Some days you wake up thinking you're about to go to war. You think you'll wake up and find a large gathering outside your house. Everyone waiting to catch a glimpse of the warrior about to step into battle. Maybe there will be a giant procession or a parade in your honour. People will cheer you on as you drive down the street in your car. They will shower you with flowers, men and women will call out your name, fight through the crowd just to catch a glimpse of you.
Those were the thoughts with which Root woke up. But as she walked up to the window and looked out into the street, there were no cheering crowds or processions. She knew that reality rarely lived up to one's expectation, but for once she wished that wouldn't have been the case. She turned back from the window and got busy with her daily routine. It was going to be a long wait till Silva called her and gave her the location.
The precinct was overflowing with activity and no one was happy. Not only had the cops managed to lose someone in their protection but four police officers had been killed along the way and they did not like that. The gangs had definitely over reached. If they thought they could get away with something like that they were in for an extremely rude awakening. The police force was about to show them that this city was still theirs no matter what the criminals thought.
They had drawn up a list of every single place that the gangs owned and raids had begun early in the morning. They were about to make the lives of criminals extremely difficult. But it was all being done in the hope that they would luck out and find Hannah Frey and her daughter and manage to catch the imposter who had killed their fellow officers.
As the cops went about doing this, Martine and Fusco were back in the Captain's office trying to explain to her the plan, hoping that she would agree to it since it was the only thing that seemed that it had any hope of succeeding. Since they knew that Dani Silva wouldn't be stupid enough to hide in any place that the gangs owned and even if she was, she was long gone by now.
"Explain this to me once again, when and why did she call you?" Captain Moreno asked.
"She called me on this phone I found in my letterbox last night after I got home. I was wondering who left it till it rang this morning. It was the Groves woman. She said she was willing to surrender." Martine lied. She has no intentions of explaining how they had actually met Root.
"And what's the catch? What does she want?"
"She said she would do it if we helped her get back Ms Frey and her daughter."
"And you believe her?"
"Not entirely, Captain. But what do we have to lose, ma'am? We are already scouring the city looking for them and the woman who killed those cops. If we find them before Ms Groves calls, great otherwise this isn't a bad idea. If it works out, we can finally dig ourselves out of the hole that we've found ourselves in. We rescue the mother and daughter, catch the serial killer and nab ourselves that cop killer and maybe if we're lucky catch some major gang members in the process. It's a win-win, Captain." Fusco said
Captain Moreno chuckled.
"If only life was that cut and dry, Detective Fusco. But I agree, it's worth a shot."
By late evening Root was in the subway meeting with Carl Elias. Elias had offered to provide her with men and weapons but she had refused. She told him that she'd already made a deal with the cops. But they were still concerned that she had decided not to carry any guns. Finally, Harold offered to let Mr. Reese come along with her as backup. He would stay hidden, offer her support in case things went south, which everyone was sure they would and Root agreed.
"I think that's about it. I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be." Root said as she slumped into the leather chair in the fugitive gangster's makeshift study.
"I wonder when that bitch will call. I'm starting to get jumpy." she added.
"She'll wait till the last moment so you don't get time to prepare. There very well could be a chance that you could end up alone at the location with no backup."
"I know and that's what's got me worried. I mean there has to be a way to find out where they are." Root wondered.
"Is there no way you can track them? I mean you have skills that go well beyond anything humanly possible."
"That's the thing, they have someone with them who's better than me. So they are practically invisible to me and my friends."
"Besides I would assume they must be constantly moving. Your Detective Silva has brought down way too much heat on every criminal in the city. They won't be able to stay in any one place for too long. Maybe that's why you can't find them. Nothing to lock onto." Carl said.
"Yeah."
"Yes, but they will have to stop eventually, to make the trade. They'll also have to secure the place." Harold interjected.
"Absolutely." Carl said.
"I guess, but what are you getting at, Harold?" Root asked. She could see that all of this was leading somewhere.
"I was just wondering, maybe the fact that you can't see them is the way you can find them."
"What?"
"What happens when you try to find them? Is it like you can't see them because they are invisible or is it just because everything is dark."
"It's because everything is dark." Root replied slowly.
"So what if you shine a light on everything..."Harold started.
"Then whichever place doesn't shine is where they'll be." Root finally caught on.
"Exactly, if that's even possible. Not that I understand anything that you do, except on a theoretical level."
"No, no, no, you're absolutely right. It's definitely possible. I don't know why I didn't think about it before."
"Alright, so we have a plan. The minute you get the call you'll have to start your hunt. Get the cops to the location before you get there. Can you do that?" Carl asked hopefully.
"Yeah, absolutely." Root replied..
"Good. Now Harold said you wanted to talk to me. What can I do for you, Ms. Groves?"
Root thought about it for a moment before she replied.
"I need the location of every single place that the Brotherhood and Russians own."
"Why?" Carl was surprised by the request.
"I was just thinking I would leave them a nice little goodbye present."
"I don't think that's necessary, Ms. Groves. You've already caused them enough damage. I'm sure my guys can handle what's left of them."
"It's not for you Carl, this is purely for me. Look, I understand that all of this mess is of my doing. Hannah and Gen getting into trouble, that's on me too and I'm willing to pay the price for it but that doesn't mean I have to take the high road. I can be petty and vengeful." Root said grinning like a maniac.
Carl and Harold silently stared at each other and Carl just shrugged, then he went over to his desk and wrote down a small list of addresses and handed them to Root.
"Thanks for this and also thank you for everything you've done. I think I know why you did it and I'm sorry I couldn't be of much use to you as an asset but after tonight I don't think you'll have to worry about you rivals."
"You've done more than enough Ms. Groves and for no compensation. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, I'm sure we could have a very fruitful relationship. But even as it stands it was really interesting knowing you." Carl replied.
"Likewise and I don't think we'll meet again Carl, so this is goodbye." Root said and held out her hand.
"Don't be so sure Ms. Groves, life's full of surprises. So let's just say until we see each other again."
Carl smiled and shook her hand.
Root spent the rest of the time preparing to the best of her abilities. She went back to the library going through the books that Harold had in the hope that she could figure out a way to break whatever spell was cloaking Hannah and Gen but she couldn't find anything. Or at least nothing that she could master in whatever little bit of time she had left. She did find out however that shield could be broken if enough force was applied. Maybe she could use that.
But after all was said and done, all preparations made there was nothing left to do but wait. All across the city, the people involved, waited for the ball the drop.
Waited for that one phone call.
Root waited for Silva's call. Martine and Fusco waited for Root's and Lambert waited for Martine to call so he could be a part of it too, but at least he was a little more proactive because he finally got tired of waiting. It was past eleven in the night when he got to the precinct and he found the two detectives sitting around, frustrated and waiting for that all important call. The rest of the cops were still out scouring the city for any trace of the major gang members or the cartel assassin who had posed as Detective Silva but so far luck hadn't been on their side.
"Jeremy, what are you doing here?" Martine asked, genuinely surprised to see him there.
"Did you really think I would sit this one out? I.A. is as responsible for this mess as everyone else. We got made a fool off too. I'd really like to return that favour."
"Can't argue with that. You're more than welcome to join us and get bored. I'm beginning to think this might not happen after all." Fusco said.
"Yeah well, with these things you gotta have patience."
"I know, but that doesn't make it any less boring." Fusco moaned.
But their life was about to a lot more exciting than they'd bargained for.
Less than fifteen minutes later the phone rang.
It was lying on their desk. Martine and Fusco both reached for it, Martine reached it first.
"Yes" she asked.
"We're on." It was Root on the other end, "I just got the call. I'm heading out now. That bitch told me she'll tell me the location once I'm on my way. I just called to tell you, you should get your people ready."
"Got it. When should I expect your call?"
"Soon." Root replied and she cut the phone.
Martine turned around and found everyone in the precinct, including the captain, were staring at her with great expectations.
"It's a go. She'll call in a few minutes and give the location. We should get ready."
Everyone else scrambled. Martine made another call and then turned towards the Captain.
"We have a trace on the cell phone, captain. If nothing else works out at least we'll have her before the night is out." Martine said.
Captain Moreno shook her head in agreement.
Root put the phone down and turned around to face a small shadow creature standing behind her.
"You know what to do, right?" she asked the creature.
The creature bared its numerous teeth in a frighteningly wide grin and nodded.
As she made her way down she found Reese waiting for her outside the library but he had his own car. His instructions were to follow Root and not be seen. If he was to get arrested the attention would fall on Harold and Elias didn't want that.
"Time to go?" Reese asked.
"Yeah." Root replied and they both got in their respective cars and drove off into the night.
Root hadn't given Martine the location that Silva had given to her. Elias had told her that there was a very good chance that the first location that Silva would give her would be a decoy. Just to check if she was being followed. She would probably have to go through a bunch of location before she actually got to the real one and Elias was correct.
Before she could get to the first location Silva called her again. Root had stopped at a traffic light. Reese was a few cars behind her. Silva instructed her to jump the light and floor the accelerator. Root complied. Reese pretended to keep up as Silva instructed Root to make some complex maneuvers through the traffic. Eventually Reese slowed down a little and let Root get away. By then Root was quite sure that she was being watched, so she played along. She just hoped her little friends would find the actual location before she got there.
After a little more crazy driving Silva told Root to slow down and drive along for a while. Eventually Silva told Root to drive into a parking structure a few blocks ahead of her. She told her to go to the roof. Root followed her instructions and drove till the top of the four storey parking lot. Once she was on top Silva told her to get out.
"Alright, now what?" Root asked as she got out of the car.
"Can you see the blue minivan near the edge. Go to it. The keys are behind the driver side wheel."
Root walked up to it. She found the keys and opened the car and found a large plastic bag with some clothes in it.
"Who are these for?"
"For you," Silva replied, "Now strip."
For a second Root didn't know how to respond.
"Are you serious?"
"Do you sound like I'm joking. Either you strip or I put a bullet in the little girl's head and I'll send you a picture on your phone."
"Whoa, calm down there. No need to get over dramatic. I'll strip."
Root began to get into the car to change but Silva told her to stop.
"Outside so my guys can make sure you're not armed."
Root sighed and agreed. Thankfully she was hidden behind the minivan so no one on the roof could see her, not that there was anyone there, but the parking lot was surrounded by high rises and any one of those could be occupied by someone who could, at that very moment, be staring at a young woman getting naked on the roof of a parking lot. She wondered if some young punk might just end up recording this and put it on youtube or sell it to some local news channel. She could become famous. She could almost see the headline.
"YOUNG WOMAN GETS NAKED ON A ROOF TOP"
Root laughed at her own thoughts. Just when she had finished removing her undergarments she once again heard Silva's grating voice on the phone.
"Now turn around." Silva instructed.
"What?"
"Do a little spin. I want to get a better look at you."
Root did a three sixty standing in one place.
"Had anyone ever told you, you're a pervert." Root mocked her tormentor.
"Shut up and get dressed. Also throw the phone off the roof, there's another one in the car."
Root finally got dressed using the clothes in the plastic bag. It was a pair of sweatpants and jacket.
"You know you have very poor taste in clothes."
"Where you're going bitch, clothes are going to be the least of your worries. Now get in and drive."
Root promised herself once again, that she would kill Silva with her bare hands. But first she had to get to her. So she got into the car. Once she was in, she noticed that there was a small camera on the dashboard aimed at her. They were making absolutely sure that she couldn't pull any stunts. But then they didn't know what she was capable off.
She was about to start the car when she noticed a small movement under the passenger seat. It was one of her tiny little friends. She knew she couldn't talk so she communicated telepathically. The creature told her that they had found a place in the city they couldn't enter. A dark zone. It showed her the place in her mind. Root knew the place. She imagined a map in her mind and then showed it to the shadow. She told it to memorize it and then she told it to go and tell it to the two detectives.
"This should be fun" she said to herself as she imagined how the detectives were going to react when the phone on the passenger side seat rang.
"Oh, it's going to be a lot of fun." Silva said thinking she was talking to her and then she gave her new directions.
Root smiled and drove off.
It had been nearly twenty minutes since Root had called and everyone in the precinct was beginning to think if the second call was ever going to come. They were like an army itching to go into battle but with no idea where their enemy was and which direction and those directions came to them in the most unexpected way.
Fusco was sitting at his desk playing some game on his phone while Lambert and Martine chatted. They were telling each other stories from back when they were in Chicago. She seemed really into him. Fusco could see that Lambert was a good cop and he had had his reasons for joining Inter Affairs, but more than anything else he really wanted to do the right thing, which was why he was there even though he didn't need to be.
"How long do we wait?" Fusco asked.
Martine looked away from Lambert and was about to answer when the lights in the precinct began to flicker. The two detectives looked at each other, worried. They had seen this happen before in Root's apartment complex. They braced themselves for the worst. The flickering continued and the periods of darkness increased till a few seconds later the entire precinct was plunged into darkness.
They could hear chattering in the dark, like a language they couldn't comprehend. Somebody turned on their cell phone and in that light they could suddenly see hundreds of little creatures surrounding them. They were everywhere, on the floor, the walls, even on the roof, as if the laws of physics didn't apply to them. Then they began to hear scratches on the wall. Some of them decided to reach for their guns but they stopped because they didn't even know what exactly they were facing and none of the creature had even touched them so far. The scratching on the wall continued for a while and then suddenly the lights came back on and the creatures were gone. The precinct was once again populated by plain and simple human beings. They all squinted getting their eyes to get accustomed to the light when someone finally looked at the wall.
"What the fuck?" a cop said slowly.
The entire wall behind Detective Fusco's desk had this massive geometric pattern etched on it. Fusco turned around to see what everyone else was gawking at and nearly fell out of his chair.
"What the heck is that?" Fusco asked as he got out of his chair.
Martine and Lambert moved in a little closer and studied the pattern for a few seconds trying to make sense of it till the spotted a small "x" in the middle of the pattern.
"X marks the spot." they said in unison and then smiled.
"Don't you see it, it's a map, Fusco. That crazy bitch sent us a map." Martine said.
"Then what are we waiting for. Let's go, because if that's what I think it is, it's pretty far from here." Fusco replied as he picked up his gun and jacket and headed out with everyone else.
Root had driven for just few minutes since she got out of the parking structure when she got another call from Silva.
"Get to the Reddington container terminal. Come in through Gate 6." Silva said.
"Got it." Root replied and she sped up the car, smiling at the fact that the shadows had been right about the location and now she had the specifics.
The cops were also on their way to the exact same location. Martine and Fusco just hoped that they would reach there in time. That it wouldn't be too late and all they would find would be dead bodies. For once they they wanted to avoid that or at least make sure that the innocent ones didn't get killed.
They were speeding towards their location when Martine suddenly grabbed her head in pain. It was a good thing that she wasn't driving.
"What's wrong?" Fusco asked as Lambert, who was sitting in the back seat also leaned in to check on the detective.
"I don't know. It' like someone screaming inside my head. Ow." Martine replied.
But before she could say anything else, she heard a very clear voice in her head. It was Root.
"Can you hear me, detective." Root asked.
"What, who the fuck is this?" Martine spoke out loud.
"Who are you talking to?" Fusco asked.
"I don't know. Someone's inside my head."
"What the fuck's going on here?" Fusco exclaimed.
"It's alright Detective, don't get worried. You're not going mad. It's me, Root. I don't have a lot of time. They are at the dockyard near Gate 6. Just make sure you don't use your sirens. Be as quiet as possible. If there's any change, I'll let you know." having said what she wanted to say Root retreated from Martine's mind.
Martine sighed as the pain receded.
"It was that crazy axe wielding psycho. She wanted to give us a message and apparently she can't use a phone."
"She was in your head?" Lambert asked with a look of disbelief on his face.
"Does that seem any more stranger than the rest of the crazy shit we've been seeing these past few weeks. Why shouldn't she be able to communicate telepathically?" Martine said sarcastically.
"Why not." Lambert just shrugged and agreed. No one at the academy had told him that one day he'll be in an episode of The Twilight Zone. The only thing remaining was to run into a real life werewolf or a vampire and at that point he would probably just arrest it and put it in prison for creating a nuisance.
"I'm going to need some serious therapy once this is over." Fusco remarked.
"You and me both, buddy."
"Count me in on that as well. Maybe we can get a bulk discount." Lambert added.
They all laughed as they wondered how much more crazier this night was going to get.
For Root, she was hoping the night would get crazier. Till now it had been surprisingly tame, except for her little involuntary exhibitionist session on top of that rooftop. But before long she reached her destination. She drove the car in through the gate that Silva had mentioned. That whole section of the terminal was deserted, she figured that the gangs had paid off whoever it was to ensure that they wouldn't be interrupted.
She drove in for a while. She was surrounded by massive stacks of shipping containers. As she drove in further she noticed a few armed men standing on top of the containers watching her drive by and she knew she was close. She could already sense the shield and a few minutes later she couldn't sense the shadow realm any more. Root was impressed. She had never imagined anyone could put up a shield of this size.
Soon she came to a crossing and she felt lost. Everything looked the same. Just massive stacks of containers in every direction. She looked up and saw one of the guys on top pointing towards the left and she followed his directions and turned. She had barely driven a hundred meters when she finally saw them in the distance.
There were at least a dozen vehicles parked in a circle and nearly thirty guys, all armed by what she could make out. She felt a tinge of pride that she should warrant such a reaction. They must be really scared of her. But this also made it that much more difficult to get Hannah and Gen out.
She finally got close enough to the large circle of black SUVs and she stopped. As she got out every single one of the gangsters turned and looked at her. She could see mixture of fear and disbelief in their eyes at the fact that this was the woman who had single handedly managed to almost destroy their organizations. She could also see that they were itching for payback.
As she walked on she saw a massive crane above her head. The spotlights from the crane illuminated a large circle and Root stepped into the middle of it. She felt like a lamb put up on display surrounded by wolves or at least that's what she believed the gangsters imagined she felt like, when in reality she was the wolf. But a pack of hyenas surrounding lone wolf could still kill it, no matter how strong the wolf was.
She finally stopped as she got to the middle of the circle trying to spot Hannah, when a woman got out of the SUV right in front of her. She couldn't make out the face clearly since the SUV was just outside the circle of light.
"Welcome Ms. Groves, what took you so long?" a woman's voice asked mockingly.
The woman finally stepped into the light. It was Dani Silva.
"Oh I was busy stripping on a roof top." Root replied.
A woman standing in the dark near Silva's car chuckled. Root assumed she was the specialist. She wondered how much trouble the woman would be, but that was for later. Right now she wanted to see how Hannah and Gen were.
"Alright, let's get this over with. Where are they?" Root asked
"Soon. Check her first, I just want to be sure." Silva ordered one of the goons.
As a Russian thug was about to step forward, Link, the current leader of The Brotherhood, motioned him to stop and he stepped forward himself.
"You don't seem so tough. How the fuck did you manage to kill Dominic?" Link asked as he patted her down.
"You'll find out soon enough." Root replied.
"You're cocky. I like that. My guys are going to have a lot of fun with you."
"Oh joy. Just out of curiosity, where do you plan to take me to have all this fun because I hope it isn't that laundromat or the three pubs that you own or that warehouse."
"What?" Link had a really confused look on his face.
"Oh I'm just saying that because I burnt them all to the ground including every other place that you and your Russian friends own, think of it as a final fuck you." Root grinned.
"Floyd, call Andre and check if she's bluffing." Link told his second in command.
Floyd dialled a number in her phone but no one answered. She tried a few more numbers. Eventually on her fourth call she got a response but the man on the other end was barely coherent. All she could make out was that some kind of wild animals had ripped through the place and had managed to start a fire in the process. She could hear sirens and screaming in the background.
She put down the phone and stared at her boss horrified. That pale psychotic bitch had destroyed everything they had worked for. It was all gone.
Link pulled out his gun and pointed it immediately at her head.
"You're dead, bitch." Link shouted and he was about to pull the trigger when a someone shot the gun out of his hand. He barely heard the gunshot. It was a sniper with a silenced rifle.
Link fell down on his knees clutching his bleeding hand, while everyone else immediately pulled out their guns and waved them around trying to spot the shooter. Silva pulled out her gun aimed it at Root.
"Did you really think I wouldn't have backup." Root said.
"Well, fuck this." Silva said. She pulled Hannah out of the car by her hair and put the gun to her head as she pushed her too he knees. Hannah had a mouth gagged but Root could see the terror in her eyes.
"You do that and we all die, because my friend's carrying a lot more than just a rifle," Root bluffed, "Why don't we all just calm down and make the exchange, then you can do whatever you want with me. So everyone, and I can't believe I'm saying this, take a deep breath and relax."
"I think that might not be a bad idea." The woman standing in the dark behind Silva remarked. Strangely that seemed to have an affect on Silva and she lowered her gun.
"Fine, have it your way. But once we're done, I'm going to skin you alive. I give you my word on that."
"Fair enough." Root agreed.
Silva dragged Hannah to her feet and pushed her towards Root. Hannah tried to turn around and Root could see that she wanted to go back to Gen.
"Walk." Silva said as she pushed her ahead again with the barrel of her gun.
"Hannah, it's OK, I'll make sure Gen is safe. Just come to me."
As Hannah walked towards Root she could see the anger in her friend's eyes. She blamed her for all of this and she was justified in doing that. She finally reached her and Root got behind her and untied her arms.
Hannah opened her mouth to speak but Root stopped her.
"No need to say anything. I know this is all my doing and that's why I'm here to make it right. For now just walk towards my car." root said.
Root could see that she was reluctant to leave.
"I'm not going anywhere till Gen is here." She said defiantly.
"I know it's difficult but just trust one last time. I promise I'll get Gen back if it's the last thing I do, now go. I won't be able to protect you and Gen at the same time."
"Just make sure Gen is safe, beyond that I don't care." Hannah said and then she turned and began to walk towards Root's car.
Root watched Hannah leave the circle of SUVs and then she turned around.
"Now let the girl go and you can have me."
"How about you walk to me first and then I'll let her go."
"I want to see her first."
Silva agreed and dragged Gen out of the car. The girl tried to kick her in the shin. Silva slapped her across the face so hard Gen fell to the hard concrete floor.
"Try that again and I will put a bullet in that pretty little head of yours. Understand?"
Root could see Gen was bleeding from a cut on her lips. If only she had access to the shadow realm she would have enjoyed watching Silva get ripped to shreds but she would just have to do it herself. But at that moment she managed to control her temper. The only thing that mattered was getting her friend's daughter to safety.
"Here's the little brat, now walk."
Root nodded and began to walk towards Silva really slowly. After a few steps she stopped and bent down to tie her shoelaces. Even if she didn't have her little friends to help her she had others they just needed a little more time.
They weren't far now.
"What the fuck you doing, bitch?" Silva shouted.
"Hey I can't help it if you got me shoes that are too big for me."
Root pretended to tie her shoelaces but she began to feel the eyes of the other woman boring into her skull and she was trying her level best to keep her out.
"Why are you sweating so much, Ms. Groves." The woman asked.
"Can't you see I'm terrified." Root joked while still pretending to tie her laces.
"I don't think so." Kara said and she made a small gesture in the air.
Root felt like she'd been hit by a truck. The spell that she'd been holding broke and all of a sudden the sounds and sights of the outside world returned. No one had noticed that ever since Root had entered the circle things had been extremely quiet and dark on the outside. That was because she'd cloaked the outside world so the cops could arrive without detection and she had managed to do it successfully. The cops had not only arrived but were hardly twenty meters away. But even they felt the cloak being lifted as the gangsters finally spotted them.
"Police." screamed one of the guys and everyone opened fire.
Root was still kneeling on the ground pretending to tie her shoelaces. She turned around and reached into her own shadow and pulled out two guns and shot at Silva. But the assassin proved to be too fast for her. Silva jumped behind the SUV and managed to drag Gen with her who was trying to make a run for it. Root quickly glanced back and saw that Hannah had safely reached the cops who were holding her, but she was trying to break free to get to her daughter.
In the meantime Reese was happily picking off thugs from his perch on top of the containers. Martine reached till Root to provide her with backup. Root had managed to hide behind one of the SUVs towards her left. It was about two cars away from Silva's car. She glanced at it and saw the mysterious expert, that Silva had hired, calmly disappear. Then Root heard someone behind her. She turned around and was about to shoot when she saw it was Hannah.
"I need to get to Gen." she announced.
Root knew there was no way to stop her from doing that. But she couldn't find a way through the hail of gunfire to get to Gen and even though Kara Stanton was gone, the shield blocking the shadow realm was still in place so Root only had her guns and her skills to rely on. The only was she had been able to hide her guns was by building a small pocket shadow realm in her own shadow, so even if she couldn't access the actual realm she could hide her guns in it.
She looked out from behind the car trying to spot Silva, when she saw that she was trying to start her SUV and get away. Root put in a shots into the front of the car to make sure that that didn't happen. Silva jumped out and she was looking to run the other direction away from the cops when she saw that there were cops approaching from the other side too. Fusco and Lambert were with that team. Silva knew she was trapped. There were containers on either sides and cops n the front and back. There was no way out. But Silva had a few tricks up her sleeve.
As the cops were approaching they passed through two SUVs that had been parked at a slight distance from the circle. Silva got into her car, took out a small remote and pressed the button. The two cars were rigged to blow. The explosion threw everyone to the ground including the people on the other side of Silva's car. The windows on almost every car exploded and everyone got showered with glass. This was Silva's opportunity to escape and she was taking the little girl with her as insurance, someone she could use as leverage. She got out of the car dragging Gen with her while everyone else was still recovering from the twin explosions.
Root saw Silva get out of the car, she turned around to tell Hannah to stay in her place but Hannah was lying on the floor unconscious. The explosion had thrown her back and she had hit her head on the car behind them. Till then a few other cops had caught up to them. Martine instructed them to keep an eye on Hannah while she and Root decided to go after Silva.
"Once we get her, you're under arrest." she said as they ran towards Silva's car dodging bullets.
"Absolutely." Root replied with a grin on her face.
Silva till then had managed to cross the two burning SUVs and was shooting anyone that got in her way, cops and robbers. At that point she didn't care. They were all obstacles and given that Root had destroyed the Russian and The Brotherhood's empires they were no longer of any use to her masters south of the border either.
Root and Martine got till Silva's SUV and ride to catch a glimpse of the insane assassin and got a hail a of bullets in return. Root did manage to see the Silva had knocked Gen unconscious and had put her over her shoulder. She was much stronger than she looked. She also had two Uzis which she was using to their fullest extent.
"That bitch is insane." Martine commented as she and Root returned fire.
"I know, and here I thought I was the crazy one."
But while Silva was distracted shooting at Root, she failed to notice Lambert and Fusco hiding behind one of the burning SUVs. They both opened fire. Lambert managed to hit her in the right shoulder but Silva barely flinched. She immediately returned fire. Martine took the opportunity and jumped out from behind the car and shot at Silva who sprayed bullets in a wide arc as she turned towards Martine. She managed to shoot Lambert in the leg, who fell to the ground and Fusco took a bullet in his shoulder. Root pushed Martine out of the way and ended up taking multiple hits in her stomach and left shoulder. Thankfully the shadow world had made her strong enough that she could take that much damage and still function but barely.
Then she got lucky. Silva was out of bullets and she had nowhere to hide to reload. Root stepped forward with her guns aimed squarely at Silva's head. Martine had also gotten up and was doing the same.
"You're empty." Root said as she walked closer to Silva.
Silva dropped the guns but Root noticed that she was still holding something in her hand. It was the remote trigger.
"Not yet." Silva replied as she pressed the button.
Silva had placed charges on the crane above and the explosion cause the entire horizontal arm to detach and it came crashing down behind Root crushing everything and everyone it fell on. The impact of the crane hitting the ground was enough to throw everybody off their feet. It was all the distraction Silva needed. The fallen crane made a temporary barrier between her and everyone else, with Root being the only one on this side.
By the time Root stood up Silva was already running. Root was about to go after her when she heard a voice coming from behind her. It was Martine. She was trapped under the rubble. Root had a decision to make. If she left Martine and went after Silva and Gen there was a good chance Martine might die under the burning rubble and in her present condition Root didn't know if she could go up against Silva. She took a deep breath and decided to stay and help Martine.
Root turned around, put her hands under the massive metal girder that was holding down Martine and began to lift it up. She knew she could do it but it definitely wasn't good for the bullet wounds she had. As she started to lift it she felt her her clothes getting wet as blood began to pour through her wounds and she could feel her muscles beginning to tear apart from the strain.
"I won't be able to hold this for too long. So get out the second you can."
Martine was too stunned to reply. She couldn't believe that this woman was lifting something that probably weighed a few tons. She nodded and agreed. Root finally managed to lift it up high enough and Martine got enough room to escape.
Root let it fall down once Martine was out. She knew she was spent. Still she took a deep breath and decided to go after Silva. She needed to get Gen back, but it was too late. The rest of the cops had managed to crossover and she was surrounded. Root gave up. She raised her hands and dropped to the ground on her knees.
"Ms. Groves, you're under arrest." Captain Moreno said as she stepped forward and pointed a gun at Root's head. With Captain Moreno reciting Root her rights the cops put the handcuffs on her.
Just before Root passed out from the bullet wounds and the blood loss, a single thought crossed her mind,
'This did not go as planned.'