A/N: Before I start, I'd like to make some recommendations. If you're enjoying this story, why don't you check out BlueSkyes Slán Go Fóill, or Acidika's Insanity? Pop in, leave a review or thirty, then saunter out like you just don't care.
xXx
"No."
The one word left his lips in a whisper, too quiet to be heard unless by the most sensitive. Even if someone did, it would take time to process his meaning, time which wasn't available to anyone. He was not exempt, having but a second to react. The teen spent his minuscule chance doing the only thing he could, giving no thought to his actions.
Jonah dove, tackling the girl to the ground as his world erupted into gunfire.
xXx
"We're going to Japan again?"
The meeting room of the Atlas was stuffed to the brim, as it tended to be when Koko called for a briefing. The combined men and women piled in the cramped space were in warm outfits a short time ago, discarding the thickest garments after arriving in the well heated area. Jonah found himself wedged between Lutz and Tojo, the latter raising his eyebrow to accompany the directed question.
Standing at the head of the table, the pale woman nodded. "I'm well aware its outside of our usual stomping grounds. But, its a special event this time around" Koko explained, clad in a thicker business suit suited to the cold. As usual, she also had her crisp smile.
R frowned as he leaned forward, as much as the tight space would allow. "Mind if I ask what's going on?" he inquired, several nods from the others following his words. A flicker crossed Koko's ever present smile, leaving the teen wondering what the problem could be.
"Of course. Its a combination of a big deal coupled with some financial problems the home office is having a conniption over. With Kaspar dead" the corners of her mouth twitched, "Experienced dealers are at a premium for the time being. Normally this wouldn't be something to get worked up over, except there's a huge mutual security conference going on in the next few days too. I mean it, there's supposed to be reps from practically every nation in East Asia. A lot of people are going to be on the lookout for new hardware, such as our client."
"Who is?" Lehm asked easily, leaning back in his seat. In the process, he jostled both R and Mao. Both men shot him a look, which he ignored.
"Colonel Pham, of the Vietnam People's Army. He told the home office the military is interested in new artillery, but if we play this right he'll be carting a lot more equipment home with him. We're meeting him at the embassy in Tokyo, stay for a few days, then its back to the Middle East for a while" Koko elaborated.
Wiley raised an eyebrow. "I didn't thing those guys were interested in most western made gear."
"Which is why we're handling this. If I can't get a contract signed, then no one can. Any other questions?" Koko directed to the others.
No one answered, although Valmet's features lit up at the possibilities of another working vacation. Jonah couldn't blame her, not after recalling what happened last time they were in Japan. Idly he wondered if the Finnish woman was contemplating ring shopping; she hadn't said anything about it, but he had the impression the idea was on her mind. Otherwise he had no idea how to explain a wedding magazine she bought.
"Excellent. Get some rest, our flight leaves at eight a.m. tomorrow. Japan's internal security has been good so far, but lets not take chances" Koko finished brightly.
"Kay." the mixed group chorused, rising from their seats after the evident conclusion. Jonah waited for a moment, not wishing to be crushed under someone's bulk on the way out. He occupied himself by letting his attention drift to the opposite side of the room, where the girl was located.
Leaning against the wall, Black Rock Shooter roamed her eyes over the gathered team, seemingly planning on the same thing as him. Her gaze passed over the teen, hesitating for a second's time before moving on. Jonah forced down the flutter in his stomach, outwardly showing only his normal empty boredom. He assumed one to perhaps all of the men knew of the change between them, but he didn't want to show it. Perhaps his fear of their reactions was baseless, perhaps it wasn't. When she was among the others, Rock did the same.
It was when Jonah was alone with her that things changed. He smiled around her, more than any other time in recent memory. She did too, a most wonderful sight he treasured. Rock liked to be in contact when they were together; from entwining her hand with his, to resting next to him. It was a rare night that she didn't sneak into his room to be with him, half the time with her lips meeting his. While they hadn't repeated the night in Marseilles (despite him thinking very much about it), he and her still spent much of the evening together.
For now though, Jonah had to content himself with waiting. Soon a boring job would start, then he could be with Rock for a while, with nothing to worry about.
xXx
Biting back a curse, Jonah kept his arm on Rock's thrashing body. The gunfire filled the air above the tiny storefront, a veritable cloud of hot lead swarming far too close. He could almost feel the bullets whistling by their thin cover, each one promising a swift death.
"Stay down!" he shouted, hunched close so she could hear him. Jonah's ears were pounding, the assault on his eardrums painful in its intensity. Flecks of debris from a wall being tore up by the gunfire was salt in the wound.
Rock continued to struggle, though she stopped trying to stand back up. Judging it good enough, Jonah crawled on his hands and knees towards the edge of the storefront. Though he drew his Browning from the torso holster, he wasn't planning on counterattacking yet. Stopping to press his back against the thin granite, he glanced back to check on the girl. Unsurprisingly she was crouched behind the cover too, lights flashing around her arm. He sighed in relief once he confirmed it was her cannon.
Refocusing his attention, Jonah strained to listen. He caught a glimpse of at least three attackers, two of them armed with machine guns. What types they had, he couldn't tell from his brief look, but the pounding reports above him sounded like five five six rounds. Belt fed most likely, the two attackers alternating to keep up the firepower. He couldn't hear or see Valmet, but the gunfire wasn't homing in on where he saw her last.
Based on the way the attackers were shooting, he noticed they consistently avoided aiming directly at either him or the few civilians in the tiny shop. Bullets raked around their cover, even though the few centimeters of granite was unlikely to offer much protection. At first he thought the attackers would close in on him soon, but neither men (he guessed there were two anyway) paused in suppression duty.
The realization made Jonah grip his pistol tighter. These were no ordinary thugs, but professional gunmen. With the thought came confusion; Koko was at the embassy with Lehm, Tojo, R, and Ugo. Lutz and Mao had stayed at the hotel with Wiley. So why were they attacking Valmet, Rock, and him? Why here?
For now it wasn't important. Jonah threw a flattened hand towards Rock, hoping she would stay in cover for a moment. They had to wait for their chance. Too soon and they would be shredded, too late the same thing. He had one magazine, so every shot had to count. When the torrent of gunfire suddenly cut out, Jonah began to make his move.
Until a leg covered in black metal planted itself in front of him.
xXx
"I'm going shopping, who wants to join me?"
Jonah craned his head around, matching Lutz in the movement. In front of them the television blared, some gameshow the channel flipping blond landed on while coping with the room spanning boredom. They weren't the only ones; Mao was just coming out of the hotel bathroom when Valmet made her offer, pausing on his way to the couch Jonah and Lutz were sharing. Planted comfortably in his commandeered chair, Wiley lowered his book to make eye contact.
Wrapped up in the corner, Rock was the last, the blanket she borrowed flopping around as she awoke. Out of the corner of his eye the teen noticed the remains of a plastic container inside her makeshift nest, a packet of potato slices she bought earlier. Jonah thought the choice of food was strange (given her near legendary sweet tooth), though he was assuming it was because she wanted to try something new while they were in Japan.
"Anyone?" Valmet repeated at the door, an out of place handbag over her shoulder a she looked on hopefully. All of the grown men coughed at close to the same time.
"That's nice of you, but I wanna stay put in case Koko calls. You know what happened last time we were here."
"This place has a good wifi network, was hoping to skype. We're almost in the same time zone here."
"My Japanese is pretty bad, sorry. Why don't you take Jonah? Put those language lessons to good use."
The Finnish woman turned her lone gaze towards Jonah, making the teen stiffen. He didn't want to go with her this time, knowing he would end up as a receptive ear when the topic inevitably turned to Koko. As of late, whenever he was with her she kept asking for his opinion on stuff related to the pale woman. After a six hour flight and a long hassle of customs from both Rome and Narita, all the teen wanted was a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before something happened again, like it tended to do.
"Rock, you wanna come too?" The girl with the messy pigtails turned her sleepy gaze towards Valmet, thinking over the offer. After a moment Rock yawned and stood up, idly searching for her coat.
"You might wanna put a sweater on, its cold out. Pants are a good idea too" Wiley suggested from his seat, unmoving.
Jonah felt his muscles creaking when he rose, fighting back a momentary grimace. "Want anything while I'm out?" he directed towards the three men, considering whether he should grab his Magpul Masada or not.
xXx
The gear patterned eyes of the so called Witch briefly settled on him, her face a blank mask. In her eyes Jonah saw no happiness, no anger, and no fear. It was perfectly blank in a way he could relate to. The wide sword in her clawed hand was virtually still, close enough for him to see faint patterns engraved on the black metal.
Jonah didn't pause because of the Otherworlder in front of him. He might have if the circumstances were different; though her outfit and the metal clad limbs were wrong, the girl still bore an uncanny resemblance to Rock. If not for the blue crown and different style of pigtails, he would almost be convinced it was her.
He froze because he knew Rock was going to attack the enemy Otherworlder. The gunmen weren't important, his or Valmet's safety wasn't a concern, the all too obvious cues the girl was allied with the unknown attackers didn't matter. She was going to meet this girl blade to blade, and to hell with the consequences. The teen knew he had one chance to stop the fight before it started.
It was an opportunity Jonah squandered by staring, which the Otherworlder was quick to take advantage of. A lighting fast kick into his torso drove the air from his lungs, followed by a powerful backhand which flung him away. The one shot he fired went wild, burying itself into a wall. Hitting a display counter, the teen's Browning slipped from his limp fingers as his body went slack. Jonah was fighting back the pain even as his vision wavered, precariously close to losing consciousness.
The Otherworlder charged, swinging her sword in a wide arc. A resounding clash echoed in the tiny store as Rock matched her, the girl's own slender blade holding under the strain. As she grimaced in effort, the enemy Witch showed no sign of exertion. Unnoticed by Rock, the two men who opened fire on them began to make their move.
xXx
Snap went the top cover, exposing the steaming contents of the small styrofoam box to open air. Jonah watched out of the corner of his eye, observing how Rock was tearing into the cheap sushi. She quickly gobbled the meal sized order down, sending guarded looks to the multitudes of people around them. Her pace remained a match for his, staying close to a shopping bag laden Valmet. Grease was staining her gloves, but she showed no sign of caring. Jonah grabbed some napkins from the food court, so it wasn't a big deal.
The open air mall was a nice place he decided, even with the chilled air. If it were a sunny day Jonah imagined the mall would be much better. With the overcast sky threatening snow however, the best thing he could say was the mall wasn't very crowded. For a city of some thirty five million people, there didn't seem to be many in the metropolis. Most of the people he could see were bundled up as thickly as he was, giving the three foreigners no trouble.
Rock seemed indifferent about the place, and so long as no one realized what she was, Jonah didn't mind. The black sweater and pants she wore helped in that regard, though he worried some people would see her black long coat for what it signified. Though after passing by a clothes store with display mannequins wearing similar outfits, he reluctantly assumed the risk was minimal.
Finishing up the last of the food, Rock began to crumple the package up, only to notice Jonah's hands held in front of her. One was held open, while the other had a couple of napkins. After a second she accepted the offer, taking both napkins as she gave him the empty carton. Jonah veered to the side to dump it into a trash bin before returning, watching how she wadded the paper up to clean one set of fingers at a time.
He pulled a few more from his pocket once she ruined the first two, repeating the effort for her other hand. Once she was finished Rock handed the wadded to him once again. But as she started to face forward again, Jonah took a cleanish part of the napkin to her cheeks.
Rock jerked, leveling a confused look at him. Jonah quietly cleared his throat. "There's stuff on your lip" he explained, pointing to his own face. Frowning thoughtfully, the girl dabbed a finger at the spot he indicated. When she nodded again, he began to wipe at the speck of seafood, sparing a quick look at Valmet to find her completely oblivious. Rock didn't look entirely comfortable with the contact, but she didn't try to stop him.
When he was certain the speck was gone, Jonah crumpled the napkin up to toss it into another garbage. That done, he gave her a small smile. Rock returned it.
xXx
The two blades crashed together, each impact resonating in the store. Rock's sword slashed at her doppelgänger again and again, snarling in effort. Every attack she made was met by her foe, who continued to show nothing beyond her blank expression. While Rock was giving it her all, the Otherworlder was only blocking or parrying the strikes, nothing more.
Though still dizzy, Jonah reached for his Browning, wondering why it seemed so far away. He didn't reach it in time; an indistinct figure seemingly appeared before him, kicking the pistol away. The masked person roughly grabbed his shoulder, making the teen's instincts react. Jonah struggled hard, for a second dislodging the attacker's grip. When he threw himself towards the last place he saw the gun, he tried to crawl as fast as his recovering body could move.
A sharp pain in his shoulder made him grunt in pain, before a peculiar numbness began to flow from the wound. Jonah's eyesight began to blur even as his thrashing slowed. In a flash of insight he realized it was some kind of drug, the last of the pieces falling into place. These men and their allied Otherworlder weren't after Koko. They were the target. Before his thoughts faded into oblivion, he asked himself why. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was a loud Boom.
Rock jerked back, her blood spraying out. The Otherworlder drew her sword back, but instead of stabbing she balled up her metal clad hand. Throwing her fist out, she hit hard enough to send her tumbling backwards, the black sword tumbling from her limp fingers. Rock hit the linoleum and let out a strangled gasp, blood leaking freely from the jagged wound on her shoulder.
The shooter brushed past the now stopped Otherworlder, training the USP on the struggling girl. Rock jerked upwards, lights dancing down her arm once more. A second shot hitting her other shoulder put an end to that, the girl's jaw dropping as a quiet hiss of breath left her. The barrel of the .45 moved, centering the sights onto the center of the weakening girl's torso. Until a hand grasped his shoulder, making the ski masked attacker snap his head around.
His comrade, the man's features barely visible from the mask, nevertheless showed incredulity. "Brian, the fuck?!" he demanded, his words possessing a recognizable Kentucky drawl.
"I'm putting an end to this bitch once and for all" the shooter coldly replied. The Kentuckian yanked his arm away, to which the shooter resisted.
"Remember the plan, she's gotta live" he warned, only for the shooter to stab a finger at him.
"Fuck the plan" he snarled.
The Kentuckian jerked his drum fed SCAR towards the shooter; while not aimed directly at his comrade, the threat was clear. "Don't make me do this man." Glaring from under his mask, the shooter initially did nothing. Not even as Rock tried to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood. But after a moment, he lowered the weapon.
"Fine" he agreed lowly. As the Kentuckian began to relax, the shooter quickly thrusted his weapon out, firing once into the girl's leg. A fresh gasp left her, his comrade flinching at the unexpected gunshot. When his shocked eyes fell on him, the shooter replaced the USP to his holster before strolling to the unconscious teen. "She'll live" was his reply.
The Kentuckian continued to keep the shocked look on his comrade, even as he made his way to the unconscious teen. Shaking his head, he glanced to the blank faced Witch. She met his gaze, nothing more.
xXx
"Ooh" Valmet was all but purring as she quickly changed directions, striding towards the open air store. She made sure her two charges were close by, the one thing which slowed her down.
Once inside, the Finnish woman could only stare in wonder. Jewelry of every type she knew of was on display, a dazzling array of colors which almost made her jaw drop. While the teenagers window shopped, she passed by a short granite wall on her way further inwards, gawking at the wares. A few local Japanese were also shopping, only one of which gave her a sour look.
Valmet didn't care. Her mind went wild with the possibilities, looking at each display with an appreciative eye. She saw bracelets, necklaces, circlets, and many more, ranging from plain gold to encrusted with precious stones. Her attention was being drawn to the watches, knowing how much Koko liked the uninspiring items. When she spotted one lined with tiny diamonds at each hour mark, she knew she had to buy it.
Glancing around, she saw Jonah and Rock standing in front of the wall display, looking at a set of rings. Valmet couldn't help the smile crossing her features; the boy was brighter than he gave himself credit for, and the girl was a pro at hiding her feelings. But neither were highly skilled with reading other people. Lehm of all people had decided he would be the one to inform the young couple that they were being blindingly obvious, warning the others to keep their mouths shut for now.
Shaking her head at the adorable pair, Valmet glanced outside to check on the weather. Immediately the color drained from her face, and she threw herself to the ground as fast as she could move.
A tide of bullets tore up the space she was a second ago, the handful of natives in the store joining her while they screamed. One man took a stray shot to his shoulder, crying out in agony while he clutched the wound. Grimacing, Valmet crawled over to help him. A woman was hunched over him, babbling in panic while she clamped onto the man. His wife perhaps, she didn't know and didn't exactly care right now.
There wasn't much the one eyed woman could do, even if she wasn't in danger. The wound was large but shallow, bleeding profusely. She ripped off a chunk of his shirt and pressed it down on the injury, briefly making his screaming rise in pitch. Before Valmet moved on she grabbed the crying woman's hands and forced them on the blood soaked rag, barking "Keep pressure on it!" regardless of her ability to understand her.
The immediate problem dealt with, Valmet drew the SIG from her shoulder holster and crawled towards the attackers. She was certain she saw three, but only two were firing. The split second view told her the shooters had a SCAR and possibly a Minimi, both pouring firepower above her head. They evidently brought along a large supply of ammo too, alternating to keep up the fire for as long as possible. A display counter hid her from view, but it wouldn't help against that amount of firepower.
When the gunfire briefly paused, Valmet risked a peek over the top. What she saw stunned her: a teenaged girl was sedately walking to the teens' cover. She wasn't just a Witch, but one who looked eerily similar to Rock. For a second the thought crossed her mind that it was Rock, perhaps a new form like the downright frightening Insane state. When her pigtailed comrade rose with her sword in hand, she abandoned the idea.
The sight of the enemy Witch backhanding Jonah out of the way made her line up the SIG's sights on the girl, only for one of the attackers to fire a burst at her. Valmet yanked herself back down, hissing while she slapped a hand on the fresh injury. "Sonofa-" she grumbled through clenched teeth.
The ragged wound on her thick bicep bled profusely, her lifeblood leaking through her fingers. Despite the pain she could have risked a retaliatory shot or two, if the wound wasn't on her right arm. Valmet didn't have time to wait around; she tore off a chunk of her sweater to tie over the injury, being forced to finish the knot with her teeth. The pain was intense, but she needed functionality immediately. Three more shots boomed, deafening in the tiny space.
She heard the attackers speaking in tense tones, both of them men. Valmet briefly paused; the language they spoke was english, American accented english. Who were they? Why were they after them and not Koko? She tried to find out, but when she peeked over again the second of the men noticed and raised his SCAR at her. The woman almost let herself get shot again, her breath catching in her throat at seeing Jonah's limp form slung over the first man's shoulder.
In the distance she heard sirens, faint but growing louder over the few warning shots. While she didn't place much stock in the police's ability to stop the kidnapers, she was grateful for the help soon to arrive. From her point of view, what was more important was the nondescript van roaring to a stop in front of the store, the two men with their Witch quickly piling inside. Valmet fired twice at the van, watching the nine millimeter bullets bounce off the side before it took off.
Cursing loudly, Valmet hopped over the counter to the girl's side. Relief filled the woman at seeing Rock's heaving chest, but the three gaping injuries demanded her attention at once. She thought nothing of tearing off parts of the gasping girl's sweater, anything to stop the bleeding. "Its okay, I'm right here" she told her in a tight voice. Valmet hurried as fast as she could, knowing she had to call the others at once.
xXx
A/N: trying the shorter chapter shtick I mentioned before. With luck somebody won't lock me in a centipede pit again. Hope you like this, it'll be a while until I update next.