Night fell and the four women had waited long enough. "Alright. Get in position you two. Let us know when the dogs have been sedated and you're ready to set off the bomb. We'll radio when we've broken the slaves out. Copy that Rikku?"
"No worries... Wait. Hang on guys there's a motorcade coming... One limo, four sedans. Looks import... Shit. Holy shit no way." Rikku whispered down the radio while Paine was hissing and cursing in the background.
"What is it? What's going on?" Lightning asked.
"You won't believe who just showed up. Yu fucking Yevon. Chairmen of the Yevon Corp out of Bevelle. Does he have ties with the Seraphim?"
Lightning was shocked. She quickly pulled out her phone and hit the recorder, before pocketing it again. "Why would Yu Yevon be out at a suspected slavery ring in a Seraphim owned shipping yard?"
"Should I care who this rich looking arsehole is?" Fang drawled, obviously bored. Lightning rolled her eyes and pulled out the binoculars, switching the night mode on.
"He's the CEO of one of the biggest development companies in Spira, and has been making headways into Cocoon and Pulse," Lightning replied as she scanned the site. "I've heard he employs aggressive tactics but this... Seems a tad excessive. Can you get audio on him Rikku?"
"Yeah he isn't exactly being quiet... Talking on the phone... Somebody named Bartholomew?"
The binoculars dropped from Lightning's hands in shock, only her quick reflexes managing to catch them again before they hit the ground. "You're joking." She balked, wide-eyed and anxious.
"Friend of yours?" Fang asked with a raised eyebrow. The pinkette shook her head.
"No, if he's talking about who I think he's talking about... Bartholomew Estheim would be the owner of the Academia Developments, Yu Yevon's main rivals here in Cocoon. His wife and son went missing about six months ago and... Oh shit. Fang, what if Yevon is responsible for their disappearance?"
"Then we will likely find evidence of that here in the yard." Fang replied solemnly as she checked her weapons. While they both were armed with their handguns if things escalated, for now they were going in quiet. The long red staff Fang strapped to her belt ended in two wicked curved blades at each end and clearly meant business.
"Dogs are out, the bombs will go off by the gate shortly, and with Yevon here it'll mean they'll scramble to get him out safely." Rikku called out down the receiver.
"Roger that Rikku. We'll make our way in now."
Fang and Lightning clipped the fence with cutters and crept into the confines of the shipping yard. They moved silently between crates and signalled to each other to keep moving forward when they confirmed all was clear. As they came to rest near their target location in the shadows, Lightning looked at Fang and smiled.
"Blazefire."
"Sorry?" The Pulsian queried as she moved closer to Lightning.
"You asked me what I was going to name the gunblade. Blazefire."
Fang smiled and again ran her hand down the pale arm. "Beautiful." She breathed, with anyone's guess as to whether she was referring to the weapon's name or the woman brandishing it.
An explosion sounded near the entrance of the yard, causing all the armed guards to rush towards the commotion. "Wow. That worked better than planned." Lightning muttered as they ran towards the large shipping container that was being guarded.
With the chaos unfolding in the yard, there was only two thugs guarding it. They were dispatched quickly with a flurry of Fang's lance, not wanting to waste time. They dropped to the ground, life bleeding out of them and Lightning winced. "This is what you signed up for..." She muttered to herself.
Fang yanked open the door and shone a torch inside, feeling her stomach drop. They found about fifteen unkempt captives all terrified and flinching at the light. "It's ok," Lightning said gently, "We're here to get you out and to safety." One of the captives started crying, babbling hysterically in another language.
"Bmayca ramb ic!"
"She's Al Bhed. Rikku will be able to talk with her." Fang supplied, unable to translate. They began to usher the people out of the container, directing them to where their vehicles waited outside the compound. Paine and Rikku were waiting for them, helping them into the vans.
One particular boy caught Lightning's eye and she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hope? Hope Estheim?" The silver haired teen flinched at the sound of his name and turned towards her. "We'll get you home to your father ok? You've done well to keep it together this far." He simply nodded and got in the car. She turned to Rikku and nodded towards the vehicles.
"Get them back to the HQ on the double, point them towards a shower, change of clothes and a meal. Fang and I will grab the records from the office and meet you there." The blonde looked unsure about the deviation to the plan and looked to Fang for guidance.
"It's ok kiddo. Get these guys safe, we will get whatever we can to bring these guys down and find Yuna ok? One of the girls in there is an Al Bhed, might need to talk to her to calm her down."
Paine took Rikku by the shoulder and led her to the cars. As Fang and Lightning watched them drive away, they were able to get back to business. By this point, yelling had taken over the shipping yard as they discovered their shipping container of captives empty.
"The office is over on the far side of the yard, towards the harbour. This won't be as much of a smooth run." Lightning sighed. She felt Fang clasp her shoulder and look at her with firm eyes.
"If we have to.. Are you prepared to.."
She nodded, swallowing hard. "I don't think I'm ever going to be prepared to kill but I am prepared to get out of here with both of us alive and with the data we need."
Fang accepted the pragmatic response, and they crept back into the yard, trying their best to avoid the commotion from the panicking guards. They managed to avoid detection as they broke into the office, with the Pulsian keeping guard while Lightning searched for anything incriminating. She broke open the computer and took the hard drive, as well as a few documents that had Yevon's name all over them. Rejected proposals from Bartholomew Estheim for a buyout.
"Shit." Lightning breathed, "They killed his wife, and kidnapped his son. It's all here."
"Take it. Take all of it. We'll dump it all on the media's doorstep in the morning. No cover-up is going to stop this one."
Fang turned to grin at lightning, her smile faltering as she saw a red dot moving up the pinkette's chest.
"Light! Get down!" She leapt for the pale-skinned woman, pushing her out of the way and taking a bullet to the shoulder.
"Fang!"
Shouts called out from around the compound, and Lightning could hear dozens of footsteps headed towards them. "Fang come on, we have to go!" The Pulsian groaned in response, clutching at her shoulder.
"Damn that hurts."
"You're an idiot. Let's get out of here." Lightning bundled up the evidence and hard drives, placing it in a waterproof bag in the satchel attached to her leg. Glass shattered as bullets razed the office from various directions. Without hesitating the pinkette drew her gunblade and let off a volley of shots through the now open window, knowing that she had at least hit a few of the Seraphim members in the process. She didn't care.
Lightning kicked open the back door and helped Fang outside, as she quickly weighed up her options. The butt of a gun came down on her head and she stumbled forward with the Pulsian in tow. The suited Seraphim aimed his weapon straight at Fang's head and the pinkette's vision hazed with anger. Flicking her wrist, Blazefire's blade swept out and knocked the gun from the thug's hand. She drew the sword across his throat without a second thought, and kicked him backwards down the adjacent stairs.
She looked around the compound for an escape route. Fang was losing a lot of blood and getting weaker on her feet. The wound was in her dominant arm so she couldn't even raise a gun to help. The harbour was the closest thing to them, so Lightning half-ran, half-dragged the brunette to the docks and leapt off the edge into the freezing water below.
"By Etro that's colder than a blizzaga." Fang chattered through her teeth. Lightning swam them underneath the docks as the gang thugs approached, spraying bullets into the water. There was a concrete overhang that she floated towards, keeping Fang close who was unable to swim with a busted shoulder. The concrete kept them hidden and safe as she treaded water for the both of them.
They were forced to hide for some time as guards searched nearby, with Fang getting progressively weaker from the injury. "Come on Fang, stay with me here.." Lightning whispered, holding onto the Pulsian tight around the waist as she wrapped Fang's good arm around her neck.
"T-t-trying…. C-cold…"
Lightning decided to swim for it, quietly moving them further down the docks until she was sure they were out of sight before making a break for the shoreline. Panting from exhaustion, she dragged Fang up the bank and shook her gently. "Fang, hey! Come on... Wake up!" There was no response from the Pulsian. She pulled her phone out of her waterproof pocket with a curse or ten, and dialled Paine's number. As the phone rang she heard screeching tires in the distance.
"What's your status?" Paine drawled down the phone.
Lightning grunted as she pulled Fang behind some crates when she saw a few sedans pull up near the embankment and Seraphim members spilled out of them. "Somewhere between screwed and completely fucked." She hissed, checking the ammo in her weapon. "We're just down from the docks, Fang's injured and I'm running out of bullets."
"Shit. Keep your line open, we'll track you and be there in a minute. Lightning, make sure Fang is still alive when we get there, or you won't be."
The pinkette growled and put her phone down next to Fang, ensuring she didn't hang up so they could be traced. She heard the gang lieutenants coming closer, and put a hand over Fang's mouth to stifle the groan that escaped her throat. "Light.. What…" She murmured, wincing in pain from the injury.
"I need you to stay put, and try to stay awake for me Fang. I… Need to... Just stay there ok?" She said with a deep breath, and stood to edge herself to the corner of crates. Fang seemed to regain more awareness as she felt the loss of heat from her companion, and she clawed at the air to try to pull her back.
"Light… Where... are you..?"
Lightning turned to her with a wistful smile. "Keeping a promise to keep you safe." She flicked her wrist and extended the blade on her weapon and tore from the darkness, into the group of Seraphim. Her footsteps crunched into the gravel and she came into view when she ran in front of a set of headlights.
She leapt straight into the path of one of the thugs, slicing her gunblade across his chest, and then kicking a foot into the side of his knee cap, rendering him immobile. Using the momentum as leverage she slid over the bonnet of one of the cars and rolled to avoid the gun fire. The footsteps of a Seraphim kicked the gravel loose as he ran around the side of the car, firing his weapon. Lightning flicked a switch on her weapon to reveal the gun and fired three shots into his chest as he came into view, dropping him before he had a chance to get a shot in.
An approaching van could be heard nearby, and Lightning hoped to Etro that it was Paine. She stood and jumped over the bonnet of the car and brought her blade back around, plunging it into a combatant's chest. Pulling it out and flicking back to a gun, she emptied the last of her clip into a Seraphim's chest behind her, ignoring the burning pain in her arm from one of his bullets hitting her.
As the van came to a screeching halt Lightning used the last of her strength to take out the last of her enemies, slashing him across the stomach. She stood silently, shoulders heaving as she attempted to catch her breath. As the lights from Paine's van hit her, the silver-haired woman's view of Lightning was positively intimidating and terrifying. Blood ran down her arm and from her blade, dripping onto the ground below. Though she was breathing heavily, the savage look on her face from the adrenaline gave Paine a moment of pause. Viper or not, this was clearly not someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of.
The pinkette's vision was clearing, and the ringing in her ears began to subside. She slowly looked around her at the devastation she'd caused, the night suddenly becoming clear, and silent.
"Light.. You..." Fang's voice croaked from over by the crates, staring wide eyed and in awe. Lightning quickly sheathed her weapon and ran to her.
Paine jumped out of the passenger side and raced over to them both, helping carry Fang to the van. "Shit we leave you guys for like five minutes.." she muttered as she loaded Fang into the back seat. "What the hell happened? She's freezing! It's like touching a block of ice!"
"She pushed me out of the way of a sniper, got caught in the shoulder," Lightning replied, furrowing her brow in concern, "We had to make a break for the harbour and hide in the water until it was safe to escape."
"The ice cold water is what's probably saved her ass... The hypothermia is likely stopped her from bleeding out. Get in the back with her. Try to keep her warm." Lightning complied with Paine's request, jumping in first and carefully pulling Fang against her. The silver haired woman was right, Fang's skin was freezing to touch. She wrapped her arms around the unusually pale skin, and rubbed gently, trying to get warmth back into the Pulsian's limbs.
"Hey, Palazzo." Paine's voice brought Lightning's attention to the red-hued eyes staring at her in the rear view mirror. "I… Don't normally say this but… I'm sorry. I saw you on the approach taking on those assholes to protect Fang. I'm sorry I doubted you Lightning. You're definitely one of us."
Lightning only nodded in acknowledgement and looked back down at the Pulsian in her arms. "It's ok Fang, we're almost home." She whispered while staying as close as she could, unconsciously kissing her on the temple. Crisis averted for the time being, she had saved Fang, saved the slaves and gotten herself clear of Paine's suspicions.
But maybe the silver-haired brusque woman was right. No GC cop in their right mind… Maybe she wasn't in her right mind at all at this point. Right now she wasn't Officer Claire Farron, so deep undercover she couldn't see the surface anymore. She didn't care. Right now she was Lightning, Fang's right hand woman and likely far more than that.
Paine watched her from the rear view mirror and looked over at Rikku.
"Yeah no cop would look at a crim like she is looking at the boss... God dammit. I think I owe you five bucks."
The van slammed through the tunnels and came to a stop in the parking bays. Paine helped Lightning get Fang out of the car and carried her to the infirmary. The doctor from the Warrens had already been called and was waiting for them as they laid the Pulsian on the table.
"Clean through from the looks of things. She's lost a lot of blood but it's missed all the important things. The blood loss will be a problem though unless I can get a donor."
Lightning didn't even hesitate. She sat on the bed opposite and removed her long sleeved shirt. "I'm a universal type so take mine. My fault the idiot is in this mess in the first place." The doctor simply nodded and went to work preparing a transfusion. As he moved out of the way however, Lightning glanced over to find Fang awake and staring at her with an unreadable expression.
"You ok Light?" She croaked with a hoarse voice. The doctor hushed her and moved the beds closer together.
"We've only got one heat blanket and you both need it so deal with sharing." He said gruffly while he got a needle ready. With two quick jabs the cannulas were in both arms and he allowed the machine to begin doing its job. "Everybody out, leave them alone to rest. I'll be back shortly to check on the transfusion but now unless you currently have a needle in your arm get out of the infirmary!"
The gruff old man shooed everyone out until Fang and Lightning were left alone. Lightning felt a shuffling next to her until Fang was a lot closer on the beds that were now fastened together. "I saw you… What you did… Are you ok?" she asked quietly, looking down at the blood moving between the tubes in their arms. Lightning shrugged and looked away.
"It was them or us Fang, I can shelve my feelings on killing for five minutes if it meant getting out alive. I'm… sorry I got you shot." The pinkette inhaled sharply as she felt a hand entwine hers, tangling their fingers.
"Wasn't your fault love," She whispered as she fought back a yawn, "Would have gotten you right through the heart if I hadn't have gotten you out of the way in time. Never would have allowed that to happen. The only one who should be allowed anywhere near your heart is me."
Lightning stared. "What did you say?" She said hurriedly. A light snore met her response. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest at Fang's sleepy admission. A part of her was terrified of what it meant for her undercover operation, but a part of her was equally terrified of what it meant to feel excited by the brunette's remarks.
The doctor came back in and unhooked the tubes, instructing them to stay in the infirmary overnight. As he left, Lightning tried to settle back in and held her breath when Fang stirred and moved closer, curling up and resting her head on the pinkette's chest. Lightning moved her uncaptured arm around Fang and pulled her close to get comfortable.
"Hey, Light?"
She grunted in response, too tired to form words.
"Thank you.. For everything. I'm really grateful you kicked the shit out of that Paddra bitch so we could meet."
"It's… that's ok. She had it coming."
Fang chuckled and then went silent again. Lightning knew she was still awake though, and waited.
"You still awake Sunshine?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Thanks for… saving my arse earlier."
"Well don't make a habit out of it ok?" Lightning gently chastised, a smile evident on her face. Fang chuckled then went back to sleep, still holding the pinkette's hand and listening to her heartbeat.