"What d'ya got?" Warrick asked, turning his attention to the man sitting on the floor next to him.
Nick slowly stood up, as did Warrick. "Go get a set of the handcuffs." He said.
Warrick frowned. "What?"
"Dave thinks you hate me. He wanted you to kill me, and probably still wants that. So we need to make it look like you hate me - which shouldn't be too hard - and then we can get outta here. You just need to handcuff me and beat the hell outta me for a little while until they come back in."
Warrick stared at Nick. "That is probably the craziest thing you've ever said. What do you plan on doing after they come back in here and you're all beat up cuz of me?" He asked.
Nick smiled. "You'll know when I know."
"That's not a good answer Nick."
As mad as he had been at the other man mere hours ago, now it seemed like nothing had ever happened between them. Warrick didn't care about anything that had been said or done. Regardless of everything he had gone back to his protective persona over Nick that he had had almost since he had met the other man.
"I know, but it's the only one I got. It'll work, trust me."
Warrick shook his head slowly. "I trust you, that's pretty much the whole problem. I trust you too much. Don't do something stupid. You're the only family I have. I don't have any brothers and I never had too many friends. I'm not losing you because you felt like doing something stupid Nicky."
Nick had already known everything Warrick had said to him prior to his saying so. "I know man...I promise I won't do anything stupid. It's sounds stupid, but it's gonna work. Just go with me on this."
Warrick sighed heavily before reluctantly going over to the bed and taking off a pair of handcuffs from one of the bedposts. He walked back over to Nick and looked at him for a minute before Nick held out his wrists. Warrick unfortunately had no choice but to take the sheets off of Nick's cuts. He put the strips in his pocket befre snapping the metal onto one wrist before Nick turned around and he fastened the other one, locking Nick's wrists behind his back. Nick turned back around and faced Warrick just as they heard faint voices in the hallway.
"Pretend it's like Fight Club." Nick said with a smile.
Warrick rolled his eyes as he slowly raised his fists. Nick nodded, and Warrick knew he had no other choice. Worse things would come if Dave knew that they didn't hate each other and were helping each other to get out. So he took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he swung with his right hand. He cringed when he felt it come into contact with Nick's face and could feel his orbital bone break. He opened his eyes and saw Nick stumble back a few feet before regaining his balance and standing still. Warrick knew he had limited time, so he got closer to Nick before punching him in his already broken ribs.
Warrick stepped back for a second as Nick spit blood from his mouth. The Texan then nodded and closed his eyes, waiting for Warrick to continue. The older man had to force back tears as he hit Nick again and again. The shorter man now had a cut in his left cheek along with one slicing through his right eyebrow. Warrick hit Nick in the chest and face once more before Nick couldn't catch his breath anymore and his head was spinning too much to stand. He fell back against the wall before slowly sliding down it. Warrick stared down at a bruised and bloodied Nick, blinking back tears as the door sung open.
"What the hell is going on?" Dave demanded.
Warrick turned around. He was able to fake anger easily, which surprised him. "You wanted me to kill him, right? I don't have a gun so I had to try my best at it like this." He held up his bloody hands, getting a satisfied smile from Dave.
"Good work." Dave said. He walked over to them, patting Warrick on the shoulder before squatting down in front of Nick. "You're finally gonna get what you deserve." He grabbed a fistful of Nick's hair and dragged him to his feet. He threw the injured man into the wooden chair still in the middle of the room before motioning to Steve, who had also come into the room with James. "Uncuff him."
Steve did so, tossing the metal cuffs to the floor. Nick spit more blood from his mouth and tries his very best not to pass out. He was beginning to regain control of his breathing and the room was spinning less and less with each minute that passed. He glanced over at Warrick, who was still fighting back tears and almost lost the battle when Nick looked at him.
"Warrick, come here." Dave instructed. Warrick slowly walked over and stood in front of Nick. Dave leaned down and picked up a gun from the floor and handed it to Warrick. "Kill him. Right now. Kill this motherfucking waste of a life."
Warrick kept the gun down by his side and stared down at Nick. He immediatly felt anger towards Nick for not being able to come up with a better plan. He had just beaten Nick up and was now going to have to kill him. Great plan. But then Warrick caught something in Nick's eye, that same look he had had before when he told Warrick to trust him. Nick nodded so slightly that only Warrick caught it.
Warrick raised the gun and pointed it straight in between Nick's eyes. He knew he couldn't hesitate any longer, so he held his breath and pulled the trigger. Everything slowed down to super slow motion. Warrick had never been so scared in his entire life as he was for that fraction of a second. When he heard that clicking sound and saw that Nick didn't even flinch, he sighed to himself and shoved the gun into Dave's stomach.
"It's emtpy." He said, stating the obvious.
Dave glared at Steve. "Weren't you supposed to reload this before you left them in here together? Do you know how to do anything?"
Steve remained silent. Dave went into a storage closet down the hall in the apartment and returned with a tank of gasoline. He didn't break his stride as he walked up to Nick and poured the whole thing over his head, drenching him in the flammable liquid. Nick spit over and over, trying to get the taste of blood and gasoline out of his mouth. He saw fear flash across Warrick's eyes, but remained calm.
"Think you two can handle them while I go get the fucking lighter?" Dave didn't wait for an answer. He stormed out of the apartment and disappeared from sight.
Steve and James drew their guns. James walked over to Warrick while Steve remained behind Nick. James moved Warrick back about five feet so he was farther away from Nick, but that didn't stop the other man from deciding now was the time. He shook his head slowly when Warrick looked at him and spit blood from his mouth again.
"Real fucking cool man, beating the shit outta me when I can't even defend myself."
"Why should you get to defend yourself? You shouldn't even be alive man." Warrick retorted.
"Shut the fuck up! Both of you, right now!" Steve yelled.
Nick stood up and took two steps before Steve grabbed his arm. "Yeah, I should be dead thanks to you. But I got out alive didn't I?"
Warrick also took a step closer, making James grab him. "You're just fucking amazing. An all around hero. I should just go over there and kill you with my bare hands."
"I may not be a Weseley Snipes, but I hold my own."
Without hesitation, Nick and Warrick both spun around and punched their captors in the face, catching them completely off gaurd. Steve and James lost their balance enough to be over powered by the other men, losing their weapons in the process. Nick and Warrick wasted no time in handcuffing them to the bed and taking the key with them. They ran out of the apartment and off in the opposite direction from the room where Dave and all of his other henchmen were. They didn't make it too far before they heard Henry yelling, followed by gunfire.
They made it to the stairwell and went up as fast as they could. They went up two flights before running down a hall and into an alcove that used to have a pay phone in it.
"Told you I knew what I was doing." Nick said with yet another smile.
Warrick laughed slightly. "Yeah, you're a genius. Thank God we've both seen 'Passenger 57.' "
Nick nodded. "Yeah, but we have another problem. They'll be able to smell the gas on me." He looked around before nudging Warrick. "Give me the lighter." Warrick complied and watched as Nick lit it and went into the middle of the hall under a sprinkler. He jumped up, holding the flame under the sensor. The sprinkler sprang to life, water bursting from it along with every other one in the hall. Nick stood under the water, letting it wash over his head and clothes before going back over to Warrick.
They sat there, debating what to do next. They were just about to get up and run some more when the power went out, resulting in total darkness.