daredevil or anything Marvel.
(Flashback, Laura last year)
Laura spun around on the stripper pole, slowly observing all the pigs that drooled over her, throwing their money at her howling like wolves. She couldn't find work back home, so she tried for the big apple and now she had just thrown her top on the floor and the money came raining down on her.
'Life is so grand.' She thought.
She did a few more twirls and spins, before her turn was up. She collected her tips and her top, before heading to the dressing room. She sat down in front of her mirror and she started to wipe off the makeup, preparing to go home when a small party burst through the door.
Two of the strippers had a couple of guys with them, even though men were not allowed in the back room and they were all laughing up a storm.
"You know, Antonio isn't gonna like us spending his money like this." One guy said. The other just blew him off.
"Fuck him," He scoffed. "We just skimmed a little off the top, he won't miss a few grand."
"Oh yeah, why don't you tell him that, include the whole, 'fuck him', part too." His friend chuckled.
"Fuck off, after this we'll go to the safe house and put whatever is leftover back."
"Now." The other guy enforced.
"You don't want to get some dinner first?"
"Right. Fucking. Now!" The other guy said through gritted teeth. His friend let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the girls, who were still in their panties.
"What the fuck are you waiting for, get changed so we can take off." He snapped.
Laura had finished wiping all of her makeup off and she was now just sitting there, staring into the mirror. She thought about what she was doing with her life and so far, it was not going her way.
For the past year she had been working multiple jobs and this one job she was working right now was officially hitting rock bottom. She never wanted to take advantage of her gift, but when she heard talk of a lot of money being a stone's throw away, well as long as it wasn't for a special needs school or an orphanage she didn't have to feel guilty about robbing a mob boss.
She walked over to her locker and pulled out her jeans and hoodie and slipped them on quickly, before following the group out the door and eventually to the safe house.
(!)
"Then what happened?" Ryder asked as he scooped up more of his spaghetti from his plate.
Laura sat next to him with her own plate as everyone ate their dinner as well. After what happened with Ramsay, the group returned home and spent the next day planning out their attack on the warehouse.
After they had figured out through some minor contacts, about some mysterious characters moving something from a cemetery, the small fish of the hand let slip that something was being heavily protected in a warehouse in the outskirts of, New York.
After that they had spent the rest of the day prepping their gear and their weapons for the fight that was to come, along with a truck to move whatever this Black Sky was. The day ended with a spaghetti dinner and telling stories to Ryder, while leaving out some brutal details.
"After I followed them to the apartment I went home and grabbed my wolf mask and with nothing but a hoodie and a pair of yoga pants I went back, broke the door down and just started knocking in their heads, left and right." She chuckled, Ryder did too and that made Drake and Jade smile. "And after that I had made a good three hundred thousand dollars."
"Wow." Ryder said in amazement.
"Yup, yup." Laura smiled.
"When can I come with you guys?"
"When you're older." Labir said. "But if you want I have a job that requires a three-year ol-"
"No!" Drake and Jade snapped.
"But mamaa…" Ryder whined.
"Trust me buddy, this life is not for you." Laura warned.
"Your daddy works hard to make sure you don't have to do the things he does." Jerry explained. "And soon enough we will all be kicking back and living large."
"Sound's good." Drake said as he took another bite of pasta, but then he just froze suddenly.
Jerry noticed this and he also heard the low groans coming from him as he reached for his water and started to take small sips.
"Are you alright?" He asked. Drake shook his head.
"Yeah, just a few to many pepper flakes." He coughed up.
"You're sweating."
Drake glared at Jerry as he wiped the droplets from his forehead.
"To many pepper flakes." He looked over at Labir. "Hey, are you sure the, you know what, is where it is."
"Yes, Blaire did his homework." He explained. "One of the Hand's resources is a man by the name of, Micky Finnigan. He's an Irish brew mister from Ireland who owns a few dozen brewery's."
"What does an ancient organization want with a liquor brew mister?" Laura asked.
"Smuggling," Wesley stated. "I did a couple jobs where I had to guard some product for a kingpin out in Ireland. The border patrol though we were hauling a few hundred cases of crème liquor when actually we were hauling a hundred illegal assault rifles for the Irish mob."
"Micky, use to have guns delivered from Ireland to New York, but after one Frank Castle took chainsaw to that family tree, Micky was out of clients to sell too, so he started to work for the hand."
"How do you know all this?" Jerry asked.
"He told me about it after a little persuasion." Labir winked. "It didn't take much. He's not exactly tight with these guys, especially since they took his son and daughter."
"They kidnapped his kids?" Sarah asked. "Why?"
"He underestimated how vicious the Hand was. He said started to get scared and he wanted out and the hand snatched his kids up from school one day. They let him see them at the warehouse I mentioned earlier, but he only got to see them after he transported some illegal cargo for them."
"The black sky?" Drake asked.
"He doesn't know, but he does remember seeing a stone coffin being taken in and out of his truck."
"Now we know what to look for." Jerry said. "Have Mickey get us a truck and we can take it somewhere secluded."
"I've been working on some security measures to keep anyone from taking it." Laura informed.
"And I have a few spots we can stash it, we should be good to go." Wesley said.
"All right, let's get this ball rolling. Tomorrow at five get ready and be prepared." Drake said as he discreetly got up from his chair and headed into a nearby bathroom. He didn't even say goodnight to his wife and son.
Kelly and Sarah helped Jade with the dishes while everyone else went over their plans for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Drake was coughing up a storm in the bathroom and occasionally spitting out blood.
He let out a heavy sigh and plopped down on the closed toilet seat. He was slightly dizzy from what had just happened, he didn't notice the door open and close.
"My mother use to lie about her cancer all the time." Drake's head shot up from looking down at the floor to looking at the doorway. Jerry stood there with his back against the door.
"What are you doing here?" Drake snapped.
"My mother use to have episodes like that during dinner and she use to lie just like you, 'I had to much wine and it makes mama dizzy,' or 'I just have a cold that's why I am coughing so much.' It was all bullshit, I just didn't want to believe it. Do you think Jade or Ryder believe you?"
"What, that I am in here nursing a heartburn when I am really nursing my failed heart?" He snapped before coughing into the sink again. Drake slumped down on his knees, gasping fast and heavy. Jerry didn't know what do or say.
Drake looked up at him over the edge of the sink and he let out a heavy sigh as he sat back down on the toilet.
"I'm dying, Jerry." He grumbled. "I have been for years, Eisenmenger Syndrome is what it's called."
(Flashback, Drake)
Drake sat in his cousin's chair as Antonio grabbed him a glass of water and some pills. He walked over to his cousin and let out a disappointing sigh as he handed him his medicine.
"So, what exactly is it?" Antonio asked as he watched his cousin take his medicine.
"Eisenmenger Syndrome, apparently it is a birth defect where my heart forms a hole that fucks with the flow of blood. All I can do for it is keep calm and take my meds." Drake sighed.
"Shit," Antonio sighed back. "Well, maybe we can get you a new heart or something. I mean there has to be something. We did not bust our asses and work our way to the top for you to die at the age of twenty-one!" At the Drake had to laugh.
"It's funny, isn't it?" Drake asked. "When you're rich beyond your wildest dreams and have so much power that no one would dare cross you and you don't have a care in the world, it's god that ends up killing you in the end."
"God, time and nature we are all powerless no matter who we are." He groans. "Fuck kid, I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too."
"Shit, well just sit back and relax." Antonio said, giving his cousin a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'll have Fernando take care of our D.E.A problem."
"D.E.A?" Drake asked.
"Yes, we found out from some of our contacts that this woman, Jade Williams has been investigating our operations. I still don't know how, but she knows things and we can't have her around for much longer."
"I see…" Drake new he had to move quick, fast and in a hurry if he wanted to save Jade. So, he came up with an excuse to leave. "These pills are starting to take their toll on me. I'm gonna go take a nap."
"Oaky, sure and don't you worry. I swear we'll figure something out about your heart. I love you." Antonio said as he hugged his cousin and kissed him on his forehead. Drake was surprised to see his cousin show such affection.
"I love you too." He said before going to his room.
Drake snuck out of his room as soon as he entered and he quickly made his way over to Jade's house. Drake hadn't said a word about Jade to Antonio or a word to Jade about Antonio as far as both of them were concerned, Drake was alone in this world and not related to the head of the cartel or engaged to the D.E.A agent tasked to bringing him down.
'How did any of them know about each other?' He thought to himself.
He made his way to her ranch house and he was relieved to see Jade's car in the drive way and no sigh of Fernando. He quickly hopped out of his truck and stormed into his house to find Jade sitting in front of the T.V in the living room.
"Jade, we have to talk." Drake sighed. He was about to lay down a lot for his fiancé and she had to things to tell him as well, but they also had to get moving.
"Yes, we do," Jade stated with a smile that would normally brighten Drake's day. He looked at her confused as she bit her lower lip and reached out to grab his right hand. He felt her hand shaking as she held his wrist and guided it to her stomach. "There's someone who is going to be meeting us soon."
"What…?" He asked her.
"I'm pregnant." She whispered.
Drake was a million miles away. This was some sort karma biting him in the ass for all the wrong he has done. In one day he had found out he was slowly dying, his wife was a cop, his cousin put a hit on her and now he was going to be a father.
'Fuck'
"Jade, I know you work for the D.E.A and I think you know who I am." He explained. Jade was surprised for a moment, but it quickly passed.
"I know who you are, you are my husband and this baby's father." She said, taking his hand in hers.
"I'm a killer for money."
"To be fair you did take down half of our watch list in a month, so it wasn't like they were school teacher for blind kids. I can pull some strings."
"Jade, Antonio sent Fernando to kill you. He said someone from the D.E.A ratted you out to Antonio, you might not have anyone to rely on." Jade got quiet at what he had just said. Her hands went to her belly and she started rubbing it nervously.
"What do we do now?"
"Now, I kill the both of you."
Drake and Jade both looked at the doorway to see Fernando flipping his switchblade in the air. Drake cursed himself for forgetting to close and lock the door.
"Drake, damn I always knew you were a softie, but to be fucking a D.E.A agent on the side." Fernando shook his head laughing. "Antonio is going to be pissed."
"I don't want any trouble and neither does Jade," Drake warned. "She knows that someone ratted her out to Antonio, she doesn't know who to trust!"
"It was just some scrub by the name of Benny, he's a pencil pusher we bribed to keep his ears open, now she knows." Fernando teased.
"She's pregnant with my child."
"Who will eventually grow up to avenge his parent's murderer."
"If you don't leave right now, I'll kill you. Say something about that!" Drake warned.
Fernando stopped flipping his switchblade and held it by its brass handle. Everything was still for a moment before Fernando pounced after Jade. He took a stab at her, but Drake stepped in and locked his arm with Fernando's. The assassin was surprised and soon in pain when he felt his arm break in the middle.
He screamed in pain, but it was soon cut off when he felt the blade of his own knife pierce his heart. Fernando looked up at Drake in disbelief while Drake looked at him with content. He stabbed him a few more times in the chest before piercing the knife into his throat. Drake could swear he saw the blade sticking out in the back of his mouth. He grabbed Fernando by his shoulders and shoved him into the middle of the living room.
It was at that moment, looking down at his former accomplice bloodied and stabbed in the middle of his fiancé's living room, that there would be no forgiveness, or no going back.
And she had no idea he was living on borrowed time.
(Present)
"Damn, so how much longer do you have left?" Jerry asked.
"A year, maybe less if I keep going on like this."
"Okay, we'll keep this between you me and the big guy upstairs." Jerry reassured. "Hopefully we can end this soon."
"You really think the Hand will just let us go after killing their colleagues and ransoming their stolen property."
"They won't have a choice," Jerry stated. "They'll be running out of time for whatever the black sky is needed for and I am sure that a bunch of punks will be the least of their worries."
"I hope you're right."
(!)
The team approached the warehouse slowly the next night. They all had their equipment ready and they slowly approached the hand's base of operations. It was a rundown old building, but with highly trained guards like the Hand they could be hiding in the shadows, ready to strike.
Laura moved in first, her wolf mask fastened on her face, and Labir followed after her. The two slowly and carefully moved through the bushes and into the parking lot, before creeping into the building itself. The two did a quick scan of the room and after a minute of silence they figured they were in the clear. Laura peaked out the door and waved her hand out to her friends.
Drake, Jerry, Wesley and Alex all soon followed and they each started to survey the room. The team searched for anything unusual, but all that was in the factory were old crates and broken machines.
"Dammit," Jerry snapped. "Were we played?"
"No," Labir said. "There is a hidden passage somewhere…here!" He said as he approached a pile of junk. "Laura, could you-" Laura didn't waste another second, before grabbing whatever she could and throwing it to the side, revealing a freight elevator. Labir stood still, as he grabbed the panel and pressed the up button. "Never mind." The elevator rose up from underground, screeching with every passing second.
"They're gonna hear this elevator." Drake cautioned.
"They probably already know we are here." Wesley stated as he readied his .45 handguns. "Be ready."
Everyone readied themselves and gathered in the elevator. Drake pushed down and the elevator rode down towards whatever was down below. The elevator screeched and rattled all the way down until it stopped at the bottom of a relatively clean hallway.
There was still no sign of anyone.
"What the fuck is going on?" Drake snapped.
"Good question." Labir replied.
They finally made their way to a large area that was filled with swords, knives and other bladed and blunt weapons, but in the center of the room was a rather large, beige and stone coffin.
"What the fuck, is this the, Black Sky?" Laura asked as the team approached the coffin.
"One way to find out." Drake stated. "Gas masks on."
Everyone slipped on their gas masks as Drake and Jerry approached the coffin. They both took a side and the two struggled for a moment and eventually slipped the cover off. Everyone jumped back when it was revealed that it was occupied by a beautiful woman, or she would be beautiful if she was soaking in blood.
"What the flying fuck is this?" Wesley snapped.
"The Black Sky." A voice called out behind them.
Everyone pulled out their guns and aimed them at the voice and everyone was shocked to see an older looking woman, dressed in a white dress standing before them.
"It's a trap!" Jerry shouted as he aimed his Mac-10 at the woman.
Drake did the same as he looked at Laura, who nodded and stabbed one of her shuriken into the coffin. A small light started blinking as Laura pulled out a small detonator.
"She just rigged that thing to blow, one wrong move and you lose your…whatever that is." Drake shouted.
"The Black Sky," She stated in a stern tone. "And she is beyond your control or your understanding."
"Who are you?"
"Alexandra Reid," She introduced. "And whatever you think you're doing ends now."
"How do you figure?" Wesley asked.
"If you thought for a moment that we would let you leave with the Black Sky, you are more delusional than you think." She explained. "The Black Sky is worthless to anyone outside this room and we would not allow it to leave, but we actually find ourselves in need of your services."
"What, you wanna hire us, even after we killed your friends?" Jerry asked.
"Technically, they were Iris Vixen's men. She along with Blackwell have gone rouge and are only thinking of themselves. Vixen wants all of you dead and we want her and her subordinates gone as well."
"And you want us to do it?" Drake asked.
"You will each be given a sum of twenty million dollars and we will overlook the fact that you tried to rob us."
"How do we know you will keep your word?" Drake asked.
"Because I too am living on borrowed time, time I'm sure you want to spend with your family on a sunny island." She smiled as Drake narrowed his eyes at her. "My men will escort you out and if she is dead by weeks end then you will all receive payment, or you could leave and be on the run forever. The choice is yours."
(!)
Everyone was outside of the warehouse contemplating what had just happened.
"Well, it's not like we weren't going to go after Antonio and Blackwell anyways and she is offering us a fuck ton of money!" Wesley stated.
"Fuck, this is not how I pictured this going." Jerry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, it's not like she was wrong we went in there expecting a bomb or something and instead we get a fucking corpse soaked in blood. God damn."
Drake was about to say something, but his phone started going off. He recognized the ringtone as Jade's and he quickly answered his phone.
"Hey honey, we're about done here and we'll be home soon." He reassured to his wife.
"That's great sweetie," Antonio's voice chuckled from the other end. "Why don't we meet up for some family time real soon."