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What I Did For Love: Chapter ten

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Niles swallowed hard as he stared into the barrel of the gun that remained pressed directly at C.C.'s head. "I…" it was the only word that escaped his mouth before it closed shut. The pause that followed left C.C. holding her breath, but then Niles opened his mouth again only to close it for a second time when the faint sounds of sirens filled the air. Startled Niles slowly turned his head in the direction that the sound seemed to have come from.

The kidnapper gasped and focused his panicked eyes on Niles who was still knelt on the ground with his left hand curled into a tight fist and the right steadying his weight just a few feet away from him. "You called the cops!" He shouted at Niles as he pulled C.C. closer to him, her back touching his chest.

C.C.'s gaze, which had never left Nile's face, became intense as she waiting for Niles response.

"No! You have Miss Babcock. I wouldn't do that!" Niles cried out, trying to defend himself.

"Then who did it?" He asked not seeming to believe a word Niles said while he replaced the pistol to C.C's temple.

C.C. tried to remain composed, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. The harder the captor dug the barrel of gun into the soft skin of her temple the faster her heart pound, pumping more and more adrenalin throughout her body. One false move, one small slip of the finger and she would meet her death.

"I have no idea. I swear." Niles replied truthfully, trying to keep his terror under control, but some of his terror was dripped from his voice without his permission. "They're probably not even coming here."

"You are lying to me Niles… AGAIN!" The kidnapper's voice sounded angry and cold as it filled the air. "And what did I tell you would happen if you did that?"

"No, I'm not, you have to-" Niles began to say but he was forced to break off when the abductor suddenly ordered. "Get up!"

Niles pressed his fists into the ground to take some of the pressure from his knees and slowly forced himself back on his feet. Once he was fully upright, he lifted his head and found the barrel of the gun aiming at him. Niles gaze moved from the weapon up to the face of the kidnapper and the back to the weapon as he waved with it, "Give me the page."

"What?"

"Give it to me!" The kidnapper demanded, his finger stroking the trigger.

Niles swallowed heavily and removed the forgotten page from his coat pocket then reluctantly handed it to him. "Here."

The man snatched the page from the Niles's hands and shoved it in his jacket pocket then turned his focus back to Niles. "It was very rude of you to bring playmates to our game when I clearly told you not to." He said as his finger began to tighten on the trigger. "Now you have to suffer the consequences."

A desperate, pleading voice escaped Niles paling lips."Please, don't! Don't kill her."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill her." The kidnapper hissed, his voice laced with venom as his hold on C.C. became tighter, making it hard for her to breathe.

"One reason?"

"Yes, just one but you better speak it fast, because you got only till I count to three."

C.C. wasn't sure whose heart beat louder hers or Niles, but she was sure that, in the moment, she could hear both of them.

"One..." The hazel eyed man yelled loud enough for all of them to hear.

Niles felt the world crumbling around him but squeezed his eyes shut and tried to focus. "Think old man, think! He is going kill her, right here, right in front of your eyes if you don't think something."

"Two... Come on Niles, I have very little time and the clock is ticking."

"Jesus, Niles say something, just say something! C.C. thought to herself.

"Three-"

Oh, God! Oh, God! No, this can't be the end C.C. thought hearing a small clicking sound as the trigger of the gun slowly pulling back, but just then, at the very last moment, Niles's voice spoke loud, stopping her death literally in its tracks. "Because you need my help."

The kidnapper withdrew the pressure from the trigger, but kept his finger curled around it then he laughed a sarcastic laugh before saying, "what makes you think I need your help?"

"Because as you said you running out of time." Niles said as the siren began to grow louder and louder with every second. "The cops will be here soon and if they indeed looking for you then you will need my help to escape.

The captor seemed to consider this for a moment then relaxed a little his strong grip around C.C.'s waist, but not enough for her to pull away and replied, "Listening…,"

"Here's the deal; you let Miss Babcock go and if the cops do show up for you I will cover you by telling them that all was a misunderstood then I will take you to wherever you want to go and I will not resist." Niles tried to reason with the madman."

In response the man laughed a disgusting laugh. "Hero to the end, ha? Well I have a better idea, you will bring me the car and I let you go then I will take the Blondie here and we will leave the country. How does that sound to you, Hazel? "

Niles gritted his teeth and his forehead creased with anger and so many more emotions as the sickening smile on kidnappers face informed him blatantly that he would do more to her than just take her away, but somehow he managed to regain the control of his anger. A collected state of mind was the only way to stay strong and save her.

C.C. felt her stomach flip from disgust and started struggling against his grasp causing his grip to tight again. "If this disgusting psycho thinks he is going to have his way with me I rather die right now." She thought to herself.

Niles briefly met C.C.'s frightened eyes before returning his attention to the man and back to C.C's face again. "No way, I'm not leaving without her."

"Well then you don't leave me much of a choice, I'll have to get rid of you a different way," The man said cocking the gun and aiming it at Niles.

"No!" C.C. yelled shifting slightly her body and putting her hands against the kidnapper's chest trying to stop him."I'll go with you. Just don't shoot Niles."

"Miss Babcock, I can't let you do this, I can't let you leave with him," Niles told her firmly.

"I'll be fine," she lied to him with the best convincing voice she could give. Although she didn't know if she would ever be alright again. "I'm C.C. Babcock remember? I can take care of myself. Don't worry about me."

Of course Niles didn't believe her. How could he possibly believe when that scum had made his dirty intentions pretty clear only a few minutes ago? "No, way in hell! If something happens to you my life would have no meaning without you." Niles said truthfully, gazing deep into C.C.'s eyes and for a moment, there weren't anyone around them, no deathly situation, only the two of them.

"Oh, how toughing," the kidnapper said in a mocking tone before C.C. got the chance to say anything in response. "Like a scene out of a love story. Hmm…I think it's time to give you two lovebirds your proper ending then, than the whole cliché they lived happily ever after together end."

"Easy there! Why don't you just put the gun down so we can talk about it? No one has to get hurt here." Niles said keeping his voice calm like he was talking to a mad man – well, he actually was- trying to reason with him one more time but his voice was a bit more shaky than he would have liked.

"That's funny; I don't believe I was negotiating this. Only one of you two gonna leave alive from here today so the question is…who is gonna be you or her?" The kidnapper shouted, saying each word slowly with a hint of impatience creeping into his tone.

Everything was fuzzy and slow and loud at the same time inside Niles' mind. He didn't know what to do, what he could do. All he could think was the gun against C.C.'s head so he said the first think that popped inside his mind, "Me, shoot me and walk out of here." His voice was firmly, but there was an edge of pleading in it.

"What?" C.C. exclaimed in shock as she glanced at Niles. Sweat was forming at his hairline. "Are you out of your mind, Butler boy? You don't really want to risk your life for me."

Niles closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then opened them again and said, "Consider it done already, besides I can't say that I'm risking much of a life."

Their blue orbs locked together. "If you think that your life sucks that much then try being in my place." Her sentence came out in a broken whisper and she looked away from him, breaking their eye contact.

Niles understood the meaning behind her words but pretended that he didn't. No, he couldn't let her drown in self pity now, he needed her concentrate and strong and knew that there was only one way to achieve that so he said, "If you didn't notice this is exactly what I'm trying to do the last few minutes, you baboon, but you are so damn stubborn that just don't listen." Niles exclaimed in anger giving her a 'well, duh' look."

"You don't listen, Dust Mop. This man is really gonna kill you. He'll... So just go and find some toilets to scrub and just forget about me. I don't need you here, I don't want you here." Her voice had the usual rough, full of Babcock authority tone, but her eyes were soft silently pleading him. Niles only looked in their blue depths for a second before he knew how scary she really was for him. He wondered if they mirrored his eyes.

The man chuckled, glancing at C.C's tense figure. The barrel of his gun remained aimed at her.

"Well then I'm sorry, but you can't talk me out of it Miss Babcock. That's a risk I'm willing to take because there is no way in hell to leave you to die here." No, he couldn't do that: he wouldn't, it would be a thousand times worse than death itself. Then turned his gaze to the kidnapper and yelled as loud as he could, "Do it now! Kill me instead of her and just let her go, let her go."

C.C. felt the gun leave her head before the captor pointed it at Nile's head. "So you'd rather have me shoot you than her?"

"Yes, a thousand times yes!" Niles screamed only to hear C.C.'s panic yell almost instantly, "No!" Her voice was strained and filled with emotion, but Niles knew that there was no way back now he had made his decision. He had to do this, for her, the woman he loved.

"Shut up!" Niles yelled hoarsely, staring into her eyes while the man pointed the gun back at C.C's head. He didn't want those words to be the last memory of him to her, but he was so frightened for her life that the words escaped his lips before he even had a chance to really think about them.

"Just leave me, Niles, leave!" C.C. yelled one more time hoping for once in his life he would just do as she asked him to. Her voice was thick, almost as if she was about to cry, but she couldn't cry. There wasn't time to break down now.

Niles shook his head stubbornly. "Never!" He yelled putting emphasis on the word, trying desperately to make the gun aimed away from her.

Not knowing what else to do C.C. directed her eyes at the kidnappers face pleading him. "Please, don't kill him. Please!" It was an act of desperation that surprised even herself. She was a Babcock and Babcocks never beg -especially for a servant's life- they just reach out their hands and took what they want but in that very moment nothing of all them mattered, nor the name or the social position or the power or the money, because what really mattered was above all of them inside C.C.'s mind and heart, it was Niles life.

Niles opened his mouth to protest again, but the kidnapper cut him off.

"Silence both of you! I'm done with this. I'm done with your heroic craps," he yelled outraged putting his hand on the small of C.C's back and shoved her forcefully forward in a swift movement -as if she were some kind of trash- towards Niles who instinctively reached for her, but withdrew his hand when the kidnapper scolded at him gripping the gun tightly with both hands, "Ah ah ah...Don't even think about it. Now stay still!"

"Okay, okay" Niles said choosing his words very carefully knowing that a wrong word might give this guy cause to shoot one of them only to realize a few seconds later that it was already too late. "The game is over." Niles heard her captor say before pointed the gun at C.C. and pulled the trigger. Everything was suddenly blurred in slow motion as the sound of the gunshot rang loudly in the air. Before C.C. even realized what was happening, Niles threw himself on top of her screaming, "Miss Babcock, watch out," then C.C. felt her back land on the ground, with Niles on top of her and then… nothing. Everything around her was quiet, too quiet. C.C. expected him to move, roll off her and onto the ground beside her, or to at least lift his head up to look at her eyes and tell her that he was fine, but he did neither of them. Using every single bit of her energy and strength she pushed him off her and slowly rolled him onto his back then she felt something warm and wet onto her fingers. Blinking a few times she turned her gaze at them. What she saw dripping from her fingers made her to throw her head back and look up at the drowned sky as a high-pitched scream escaped the very deepest depths of her soul. "Nooooo!"

To be continued…

A/N: Hello, hello guys! Thank you to all who reviewed chapter nine! Since after this chapter, there's only two more chapters to go, I've decided to let YOU, the readers, choose if I should end this story happy or sad or even in both ways (means two different chapters, one with sad ending and one with happy ending.) I'm fine with all the options and I will just go with the majority. So please leave a comment to let me know what you guys want. Thanks! PS: I'll also try to update my other stories as soon as I can. :)