A/N- Another chapter and a shout out to all my lovely readers.
-Grey.
Li gulped as a cold wave descended upon her body as she watched the weapon trained on her and her friends. She suddenly regretted the brutal takedown she had employed earlier and mentally kicked herself for not searching her fallen opponent.
She could see things going very badly now and if anyone was going to cop it first it was going to be her.
For a moment she berated herself for getting carried away in taking him down, she had enjoyed the damage she dealt to the man in vengeance of Amber's uncle. You lost control girl, you lost your peace she scolded internally. You got caught up in the moment and didn't follow through. In her haste today she had failed to observe correct prisoner restraint and search procedure, it was all her fault they were in this jam.
It is so much different in the dojo she reasoned, emotion and motive don't come into play and all you do is fight through action and reaction in whatever way your instincts at the time decide.
Li also knew that in the dojo, conditions were often a lot more controlled and no real damage dealt to her partners in practice.
Out in the real world it seemed a whole different game though where she seemed faster then the average opponent and accordingly, dished out brutal violence with little regard to consequence. Her mind carried her back to Egypt and she remembered in disgust, throwing a man to his death from a hotel balcony. With her skills and experience it was too easy to get carried away in the adrenaline laced excitement of it all and deal enough damage to permanently disable or even kill her opponents.
Li inhaled peace deep into her chest and pushed aside her thoughts, finding the secret balance and poise that gave warriors and athletes their focus.
Silently she promised herself to try and be more restrained in the future if they lived through this ordeal.
Alex eyed the weapon keenly before slowly sliding his body in front of Camilla's.
It was a Beretta; an older but very reliable semiautomatic handgun that was made in Italy, its calibre varied dependant on the model and it was an easy weapon to acquire in a country like America. Damn loose gun laws he cursed bitterly, every bloody gangbanger and his pose are strapped around here.
Regardless of the weapons background or calibre Alex was sure it would easily make large messy holes in him and his friends if they didn't comply with holders wishes.
Their plan had been completely blown out of the water by the arrival of a firearm into the equation; it was just like the fiasco earlier with the knife earlier he thought in vain. Locked in a cage of concern and frustration, Alex was forced to stand and watch as he and his friend's lives were threatened once more.
Camilla couldn't say a thing as she noticed Alex slyly slip in front of her, putting his body between the gun and her.
It was a noble and heroic gesture that brought to the surface certain highly inappropriate timed urges in the girl. As heroic a move as it was, she realised it would also be in vain if things kicked off and the guy decided he wanted to start shooting.
Her head rebelled at the thought of his willingness to sacrifice himself for her and she came to the resolution that they must both survive. Camilla carefully assessed her surroundings out of the corner of her eye as she awaited their fate and pushed down stubborn imperilled thoughts.
Amber could not bear the thought of any of her friends getting shot so she did what she did best and started to talk. With her tone a lot softer then before and in a more pleading manner she took small steps forward as she appealed to the gunman's humanity.
"I know this isn't you Miguel, holding some kids at gunpoint. You were always a friendly, happy employee, when did things change? What happened? We might have both acted quite rash recently but put the gun down and we can talk about it." She asked of the man, in a voice like she was attempting to calm a spooked horse.
Hesitation hung in the man's eyes before being washed away by the hard conviction of greed and cruelty.
"It's a bit late for that I think my dear," He sneered, gesturing towards the door with his weapon. "Now you can all just stand there and shut the hell up until my friends arrive to take you away. If you behave then maybe I will even let your friends live."
The realisation that their lives were worthless to this man, except as leverage over Amber, fell heavily on her friends.
Alex reached over with his good hand to meet one of Camilla's and deliver a firm squeeze; she returned the pressure as the unspoken words passed between their flesh. The small gesture brought a tear to her eye, in doing so she hardened her heart and drew her courage enough to make a decision.
Amber stepped forward one last step and opened her mouth to try and talk again when she was struck violently across the face.
Miguel drew his gun hand back from the pistol-whip he had just delivered and prepared to deliver another one to the bothersome girl, as she stumbled sideways clutching her head.
At that moment two things happened in the space of an instant.
Camilla's spare hand wrapped behind a vase on the shelf beside her and slung the heavy ceramic piece at the gunman.
The second thing was the gunman's finger closed around the trigger.
The high pitched shattering off the propelled ornament was drowned out by the monstrous rapport of the large pistol as gunpowder was ignited, propelling a 9mm slug at deadly speed from the short barrel.
The hollow pointed lead round escaped the tunnel in front of a gassy explosion that seemed to occur noiselessly, with sound too slow arrive in time. A bang that left tinnitus in its echo and a visible distortion in the air finally seemed to catch up with it's deadly projectile. Death smelted into corporeal form spiralled a path through the drab apartment, its momentum and rotation displacing the very space around it.
In what felt like slow motion, Li watched as the grey wad slid past her, robbing her of oxygen with its slipstream. The proximity was such that she could have sworn she felt the heat as the round brushed past her. Ripples of the translucent air seemed to track the bullets progress as it narrowly missed the girl.
Its heavy leaden form was finally halted in its acceleration by the far wall of the apartment where it burrowed deep, dispersing its deadly potential energy through the flat structure.
Life seemed to rush back into her lungs with the air and her body instinctively burst into motion, diving sideways out of the line of further fire.
Action is always faster then reaction as both Alex and Miguel discovered in an instant.
Miguel found himself working off the back foot as his finger closed around the cold metal trigger in response to one of the teens in front of him moving. In what must have been mere fractions of a second earlier a shattering impact smashed into his head. The sudden blow caused his whole body to lurch and the shot to go wide of its mark.
As he tried to regather his senses and aim the gun for another shot, his arm was suddenly weighed down by Amber's hands closing around the cold steel.
As the vase was hurtled forward by Camilla's spare hand, her other was drawing with all her strength and pulling Alex towards her.
Alex was yanked off balance sideways, as his body descended horizontally in front of the blond. The trajectory of the deadly projectile harmlessly passed the unoccupied space that separated Li and Alex as the boy was moved. In what was a split second later Camilla was diving the same direction dragging him further that way and rolling her body over top his protectively as they fell.
Their shuddering impact with the ground and the over stimulation of senses temporarily stunned the couple.
A second concussion exploded from the short weapon, which was being wrestled over by two very different sets of hands. A third round discharged into the ground at the struggling pairs feet with the force of death before whining off on a ricocheted tangent. The barrel dropped further between the two bodies and for an instant Amber's body was in line with the deadly end of the semiautomatic.
The girl was not staying there though and as she pivoted her body out of the line of fire she managed to grasp both hands firmly on the barrel and twist it violently sideways. Miguel's finger was trapped in the trigger guard and snapped like a dried twig as it was levered around the fulcrum of unrelenting metal.
His eyes popped out further in pain, a destitute groan escaping his lips as he released the weapon and instead brought his free hand across to slug Amber across the jaw. It took two more hard punches before Amber realised she had won the gun and withdrew from the barrage by dropping to the ground.
Miguel paused his fist in mid-air assessing the scene in front of him. He was now unarmed and up against three fit young adults, of which the asian one was obviously an experienced fighter and a master of pain.
Oh shit she's getting back up! He realised in terror as Li began to recover from her dive to safety.
Thinking quickly, the traitor cut his losses and leapt out the window behind him to disappear down the fire escape.
Li just caught a glimpse of the man as he disappeared out the window and she hurtled towards the escape route. Her immediate thoughts of pursuit were halted by the fragile looking form of her friend crumpled on the ground, her hands clutched to her chest as if she held the most treasured object on earth.
In grave concern Li shook Amber and called to her. "Amber are you okay?"
It took a moment before her friend recognised her voice and looked up groggily,
"Yea I just need a minute, don't let him get away again." She grumbled, her speech distorted by the tongue and lips that were beginning to engorge from injury.
Li nodded resolutely remembering their fleeing floe and leapt over Amber's sprawled legs to vault out the window.
A few metres away a young couple lay on the floor pressed tightly together.
Alex raked his hands down the girl's figure in panic, fearing the worst and almost passing out in relief as he found his fingers unburdened by blood or bullet holes. He felt as though his hands had almost forgot the beauty of her familiar shape and they shook with the saturation of sensation.
The sweet smelling hair pressed tight up beside his face lifted and a pale face came into view, killing his voice with her blue eyes. A shudder of relief passed between the two and they pressed back together, this time in appreciation of what was almost lost.
Alex broke the embrace reluctantly so the pair could help each other up and reassess the situation.
"Li's chasing him down, go help her." Amber explained and ordered at the same time, her face hidden behind curtains of dark hair.
The couple hesitated at the open window to the shadowed streets below until the girl yelled at them.
"Damn it! Go and find him you idiots! I'll catch up in a minute okay?" Amber bellowed.
The young couple shared one last uncertain look before sliding out onto the fire escape to help Li.
"Boy do I have a headache." Amber complained to noone after a couple minutes alone in which she finally found her feet.
The acrid, peppery smell of gunpowder thickly hung in the air slowly invading her hair and clothes.
Exhaustion, pain and an unfamiliar fogginess in her head burdened her progress and tugged at her to give up and rest on the spot. A sense of duty and commitment to her friends was the only pull that helped her find her feet.
Steadfast in a moment of self assessment, Amber slowly brought her hand to her face searching out the injuries she was all too aware of. Her fingers moistened from the light bleeding as she found the throbbing lump above her right eyebrow where she had been struck with the pistol.
She looked down and seemed to only just notice the ugly metal object polluting her other hand. Beyond caring she lightly tossed the deadly tool on the pile of debris that had once been a table.
The hand on her face continued its journey until it found the growing tight patch of skin on her jaw where a bruise was starting to form. Her teeth felt loose in her jaw and she suppressed a sob at the thought of how terrible she must look at the moment.
Distracted by her injuries and dwelling in her misery, Amber did not hear the ruined door open behind her.
