Watchdogs: Defragment

by Meagie84

Set a few months after the game. Aiden must team up with someone from his past to help bring down his enemies.

20. Chapter 20

Lights glittered like stars had dropped to the earth, lighting the buildings of Brandon Docks as they appeared to collide in a mixture of shadow and geometry. Aiden swiped across the screen of his phone to change camera feeds. He watched as a Club enforcer patrolled the edge of the docks, automatic weapon held tightly in his hand.

Two days. That's all he'd had to prepare to infiltrate the auction. The first time he'd penetrated the building had been under the guise of Nicholas Crispin. That had taken days of behind-the-scenes planning and he'd still barely escaped with his scalp intact.

Brandon Docks covered a large area; businesses operated during the day, while loading vehicles were in perpetual motion moving shipping containers, both day and night. Club security could not physically cover the entire region. Even after taking over ctOS's surveillance cameras, there were far too many workers to keep track of and assess as potential risks. That was the weakness of the auction's location. And their way inside.

Footsteps crunched behind Aiden. He quickly dropped the phone in his pocket and swung the rifle around on the shoulder strap. Hayley stepped around a shipping container and Aiden relaxed his grip.

A tactical vest was strapped across Hayley's chest, ammo pouches with Velcro lids on the right side bulging with spare M16 magazines. On the left, a pistol holster held her Glock, angled for easy access. A few grenades were secured to her belt, and he knew she had a knife strapped against the back of her vest.

As Hayley walked towards him, M16 held in a loose grip, he watched the effortless way she carried herself under the weight of her vest. The gear seemed like a natural extension rather than an encumbrance.

He'd originally only partnered with Hayley out of necessity and to keep her safe. The irony of that idea wasn't lost on him, Aiden knew he'd endangered Hayley more than protected her. Now, months later, he realized that he'd become to depend on Hayley, on her skill in combat and in the knowledge that she'd always back him up. Hayley may not have the same technical capacity as his last partner, but he could always contact T-Bone for that kind of support. Hayley's solid dependability was far more valuable to him.

For years, Damien had been his backup, an acerbic voice in his ear, guiding him through dangerous situations. He missed that aspect of their partnership. But unlike Hayley, Damien had never risked anything beyond a case of Carpel Tunnel. Sitting behind his computers, Damien viewed the world through the safety of a screen, so he never really understood that Aiden was the one risking everything.

But after tonight, when they took down this operation, Aiden had decided he wouldn't allow Hayley to take any more risks for him. Despite the appeal of a continued partnership, he'd go back to operating alone. She had a life to live, a life without the danger which accompanied him. While Hayley had made it clear that she wanted him to be part of her life, he would make sure she didn't have to sacrifice anything more to be with him.

"Ok kiddies, I've tagged all the security around the main building and uploaded it to your phones. I've had to be careful about moving the cameras. The little bastards have taken over ctOS access so I don't want to interfere too much. If they discover someone's inside the system it might spook them."

Retrieving his phone from his pocket, Aiden scanned the map T-Bone uploaded. Small red dots moved slowly around the area, showing the exact location of each Club guard.

Aiden suspected that the Club had hired mercenaries for the auction, because Profiler revealed most of the security personnel had some type of Military background. It was an added complication. Being a Club enforcer didn't always require a security background, just a propensity for violence and a willingness to kill without hesitation. The auction was crawling with security, so just breaking into the area was going to be difficult enough without escaping from a well-armed security force.

Over the last few days of watch the Club prepare for the auction, it became apparent that every Club guard used an ear piece and checked in on a semi-regular basis. Another complication. They couldn't take out any guards without alerting the others there was a breach. To circumvent this he'd purchased a radio scanner capable of monitoring dozens of frequencies. The frequencies the Club used were encrypted but it hadn't taken much to bypass.

After monitoring their frequency, T-Bone had recorded the conversations digitally. With T-Bone monitoring Club comms, and even after a guard was neutralized, he'd be able to replicate their call sign without raising an alarm.

Hayley blew out a slow breath. "You ready?"

Aiden completed a final scan of the area, making a mental note of roughly where the guards were. Pocketing his phone, he cast an eye over the docks. Dusk had firmly settled across the landscape, weaving red and gold like spun cotton across the sky.

"Yeah, let's go."

_/_I_/_

Aiden paused around the corner of the nearest shipping container and waited for the Club soldier to walk towards him. As he rounded the corner, Aiden delivered a vicious strike to his throat with the V of his forefinger and thumb. The move temporarily collapsed his oesophagus, making him drop like a stone.

Hayley moved out from the darkness, a spectral shadow until the light fell across her face as she bent towards the fallen Club soldier. He gargled, eyes rolling back in his head. She eased her knife into his neck, killing him instantly. Grabbing an arm each, they dragged the unconscious guard into the nearest open shipping container.

Palming his phone, Aiden opened the schematics and noted the location of the next guard. At least at the outer edge of the auction's perimeter the guards were scarce. They needed to be vigilant the closer they approached the auction. One slip up and they could forget ever entering the site.

"Move five yards down and hold," T-Bone ordered.

Hayley obligingly moved forward, and Aiden trailed behind. T-Bone had wanted to accompany them inside the auction but Aiden needed an eye in the sky. He hadn't really pushed the issue beyond a few grumbles. The older hacker didn't have the same level of experience in infiltration as Aiden or Hayley did. Privately, Aiden wasn't assured T-Bone wouldn't slow them down. Besides, T-Bone was far more useful behind his rig, guiding them through this minefield of Club security.

"Two guards north of your position," T-Bone warned.

Keeping low and tight to the corners, they advanced fluidly like two lethal components controlled by the same brain. Without a word, Hayley peeled away from him, the darkness swallowing her form as she circled around, in front of the two guards while he flanked them.

Peering around the corner of a container, he watched the two men approach Hayley's position. Looking up, he saw the nearest camera being angled away from him. Carefully, he stepped out into the open. Both men had their backs to him and he saw the glint of a semi-automatic. Both guards' heads swivelled slowly as they assessed their environment.

Aiden moved forward, careful to keep in the middle of both of them, narrowing their peripheral awareness. In that half second when Aiden sensed the guy would whirl around, he reached out and seized the man's wrist, yanking it away from the assault rifle while deliver three successive punches to the man's face.

The man's companion reacted quickly, confirming Aiden's suspicions these were not ordinary Club soldiers. He'd tangled with enough of them to know they rarely had those types of reflexes. But out the corner of his eye, Aiden saw Hayley strike. The blade was already tearing across the man's throat before he could yell, he fell to the ground clutching his mangled neck.

Aiden brought his rifle around and squeezed the trigger. The suppressor gave a muted cough and the soldier, still reeling from his punches, collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.

Aiden watched Hayley bend down, knife poised above the man's chest. He gargled wetly and reached out. Hayley struggled to remain indifferent, jaw clenching in agitation as she eased the knife into his heart. While grisly, Aiden knew it was necessary to stab him because men did not die instantly from knife wounds to the throat. It took a while to bleed out, but flooding their throat with blood ensured he wouldn't be screaming for his comrades as he inevitably drowned. Hayley was saving the man from undue suffering but she wouldn't really see it that way. Withdrawing the knife, Hayley making a face as she wiped the excess blood on his sleeve and stood up.

Grabbing the now deceased guard, Aiden followed Hayley as she dragged her own dead weight out of sight of the cameras.

"What's our status?" Hayley whispered, the sound of her voice carrying despite the cloth covering the lower part of her face. Her eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, almost like a cat's reflective gaze.

"You're cutting it close," T-Bone informed her. "The attendees are entering the auction. A lot of the security have converged towards the main building. You should be able to skirt the majority of the patrolling guards."

"And the comms?" Aiden asked.

A slight pause. "Only one has made contact. I've relayed the call sign. No alarms have been tripped so I'm guessing there's no issue."

Aiden grunted distractedly, mentally reviewing the route they'd planned. He checked the suppressor, impressed by the reduction in volume from the round he'd discharged. He hadn't used that suppressor before and liked that it was almost unidentifiable as a gunshot.

Hayley gripped her knife, preferring to use it in close-quarter combat. And she was very good at it. If anyone could bring a knife to a firefight and potentially win, it'd be Hayley.

"Alright, we're on the move again T-Bone."

_/_I_/_

Grey clouds had swooped into the air like an armed patrol and surrounded the moon from all sides, imparting a claustrophobic tension. Visibility was low, the world around etched in charcoal. It was ideal conditions for infiltration, the darkness working for them like an unintended ally.

In her ear, Hayley listened for Ray's instructions, following at a discreet distance behind Aiden as they manoeuvred between shipping containers. A metallic taste had lodged in her throat; Hayley wasn't sure if it was the result of being near so much iron or just a physical manifestation of her heightened adrenaline.

Aiden stopped and Hayley froze. He looked behind and signalled her to come forward as he crouched down. Bending down next to him Hayley observed two guards.

The only point of entry they'd identified as even remotely plausible was a chain linked gate at the very rear end of the building. It was a back entrance for loading boats into the yards. Every other entrance close to the auction building was too heavily guarded.

A few minutes passed as they waited for the guards to move away from the area. But it became apparent very quickly that they'd been ordered to remain outside the gate.

"Fuck," Aiden muttered, hand clenching impatiently around the rifle's grip. "T-Bone, can you access the cameras above them?"

"Nope. I don't even know if it's on. It could be and it's operating on a separate network."

Irritation swam across Aiden's expression.

"We need to draw them out," Hayley surmised. "Away from this area. Then take them out and get inside. We have to take that risk. Hopefully whoever is manning the cameras will be too involved with the auction starting to notice."

Jaw clenching, Aiden considered her suggestion. Eventually he nodded.

"T-Bone, I'm going to hack their phones, draw them away from that gate. You need to block their outgoing communications. I'll make it seem like they're needed elsewhere, but I need them to walk away from the area relatively calmly. Any sudden exit will look suspicious."

"No problem," Ray acknowledged.

Looking across at her, Aiden fixed her with a hard stare. "Be ready. They'll probably know something's not right when they can't contact anyone."

Hayley nodded. She watched the men's reactions as they both received a text simultaneously. One of them jumped, startled, then looked at his companion and gave a small, sheepish grin. Digging their phones out, they both read the message. She could just see the frown form on both their faces. The taller of the guards reached up and pressed his ear, obviously trying to contact someone. His companion tried his earpiece but received the same result. Both men grabbed their guns, agitation settling over their features.

Tapping her shoulder, Aiden signalled her to withdraw. Hayley positioned herself at the end of a shipping container near the walkway and watched Aiden disappear behind another on the opposite side.

The two guards strode out a few moments later, sidearm drawn, demeanor agitated. Aiden stepped out as soon as their backs were turned to him. The taller one must have sensed movement because he swung around quickly. Aiden deflected the gun and punched the guard so hard she actually heard the cartilage in his nose crack.

As the other guard brought his weapon up, Hayley lurched forward, grabbed his wrist and spun him around. She rammed the knife up through the bottom of his jaw to penetrate so deeply into the brain that the knife scraped the inside of the top of his skull. The guy was dead on his feet, though his body hasn't gotten the same memo, twitching spasmodically as she pushed him over.

They moved the bodies away from the area but could do nothing about the large puddle of blood. The light from a nearby lamppost highlighted the stain almost mockingly.

Moving to the very edge of the fence, hopefully away from the camera's line of sight, Hayley removed plyers from one of her vest pockets and handed them to Aiden while she watched the perimeter.

The cessation of the neat clipping sound indicated that Aiden had cut through the fence. Handing the plyers back to her, Aiden ducked inside, holding the chain-link up as she passed under. Inside, beached boats lay in their cradles, their stark white undercarriages looking like whalebones she'd seen in Chicago's Field Museum.

A few large ramps led up to roller doors, all the same grey color of unburnished silver, dull and spotted with years of water damage. Aiden ignored those entrances, instead continued to walk amongst the boats, coming to a stop in front of a door, a console flashing red beside it. Already with his phone out, he hacked in.

"Okay T-Bone, we're in."

"Good luck."

The hallway was dark, only a few of the fluorescent lights had been left on. Hayley looked up instinctively, seeking out the familiar outline of a camera. She blew out a relieved breath when she discovered none. They had made a calculated risk that the inside of this particular building wouldn't have many, if any, cameras. They were taking many calculated risks and it sat uneasily with Hayley. Two days of disjointed planning wasn't nearly enough time. Gaining access to this building was the easiest part of their plan, and just because it was going relatively smoothly so far, didn't mean it wouldn't turn to shit at any moment.

The glow from the screen lit up Aiden's face. He frowned slightly and Hayley bent her head over the phone. Hayley watched as his program searched for other phone signals in the area. As soon as the signals were found, they were overlayed on the buildings schematics giving them an accurate location of everyone in the area.

Pocketing the phone, Aiden unslung his rifle and looked over at her, the smallest smile flirting with his mouth. Forgoing his normal attire, Aiden wore the same tactical gear she did, only it made him look sleekly graceful and inherently lethal.

"Try and leave one guy alive," Hayley reminded him, not liking the predatory gleam she saw reflected in his gaze.

The noise he made was too low for her to tell whether it was a scoff or a laugh as he turned and walked down the hallway.

It was eerily silent as they made their way through the building, the darkness throwing odd shadows across their path. Despite knowing the auction was in the building opposite, Hayley remained alert as she followed Aiden through the long hallways.

The sudden light spilling across their path indicated they'd reached their destination. Aiden retrieved his phone, swiping across the screen. He angled the screen towards her so she could see.

"There are two stationary signals outside the door. Likely security. In the room there are another three signals moving about," Aiden whispered as he tucked his phone back in his pocket. "Ready?"

Hayley took a deep breath and nodded. Gripping her M16, she followed Aiden towards the end of the corridor. He gave the signal and they both walked out of cover.

The men at the end of the hallway jerked their gazes towards them, latching on to their weapons. The men reached for their own guns but Hayley squeezed the trigger, felt the M16 jerk against her shoulder. The suppressor gave a subdued cough, and a small red hole appeared on the man's forehead before he crumpled to the floor. The guy next to him mimicked his fall, like both their strings had been cut.

Aiden reached the fallen men before her, reached down and rolled one over. He snatched the keycard hanging from his belt. He looked over at her and Hayley nodded as she set herself up to enter the room.

Reaching over, Aiden swiped the keycard and pushed open the door for her. As Hayley entered, she swept her gaze around the room, ignoring the impressive amount of computer equipment and marking her targets.

Two men sat at the rear of the room, typing on their keyboard and didn't even glance up. She ignored them, instead sought out the other occupant in the room.

The man glanced across at Hayley, blinked once, twice, clearly trying to discover who she was. On the third blink, his training kicked in and he was bringing his weapon up. It didn't matter, Hayley had already fired, and the bullet tore through his eye socket. A small sigh escaped as he slumped forward over the table.

Finally, the two other men reacted. One of them, a small guy barely out of his teens, spun around on his chair, mouth hanging open. He looked dumbly down at the dead guy on the table, then back up at Hayley. He threw his hands up in the air as Hayley trained her gun on him.

The second guy was older, probably mid-thirties. His initial shock had worn off and he'd stood up, the fear starting to peel away as anger edged into his expression. He clenched his fists and took a step towards Aiden. What he hoped to achieve Hayley didn't know. Aiden merely walked towards him, lifted his rifle and struck him across the head. The guy collapsed on the floor, letting out a thin moan. From his pocket Aiden retrieved a pair of flexi-cuffs and tied his hands behind his back.

Aiden walked over and stood in front of the young guy. He titled his head and the scarf wrapped around the lower part of his face appeared to fuse with the shadows around him. It had an odd affect, making him look like some ghostly apparition with glinting green eyes.

Slowly, Aiden reached up and pulled down the scarf, a smirk revealing itself as his face was exposed. The I.T guy jerked like he'd been electrocuted and made a gasping sound.

"Good. You know who I am," Aiden said as a rueful smile danced across his normally intractable expression. "What's your name?"

"Luke." It came out like a squeak.

"Luke, I need access to those systems. Can you get me access?"

Aiden waited as Luke gaped at him, impatience lurking beneath his benign expression.

Luke shook his head in the negative. Aiden's arm shot out, grabbed his neck and forced his head towards the dead soldier on the table.

"This guy got off easy. I'll start shooting body parts unless you get me into your systems."

Keeping Luke's face pinned near the dead guard's head for a few seconds more, Aiden suddenly let go of his neck. Luke hunched his shoulders inwards and let out a pitiful groan.

"What's your decision Luke, you have about ten seconds to decide…." Aiden remarked, letting the sentence fade away, leaving the distant echo of a threat in the unspoken words.

Nodding vigorously, Luke looked up at Aiden. "Okay."

Aiden let out a satisfied chuckle. "Good choice."

A groan from the other I.T guy interrupted whatever Aiden as about to say. He'd started to regain consciousness but Hayley had neither the patience nor the attention to spare. So she just unslung her rifle as she walked over to him and used the edge to strike his head again. His eyelids fluttered and he let out a soft sigh. Aiden quirked an amused eyebrow at her but she just shrugged.

"Just a heads up Luke," Aiden started, tapping him on the shoulder in a falsely amiable gesture, "try to warn someone that we're here and you will be the first person I shoot."

Luke grimaced away from Aiden's hand as he dug his fingers into the younger man's shoulder.

"Bring up the cameras from the auction. Is there audio?"

Hesitating, Luke nodded his head in affirmation and hit a few keys. The screens showed a small gathering of people around a large stage. The low murmur of voices glided around the room, expectation and reservation joining forces to create a subdued atmosphere.

Aiden pulled Luke's chair away from the console and pointed a finger at him. "Stay," he commanded.

They didn't have to wait long. As Quinn walked up the stairs and on to the stage, his overwhelming confidence, if not subtle arrogance, was immediately apparent.

"Gentlemen, thank you for coming. I know you're all aware that the Chicago South Club has undergone a shift in leadership recently and you're understandably wary about the future of our organization. I stand before you today to demonstrate a new era for the Club."

Quinn gave an impatient wave of his hand to someone off stage. They watched as a woman, wearing nothing but skimpy white underwear, was dragged on-stage. Grabbing the woman's arm, Quinn lifted her wrist with the Klockwork device attached.

"As I've explained before, this device, Klockwork, acts as a bio-harness, GPS tracker and can inject a dose of Ketamine. All these features can be controlled by an app. But the real function of the device is to reinvent the way prostitution is delivered to clients. Klockwork uses state-of-the-art technology to provide a virtual pornographic experience."

"The path of evolution for sex technology is already obvious. As others are just seeing the dawn of virtual reality with clumsy headsets, we've created the ultimate sensory experience. The Klockwork device acts as a transmitter, conducting images onto contact lenses which will allow the client to experience any number of sexual scenarios. There are hundreds of sexual fantasies we've developed which the client can choose from and immerse themselves in. Only unlike current VR tech, where the experience is purely digital, we offer the girls as part of the immersive experience. Imagine being able to offer clients their most craved after sexual fantasies. The appearance of the girls can even be changed, what matters is that it offers the full physical and sexual experience."

Looking over the small crowd, Quinn a glimmer of a smile curved his lips. "Who'd like to trial it?"

A small murmur went through the crowd, the darkness making it seem like there was a contorted black wave in front of Quinn as they shifted restlessly.

One guy stepped onto the stage and Quinn handed him a small case. Opening it, he placed the contact lenses in his eyes and looked expectantly at Quinn.

"T-Bone, make sure you run Profiler over every single person. I want a list of everyone in that room."

In their earpiece, Ray grunted in affirmation.

"Take a look at the list," Quinn encouraged, "decide what you'd like to try and tap on it. Let me know what you think."

The man spent a few seconds scrolling through the list and Hayley wondered how kind of depraved sexual fantasies they'd developed. Obviously having decided, he handed the phone back to Quinn, then blinked rapidly as he stared at the woman on stage.

"Holy fuck," he breathed. "It works. I feel like I'm my ideal porn video." He reached out and touched the woman. "And she's not blonde anymore, she actually looks Asian." As the man glanced around, around, it was obvious the virtual reality world had impressed him.

An exultant smile sculpted Quinn's expression. "And it's interactive. Imagine the potential, the money clients would pay to have their very own sexual scenarios played out for real? It's one thing to provide VR porn, another to provide it with real women."

"BYO brothel," the man chuckled.

Quinn bared his teeth, "Exactly."

"How do I end this?"

Handing the phone over, Quinn tapped on screen. "Just double tap on Klockwork's screen. The phone is merely a list of what we have to offer, it just triggers the device. Klockwork has all the scenarios loaded and when activated, transmits it on to your lens. Just don't wear them for longer than 24 hours. They're not like normal contact lenses."

As Quinn continued to talk about Klockwork, Hayley turned away from the screen.

"Fuck," Hayley swore. "This is …. Sick."

She swallowed her disgust and looked over at Aiden. His jaw was clenched and he looked frighteningly furious. When he looked across at her, his lethal stare felt painful.

"Is there a way deactivate those devices?" Aiden turned and honed in on Luke, who visibly flinched when he saw Aiden's expression.

He stuttered for a few moments. Aiden scowled, turned back and set himself up in front of the screen.

"T-Bone, I can establish a connection for you to hack in. Once you're in, download as much data as you can, and I'll try and find if we can deactivate the ketamine trigger on the device."

"No problem," Ray confirmed.

Hayley paced nervously, watching distractedly as Quinn and the others vacated the area. Aiden grunted, the sound triumphant.

"I can't switch off the device, but I can interrupt the specific frequency it will use to send the overdose command," Aiden informed her.

"Do it, we have to get moving."

Standing up, Aiden looked over at Luke. "Thanks for your help," Aiden remarked, smashing his rifle into the side of the younger man's head.

Luke grunted and fell forward, head bouncing on the table. Hayley dragged him off the chair and cuffed his hands.

"What now?"

Aiden shrugged and waved a hand towards the screen. "Knowing what Klockwork is changes nothing. We go still go ahead regardless. Let's go."

Hayley opened the door, ignored the bodies' of the guards and turned right. Aiden trailed behind, concentrating on his phone.

"T-Bone, how's the download coming along?" Aiden asked.

Walking towards the end of the hallway, Hayley waited for an answer beside the door. Their earpieces were silent.

"T-Bone?"

Nothing.

Frowning, he tried to call Ray on his cell, but it refused to connect. Hayley watched him access the cameras. He connected to half a dozen outside their immediate area but there was nothing suspicious.

"Something's wrong," she whispered.

Pocketing his phone, Aiden nodded. "I know."

Ejecting the magazine, Aiden checked his ammo and clipped it back. "Outside's clear. We need to move."

Hayley reached over and opened the door, letting it swing outward. Tucking the stock of her M16 into her shoulder she stepped out after Aiden.

Danger brushed Hayley's senses, a tingling awareness which immediately sharpened everything around her. Her gaze latched onto Aiden's back, aware he'd taken a few steps outside but hadn't moved. When she felt the muzzle of a gun touch her shoulder, she realized why.

Her heart slammed inside her chest like a prisoner trying to escape its cage of muscle and bone as Hayley became aware of roughly a dozen men standing in a loose circle around them, all pointing automatic weapons.

She relaxed her shoulders slightly, enough to let whoever was pointing a gun at her know she wasn't going to resist. Yet.

"Drop your weapons," the man next to her demanded, giving her shoulder a slight push for emphasis.

Turning her head slightly, Hayley risked a look at Aiden. She could only see half of his face, but she recognized the stony expression, could almost feel the rage simmering beneath the surface. He didn't react to the order, just stood immobile, hackles raising until the air bristled with tension.

The men in front shifted restlessly, Aiden was taking too long to act. The guard next to Aiden shoved an M11 into his head, hard enough to make Aiden grunt. Slowly, Aiden took his hands away from his rifle and let it swing on the strap.

"Slowly," the guard growled, "put it on the floor and kick it towards me."

Aiden did as he was told, and Hayley followed. She kept her arms up, feeling far too exposed without a gun in her hands. Scanning the men in front of them, she marked their weapons and positions.

Movement caught her eye and she watched a man walk casually past the men to stand a body's length away from Aiden. She sucked in a surprised breath.

Michael Quinn.

"Finally, we get to meet face to face," Quinn said, locking eyes with Aiden, an unpleasant smirk crawling across his face. "The famous Vigilante, killing my family under the guise of justice. I've waited a long time to shove your hypocrisy down your throat."

Quinn swept his gaze towards her and bared his teeth in a poisonous smile.

"Lieutenant Parker," Quinn acknowledged with a mocking nod of his head.

The use of her previous rank fell like ice water down her spine, freezing all her muscles as they contracted painfully in shock. The scarf covering her face felt suddenly and irrationally suffocating and Hayley felt hard pressed not to reach up and remove it. Dozens of thoughts sparked, careening around her mind until they all tumbled together, creating one panic induced thought; they knew who she was.

Shifting his gaze back to Aiden, Quinn cocked his head and gave a low, satisfied chuckled which just oozed with malevolence. He took a step forward in his expensive shoes and delivered a brutal punch across Aiden's mouth. Quinn punched Aiden three more times, once in the head and twice in the stomach.

Hayley took an unconscious step forward but froze when the muzzle of a rifle bumped her head in warning.

Aiden dropped to the floor on one knee and took a few breaths. Whipping his head up, blood flowed from a split lip and dripped over his chin. His green eyes flashed dangerously, violence forecasted in his expression.

Quinn's patronising smile dropped slightly as Aiden continued to stare at him, no doubt feeling the heat of Aiden's anger as it burnt away his arrogant veneer. Dropping his gaze, Quinn took a few steps back. Hayley snorted quietly, not fooled by the deliberate distance he put between himself and Aiden.

"You're not the only one who can fuck with ctOS. You walked right into a web I've been spinning for months. I knew you'd come here. I've cut you off from your tech, used it against you."

If Aiden had accessed the cameras to this courtyard and seen none of the men surrounding them now, it meant that Ray also had no hope of seeing them. Or if he did, couldn't help because Quinn had jammed their communications.

Over the initial shock, Hayley's mind was running through scenarios, trying to determine weak points and possible escape routes. A dozen heavily armed and trained mercenaries were carrying a lot of firepower. But that there was a weakness there, something she could exploit. These men were not familiar with each other, had likely not trained together and wouldn't risk injury to help another. If she could scatter them, it'd take a while for them to regroup, enough for her and Aiden to escape.

"It was fun to twitch the threads and watch you dance," Quinn shrugged languidly. He had a slow, measured manner that seemed to put the echo of a sneer into everything he said and did. "That I've been able to trap you so effectively means you haven't figured it out yet have you?"

Quinn seemed to be posturing like a peacock in front of his men, drawing out this confrontation as a way to assert his dominance. Hayley half expected him to start pissing on the shipping containers to mark his territory.

Aiden's head would be a trophy piece for Quinn to cement his leadership. Because Aiden was a constant thorn in the Club's side, disrupting their entire organization, their finances, drugs, weapons, even the legal businesses they ran were fair game to him. There was also a score to settle, Aiden had killed both Michael's father and grandfather. No one else had come close to touching Aiden; so if Michael Quinn rose to power while dealing with the Vigilante, it would elevate his position as leader of the Club.

Aiden cocked an unimpressed eyebrow. "Your partnership with Blume's Julian Collins?" Aiden sneered.

Quinn's low laugh rippled through the air, the raucous sound grating because it was so insincere. He waved a hand airily. "Yes, yes," Quinn remarked impatiently, "I know you're aware of my deal with Julian. Just who do you think let you know we were working together?"

Hayley swallowed apprehensively when she started to realize they'd been played from the very beginning. Aiden kept quiet, Hayley could sense his patience unravelling like a ball of yarn.

"Don't worry," Quinn assured Aiden, "when you discover who's helped set this up, you'll start to understand a lot more. You don't have a clue what's been working behind the scenes for tonight to happen. You really thought you could disrupt my auction. I admit, it was a gamble to let you in so close, but the payoffs worth it. It's been too easy. I must admit, I'm rather underwhelmed."

"Feeling's mutual," Aiden muttered.

Quinn stepped towards Aiden quickly, and without warning, raised his foot and viciously kicked Aiden in the ribs. He grunted, the sound specked with pain.

"Everywhere you go you leave bodies. Switch on the news and it's not that hard to recognize the special kind of carnage you leave behind. If I didn't despise you I'd actually be impressed. Taking you out is a fucking public service."

Aiden let out a dismissive laugh. "Lessons in morality from a human trafficker. The moral high ground is expensive real estate. Trust me, even with all your money, you can't afford land there."

Looking down on Aiden, Quinn's eyes narrowed as animosity blackened his expression. Hayley shifted restlessly. The situation was rapidly tipping against them; they needed to act now, before Quinn implemented whatever he had planned. Better to get a bullet then have no avenue of escape. Hayley was under no illusion that what Quinn intended for Aiden wouldn't be pleasant.

"Aiden," Hayley called softly.

The man behind her grunted in irritation and said, "Shut the fuck up bitch or I'll shoot you in the fucking head."

Hayley ignored him. She stared across at Aiden, still hunched over. He titled his head slightly and met her gaze.

"We're not bulletproof."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Hayley's throat constricted as uncertainties tangled like vines in her mind. Then three simultaneous explosions roared across the night.

She had a second to watch Aiden push himself off the ground like a striking cobra. It was an easy graceful movement, grabbing his own rifle near the Club soldier to shoot him in the face.

Hayley reached behind her back where her combat knife was sheathed. The guy hadn't disarmed her beyond taking the rifle. Maybe they thought she wasn't a threat. Their mistake. The man behind her had moved the arm holding the rifle away from her head and was looking around for the source of the explosion.

Tucking the knife against her forearm, Hayley slashed across the man's throat, felt the warmth of his blood splattering across her face. His hands came up instinctively to cup his throat, dropping his weapon. Hayley ignored it as it landed at her feet. Instead, she shoved her knife back in its sheath and scooped down to grab her own rifle. The AK-47 wouldn't match the M16's ammunition she carried and she knew she'd need every spare mag if she was going to escape.

Pressing the selector to automatic, she opened fire in a wide arc on the men in front of her. Her aim was off slightly as she ran away, but she noted with satisfaction that a few of the men, including Michael Quinn, went down.

Hayley ran, seeking the safety of the darkness at the edge of the courtyard. The Club soldiers recovered from their shock and opened fire. Hayley could feel the surge of high-octane adrenaline snaking through her veins, like a fast acting drug. She rode that precision as it heightened everything around her, felt like the sheer edge of a cut diamond.

Bullets bit into the bitumen around her feet, but then she was around the building and running fast. Hayley could hear the shouted commands of the men behind her, so she increased her pace. Darkness pressed in around her as she ran between the buildings. Slowing towards the end, Hayley tucked the stock into her shoulder and bent low to peek around the corner.

Bullets struck the brick near her head and she withdrew, looking nervously behind her. She could hear the men pursuing her. Hayley retreated behind some stacked wooden pallets, trying to give herself time to think.

She watched the approaching men through the slats, too many to engage. She withdrew one of her grenades. Hooking a thumb in the pin, Hayley waited, sweat dripping down her face. Then she yanked the pin out, waited three seconds and threw it towards the men. The grenade rolled and landed almost flawlessly in the middle of them.

One of them shouted, but Hayley didn't wait to see their fate, just kept low and ran towards the edge of the building. The blast created the perfect distraction, Hayley fired a few blind shots into the dark and escaped around the corner.

Shots peppered her position but she managed to duck behind an industrial size shelf holding dozens of smaller boats. Hayley bit out a curse. They'd blocked her in, to her left was the wall of another building, right the lines of shelves. She couldn't go back, the grenade wouldn't have taken out all the men.

And those gunshots, they'd come from three different positions. They were higher up, hidden. There was no way she could risk crossing the open to the gate, they'd pick her off. There was also no way those men could have got into position so quickly. They must have already been set up around the perimeter, waiting for them to be herded into an ambush.

Hayley clenched her teeth, worried that Aiden hadn't followed her. But she had to believe he'd escaped and was unharmed.

Ejecting her magazine, Hayley checked the ammo, noted it was half empty and clicked it back into place. Keeping low, she ran the length of the shelves, halting at the edge. She was confronted by a huge warehouse and no other exit.

The sound of men's voices filtered to her position. Hayley jerked her head around and sought out the location. From the gate she wanted to access, half a dozen men walked though. Hayley knew she couldn't stay there, they were boxing her in and without Aiden she had no hope of taking on so many soldiers.

With no other option, Hayley sprinted towards the warehouse door, felt the percussive roar as a bullet whizzed past her head, missing her by mere inches. If the door was locked, she was dead.

Cold fingers of anxiety danced across her body as Hayley reached for the doorhandle. She pushed hard, felt resistance even as another bullet slammed into the door. Then it swung inwards and she threw herself inside. Hayley dropped low immediately and scanned ahead of her. Seeing no one inside the warehouse, she turned and looked for something to jam against the doorhandle. She spotted a flimsy looking chair, grabbed it and rammed it against the door.

She fled further into the warehouse, the echo of her footsteps matching her heartbeat. Hayley eyed the metal balcony above her, running the entire length of the warehouse. Jogging further into the building she tried to locate the stairs that would lead up to the balcony, training and instinct making her seek out a higher and better tactical position.

Finally spotting them, she was halfway up the stairs when she heard the door blast open. Sprinting the last few yards, she hid behind a desk on the balcony. Taking a deep breath, she ejected the magazine and slammed a fresh one in, not wanting to reload mid-fight.

Hayley knew she needed to take the men out quickly, surprise the majority and pick the rest off. As much as she liked the higher position, she was also aware that she'd trapped herself on the balcony as well.

Getting her phone out, Hayley ran a quick scan, and Aiden's program identified the phones in the area. Quinn might have jammed cell signals but her phone and all its programs still worked.

Placing the phone near her shoe to keep an eye on the men's positions, she set herself up on the desk. Darkness gathered around her like a black ocean as Hayley waited, finger curled around the trigger.

Hayley watched as three men entered the space below her, spread out enough that she'd probably only be able to take two out before the other reacted. The moment seemed perfect, and firing down at a sharp angle decreased the amount of bullet drop, placing the odds of a better shot in her favor.

Blowing out a breath, she sighted the weapon, curled her finger around the trigger and watched the man jerk back as a bullet struck his chin. Immediately, Hayley swung the muzzle and sighted the next man, just had time to squeeze off a few rounds, hitting his shoulder as he tried to escape. The next shot hit his vest, jerking him to the side. Finally, she hit flesh, shearing through his neck. Even from her position she saw the arterial spray from his jugular as he slumped to the ground.

The other guy had probably detected her muzzle flash so she withdrew behind the desk just as bullets struck the metal desk, resounding with little pings.

"Two down," she muttered, taking a quick look at the phone to assess where the other four were.

The last guy on the floor was moving towards the stairs, Hayley couldn't see him properly behind cover but was able to track his progress. Hayley waited until he'd reached the halfway mark in the stairs. She popped out behind the desk, watched as the Club solider had to turn his back to her to round the stairs. Hayley took her shot, shearing the top of his head off, like an Indian scalping. She retrieved the phone and pocketed it.

Time to move.

Hayley ran along the balcony, the metal underfoot making more noise than she'd like. Bullets struck underneath, sparking against the metal as Hayley skidded behind some shelves. Hayley fired blindly down into the warehouse, heard a pained scream and in her heard counted off another she'd neutralized.

The magazine clicked empty, and she ejected it, scrambled for her last one, and slammed it in.

To her right, Hayley heard footsteps, realized she'd taken cover near another set of stairs. The moment swept by in a noiseless vacuum of slow motion. The two Club soldiers were already firing as they stepped up on to her level. Hayley felt the sting as a bullet burnt across her outer thigh. Hayley opened fire herself, emptying her mag into the men. Their bodies jerked convulsively as she hit arms, legs, neck, anything not covered by their protective gear.

Hayley's breathing was ragged, adrenaline and pain engulfing her senses. Reaching down, she felt the wound on her thigh. Luckily just a flesh wound but it fucking hurt like hell. She took an experimental step. Pain shot down her leg but she could walk.

Retrieving her phone, Hayley tried to contact Aiden again but the signal was still being jammed. So even if people heard the gunfire, they'd be unable to call the Cops. Not that she needed that complication, but still wasn't sure if that was a positive or not.

Bringing up the schematics of the warehouse, Hayley was able to see a few exits. Ignoring the pain in her thigh, Hayley walked down the stairs. The silence after the deafening roar of automatic weapons was almost too much for Hayley's nerves.

Finding a door on the other side of the warehouse, Hayley walked out cautiously. Shadows stretched in the pale moonlight, making it hard to get her bearing. Accessing the phone, it took Hayley a few moments to orientate herself.

Staring at the schematics, she realized exactly where she was. Just around the corner from the warehouse was a building where the women were being held. During their reconnaissance over the last few days, they'd watched men bundle a few dozen women into that building. Hayley had deliberately marked the location. Their plan had always been to disrupt the auction, take down Quinn and rescue the women.

But what now? Their plan was in tatters, Hayley had no idea where Aiden was, and more importantly, had no back up. It was dangerous to stay in the area, it was crawling with Club security. Hayley checked her ammo, and discarded the M16 in disgust. So she had her Glock and one more clip.

Uncertainty cemented her legs to the ground as she vacillated between decisions. Escape or attempt a rescue? Was her safety more important than lives of those women? Their plan had failed, and Hayley knew that after tonight, getting to Quinn, Collins, those women, would be impossible. They'd take their operation underground and she'd spend probably months trying to find them again. Hayley wasn't even sure how Quinn knew they were coming. So their attempt to disrupt the auction hadn't been achieved, but Hayley was in a position to help those women.

Ultimately, Hayley knew she had to live with whatever decision she made in that moment. Already she lived with enough regret without adding to it. She couldn't turn her back, her safety wasn't any more important than the safety of those women. She'd been on ops to rescue Iraqi women and children who'd been taken from their villages, raped and sold into slavery. The devastation and suffering of those people had left a lasting impression.

Taking a quivery breath, Hayley chambered a round in her Glock and moved forward. Keeping to the shadows, the edge of the structures, she made her way towards the building holding the women.

Two Club soldiers stood outside the entrance. Hayley felt a sense of urgency nipping at her back. She didn't have time to circle around and take the men out silently.

As Hayley stepped out of cover, Glock up, the moment swept by in a noiseless vacuum of slow motion as the guards spotted her. She pulled the trigger, before they had the chance to raise their weapons.

As the bullet passed through his forehead, the Club soldier's head slammed back into the wall and he crumpled to the ground. Adjusting her aim, Hayley shot the other guy and he jerked liked a marionette, brains splattered over the back of the building.

A keycard reader barred her from entering. Swearing under her breath, Hayley took a quick look around as she dug out her phone. She initiated Aiden's program, impatiently tapping her foot as she waited for the program to open the door for her. One beep and she was in.

The foyer was brightly lit, fluorescents lighting the way over the white tiled floor. The hallway led towards a door. Reaching out, Hayley was surprised when it opened. Gun up, she stepped into the room.

The room was enormous, two distinct levels with stairs at the end. If she was expending guards or any type of resistance, there was none. On each side of the walls were dozens of glassed partitions, and inside housed the kidnapped women.

One of the women closest to Hayley turned around and stared. The emptiness of her gaze was disturbing, there was no recognition, like whatever she'd experienced had slowly drained away whatever reserves she had all that was left was a shell.

Hayley looked away, fury snapping through her synapses even as a sense of despondency clung to her. How the hell would she get these women out of here? Aiden had shut down the device on their arm, so at least she didn't have to worry about it sending a lethal dose of ketamine into their systems if someone discovered they were gone. There were more women here than she knew what to do with. There was no way she could escape with so many.

And how did she get them out? The glass partitions had no door or handles so they must be controlled electronically. Regardless of the technicalities, Hayley had committed to this path and knew she had to see it through.

Slowly, she made her way towards the stairs, hoping she could find a way to open the doors upstairs. Walking on the second level, Hayley tried not to look at the women inside each partition. Their despair was almost a tangible presence, congesting the air and sinking into her skin to clog her pores. The silence was eerie, the lack of any guards making Hayley increasingly nervous.

At the end of the second story, next to the last partition, was a separate room. It looked like an office and had a keycard reader attached to the door. Hayley grabbed her phone, and once again Aiden's programs allowed her entrance.

Snapping her gun up, Hayley entered the office, expecting to find someone but was greeted with the quiet whirr of CTU fans. Dozens of screens sat above computer equipment. Some showed security footage, others were cameras inside the women's cells.

Walking over, Hayley placed her Glock on the desk beside her and tapped on the keyboard. The screensavers disappeared on the monitors. Hayley tried to access the programs, but knew she was out of her depth. Frustration and tension tightened her throat as the minutes ticked by and she still couldn't find the program to open the partitions.

Danger edged into her awareness. Hayley lunged for her gun, but it was too late, she saw her weapon disappear as whoever was behind her grabbed it. Slowly, Hayley turned around. It took a few seconds for her to really focus on the two people in the room.

Julian Collins stood a few feet away, a sinister mask of amusement settling across his handsome face, lips wresting up into a conceited smile.

Hayley couldn't spare him much attention, her gaze kept being drawn back to the gun. Her gun, pointed at her chest. Hayley looked up into the face of the person holding the weapon. It took a few long moments to recognize her but when she did, Hayley felt an instant burst of ice cold clarity. Like a strobe light illuminating a darkened room full of glittering diamonds.

"A…" Hayley's voice caught on the name, her tongue having trouble forming the letters. She didn't even get the chance speak before she shot her.

_/_I_/_

Muted gunfire stitched up the wall, Aiden could feel the rounds thumping into the ground behind him. Despite the volley of bullets raining down around him, Aiden heard a muted thump not far from him.

Grenade.

He had no choice but to dive to the floor, grunting as the grenade exploded and flung him to the ground. Pain spiked his belly and the world shrunk disconcertingly around him, vision fading in and out.

The moment came down like an avalanche, and barely conscious of his movements, he was already on his feet, digging in deep with more gunfire trailing. He ripped free a grenade of his own, pulled the pin, and tossed it over his shoulder without looking.

Ducking around the corner, he spared a small smile as screams rebounded in the warehouse, echoing simultaneously with the blast.

Sliding behind the nearest cover, Aiden took a moment to catch his breath. His head pounded, body aching, but he took a moment to breathe in slowly, counted to four, and then let a slow breath out. Combat breathing; it helped the body absorb fresh oxygen, coping with the adrenaline dump he was experiencing.

Crouching down, he risked a look out of cover, watched as men slowly converged on his position, darting between cover. He needed to disrupt their flow, give him time to get away because their pursuit was relentless and he had a limited amount of ammo.

Looking through the attached scope of his rifle, he sighted the forehead of the nearest Club soldier, then panned right to the next three yards back. The second man was there, leaning out from behind cover.

Aiden knew that once he fired the first round, the second guy would switch positions, ducking for cover—but the guy's cover wasn't quite wide enough, and so when he did try to hide, Aiden would exploit that reaction.

If he did it right, gripped the weapon firmly with his right hand, gently with his left, then exhaled halfway, every shot would be a surprise. There was no conscious pulling of the trigger, only pressure until the round exploded from the barrel. The guard's head snapped back as Aiden was already shifting to fire at the second guard—who moved exactly as predicted.

Aiden caught him in the side of the head. The other soldiers detected his muzzle flash and sent volley after volley of automatic weapons fire in his direction. Rounds tore apart his cover and ricocheted off the wall behind him. At the next pause in fire, he was on his feet, gritting his teeth and clambering for the more suitable cover, the gunfire resuming and ripping past him. The bullets sounded like sand thrown into a fan, and a round or two might've struck his back, he wasn't sure, The Kevlar was certainly protecting him at this range, but he wasn't sticking around to tempt fate any further.

The Club soldiers continued to hound him, an incongruent fact which, despite the seriousness of the situation, pulled a smile from him. The fox and the hounds. Rather poetic really.

Movement caught his eye ahead, Aiden dove for cover as bullets sailed past his body. He didn't move quickly enough, pain sliced just above his elbow, but he ignored it, rolling neatly and coming up, rifle in hand. He ducked down, instincts screaming at him. That movement saved his life, bullets soared above where his head had been.

He swung around blindly, pulling the trigger but knew already that the angle was terrible. Bullets sparked off two Club soldier's Kevlar, causing them to stagger back. The mag clicked dry, he didn't have time to reload.

Launching himself from the floor, Aiden discarded his rifle, reached for his baton at his belt. With a practiced flick of his wrist the baton retracted. Aiden swung across his body, catching the guy in the face, the crunching sound indicating he'd just broken the guy's jaw.

The other Club soldier recovered enough to try and bring his gun towards Aiden's head. There wasn't much space between them, the other guy made the mistake of trying to sight his weapon in such close quarters. Aiden took a quick step forward, slammed the baton onto the top of the gun, drew his head back and slammed it full force into the other man's face. The hard, thick portion of skull right above his eyes caved in the brittle bones of the man's nose and eye socket with a sickening crunch.

Aiden grabbed the AK-47 out of the Club soldier's slackening grip as he wavered on his feet. Aiden reached forward and gave him a push, the guy gave a soft sigh and slumped to the ground. Ducking low, expecting further resistance, he waited long enough to determine no one was around before slowly coming out of cover. He discarded the AK-47, picking up his own rifle, ejecting the magazine and slamming a fresh one in.

His arm burned uncomfortably. Reaching over, Aiden inspected the wound. Just above his elbow, the bullet had ripped through part of his bicep muscle. It had gone straight through but was bleeding steadily.

Delving into his pocket, he retrieved some Celox gauze, something which Hayley had insisted he take and was now thankful for. Pressing the haemostatic dressing onto the wound, Aiden knew the gauze would work as a clotting mechanism, effectively preventing further blood loss.

As he made his way out of the warehouse, Hayley weighed on his mind. They'd, unintentionally, been separated after the confrontation with Quinn. Still, thinking about Quinn caused his teeth to ache as he clenched his jaw. He didn't really have the time or energy to contemplate everything Quinn had said, his cryptic comments about who had helped set Aiden up. They'd have to regroup, figure out what went wrong and hopefully salvage something from tonight.

_/_I_/_

"Hayley," he whispered.

Silence.

"Fuck," he muttered through clenched teeth.

She knew the location of their pre-arranged rendezvous if they were separated, that she wasn't here worried him.

Hayley's planning had saved their lives tonight. Before they'd entered the docks, she'd planted three sets of explosives around the area. The explosives were designed to be a diversionary tactic rather than do any real damage. Each set of charges had a smartphone attached. Hayley's phone used voice recognition software to send a signal, via Bluetooth, which activated an app on the phones attached to the explosives. The app he'd coded was designed to overheat phones, which when attached to explosives, would act like a detonator.

'We're not bulletproof.' Such an innocuous phrase which, if in trouble, would seem like a surrender to others when it was far from it. They were lucky the app was activated through Bluetooth. The jamming of the cell signal would have voided their failsafe.

He hunched behind a shipping container and waited. Worry slowly started to edge into his thoughts as the minutes ticked by. Pulling out his phone, Aiden tried to call her. No signal. He dropped the phone back into his pocket and began to pace.

The Police were conspicuously absent. No sirens could be heard in the distance. The explosives should have sent Cops to the scene, let alone the blatant gunfight which would have been heard. Quinn likely had quite a few Cops in his pay, but even those Cops couldn't stop Dispatch from receiving any 911 calls. The device jamming the signal had an impressive range, he'd love to get his hands on it.

The adrenaline was slowly fading, leaving Aiden aware of the numerous aches in his body. His arm still throbbed, but at least it had stopped bleeding. He'd taken two bullets to the back of his vest and it hurt to breathe.

When he felt the vibration of his phone, Aiden scrambled to answer it. Relief flooded through him as he saw caller I.D.

"Hayley," he answered, irritation sharpening his voice. "Where are you?"

Silence greeted him. "Hayley?"

"She can't come to the phone right now," a male voice responded.

Dread lodged in Aiden's chest, constricted his throat so that words couldn't push past the obstruction.

"Who is this?"

The man on the phone let out a laugh, rasping like dry tinder. "You've been chasing after me for months, which I admit is rather flattering, and you don't even recognize my voice?"

Julian Collins.

The air grew still, the night seemed to wrap more tightly around Aiden as his mind worked through numerous scenarios.

"Where's Hayley?"

"She's here. Of course, if you want her, you'll have to come get her. She's not really the one I want after all."

Aiden snorted. "Naturally."

"Meet me inside the Skipsun boat storage office, I believe you're familiar with the location? I'll call off Quinn's men and you can mosey on down uninhibited."

"I need proof of life," Aiden demanded.

Silence greeted this request and fear squeezed Aiden's throat closed.

"I need you to speak darling, I don't think Pearce believes I've let you live."

Collins sighed. "Not that talkative this one," he said, unnecessarily cheerful. "Oh well, new tactic."

A pain wrenching scream filled the phone which had Aiden jerking his head away from the receiver. The phone cracked as he held it tightly, burning rage hissing through his body like acid, screeching a demanding release in the form of violence.

"Aiden, don't….." Hayley began before he heard her grunt and fall silent.

Relief temporarily compressed the fury snapping through his brain as he discovered Hayley was alive.

"See, she's alive….." Collins left the sentence unfinished, the threat 'for now' unspoken but no less existent.

"Fine," Aiden acknowledged through clenched teeth.

"Don't be too long," Collins chuckled.

As soon as the call ended Aiden tried to contact T-Bone but he couldn't connect. Collins had jammed communications again.

Aiden considered his options. Unsurprisingly, few presented themselves. It had become apparent to him that Collins had been aware of their activities for some time. He just didn't know how. Possibly DedSec, but there were too many variables and he just couldn't spare the concentration. What mattered was that Collins had Hayley. Only a handful of people could ever be used as collateral that he didn't consider expendable. Hayley was one of them. Aiden didn't even try to keep up that pretence, Collins obviously knew more about their activities than he liked.

Months of picking apart the tangled webs, following tenuous connections, getting shot at and taking risks, only to realize that everything had been manufactured. A clever and slow manipulation to draw him out. There was something he was still missing, a variable he hadn't accounted for which meant Collins and Quinn had been aware of his plans all along.

There was one option, which might give him an advantage or cage him in even further. But he had no other play. Tracing the outline of his phone, Aiden shrugged.

"Fuck it," he muttered and initiated his backup plan, as likely to blow up in his face as assist him.

_/_I_/_

Julian Collins' sense of irony was titled firmly towards the mordant. The spot he'd chosen to meet was the exact place Aiden had disrupted Lucky Quinn's first human trafficking ring. Except last time, there had been more people inside the building. As he walked through the front door, no one was there to greet him.

The hallways were just as dark and oppressive as he remembered, the taint of human misery contaminating everything. As he opened the door from the hallway, he was greeted with silence and empty space. Only a handful of hours ago he'd watched Michael Quinn make a presentation on the same stage that now stood empty.

He climbed the stairs to the upper landing, the sound of his footsteps echoing around the room. He'd expected guards, at least some resistance and was faintly surprised to encounter no one.

The door at the end of the landing was closed. Outside the door he hesitated, making a final run though of contingencies in his head. Tightening his grip on the rifle, he reached over and opened the door.

As he stepped into the room, everything slowed and sound drowned away like a low tide, as if his instincts had automatically switched off all interference so he could focus. He counted four people in the room, marked their positions quickly before focusing on Collins. He held Hayley in front of him, her combat knife so close to her throat, a small amount of blood had beaded on the sharp blade.

Aiden stilled as he watched a large guy move towards him and aim a handgun at his head.

"Move and I'll shoot you. Drop the rifle."

He did as instructed, letting it swing on the strap. The man stepped forward and Aiden tensed, knew that was the moment he could take him down but resisted. The strap was slipped from his shoulder. He watched the guy holster his own gun and point Aiden's rifle at him.

"Thank you Levi," Collins said.

Jerking his gaze to the front of him, Aiden stared at Hayley. Now that he could spare the concentration, he was disconcerted by what he saw. Her skin was ashen, face tightened in pain as she locked eyes with him. He couldn't see what was wrong until he looked closer. Her left shoulder, just past where her vest ended, was covered in a large wet patch and he could just make out the sight of a bullet wound. Aiden's gaze was drawn down to her hand, watching as blood dripped over her fingers, hung precariously for a moment, only to drop on the floor. Wearing black, he couldn't see how much blood she'd lost but he was alarmed by the growing puddle it on the floor.

Aiden felt his fury rise, crawling up his throat to lodge there. He squashed it down, trying for calm even as he felt the rage seep into his bloodstream so that it beat with the same intensity of his increased heartbeat. He took a quick breath in, had to remind himself of the stakes and the fine line he walked. But in that moment, he would have shot Blume's CIO in the head if he had his gun. He was marked for death either way.

Collins chuckled. "I didn't do this to her," he nodded towards a woman standing in the corner. "She did."

Slowly, Aiden swivelled his head and looked at the woman Collins had indicated. He blinked a few times, not quite believing who it was. The woman shot Collins an annoyed look before she turned to stare at Aiden, a familiarly defiant tilt to her heard.

"Angela Balik," he growled, animosity vibrating in his voice as it scratched past the anger sitting in his throat.

Angela's gaze settled on his, a challenge lurking beneath the surface of her brown eyes. Aiden clenched his jaw, fighting to control the violence swirling through his veins like a drug. Whatever she saw in his expression caused a reaction. The thin layer of Angela's poise bled away, and he watched with petty satisfaction as doubt pressed into her face. By slow increment, all the loose threads were tying together and he didn't like picture that was knotting together in his mind.

Angela was pointing what looked like Hayley's Glock at him, but there wasn't much conviction in the way she held it.

"You set me up," Aiden remarked as he let the heat of his gaze bore into Angela.

She held his stare for the space of a few heartbeats, but then her gaze dropped as she shifted uncomfortably.

Collins scoffed. "Angela doesn't have the foresight. Blume's had Angela on their hit list for a while. Knows too much you see," Collins paused and bent Angela artificial smile. "No, my men picked her up on the outer edges of Chicago."

Aiden turned away from Angela to concentrate on Collins. He stole a quick look at Hayley, who seemed to be having trouble keeping upright. She'd leaned back further into Collins, but the knife at her throat never wavered. Her face was an unhealthy shade of white, but still, something burned in the back of her slightly glassy gaze.

"You've worked it out now haven't you?" Collins asked.

Blume's CIO looked at him with a smile of porcelain, smoothly curving and molded perfectly in all the wrong ways. It was a brittle attempt at humor, something that looked like it'd shatter if provoked. So Aiden answered, playing Collins' game because he'd as likely slit Hayley's throat on a whim. Like that small concession from Aiden, just saying the words, was some type of victory for Collins.

"Angela was your mole inside DedSec."

Collins' derisive laughed dried like parchment on his face, fortifying his mocking expression.

"When some of Blume's Fixer's found Angela, she just couldn't wait to name drop. Of course I was intrigued. That little stint you pulled at Chicago's Public Library worked against you. I wouldn't have been able to corroborate her story otherwise. So I had Angela spilling all types of interesting information on DedSec and the Vigilante. It was the perfect opportunity to reel you in. You don't seriously think DedSec has the wherewithal to discover what I'm up to? They had no clue Angela had been compromised."

The aspects he'd had been struggling with were finally untangling themselves to crystallize in his mind, and he certainly didn't like the shape they were taking on. Aiden realized he'd made a few incalculable errors, Hayley being injured was a contingency he hadn't foreseen and it made the already precarious balance tip firmly into the unviable.

"So you used DedSec to draw me out. Angela sent them the picture of you and Quinn," Aiden surmised, careful to keep any inflection from his voice.

Reluctantly, Aiden had to concede, Collins hiding behind DedSec and using them to manipulate the situation was a masterful stroke. From the start, he'd suspected DedSec. They always seemed to be hovering in the periphery. They sent the original photo of Quinn and Collins, and while that was a surprising development, Aiden would have eventually discovered their partnership. It really was just meant to make sure he'd follow the script, come after Quinn and Collins like they wanted him to.

It was also meant to split his focus, make it difficult to determine other's motives, making him suspect DedSec and keep his attention on them, not Quinn or Collins. Because he'd burnt a lot of bridges with DedSec, it wasn't unreasonable to think they'd make a move against him, even if it meant pairing with Blume to do it.

Collins had the audacity to allow an amused smirk to crawl over his face. The knife didn't waver from Hayley's throat.

"Exactly. I knew you'd connect the dots." Collins grinned at him, a canine smile showing too many teeth. "Did you know Malcolm Deodato and Angela worked together before she defected from Blume?"

Aiden merely started at him, hiding the true extent of his anger behind a mask of contempt. He should have just taken Angela out, she was a loose end and it had come back to bite him in the ass.

"So was Malcolm an accomplice or unsuspecting victim?"

Cold amusement snapped across Collins' expression. "The latter. A mole inside DedSec is quite useful. It provided an opportunity. All it took as a little manoeuvring. A few hints dropped to Malcolm, some evidence," Collins sneered, "left in my office and Malcolm thought he'd struck gold. Add in Angela's emails to her DedSec contact Dave, a few nudges from her to convince him to get you involved. Get a few guys to follow Malcolm, let his own instability and fear work against him and I had the perfect opportunity."

Drawing his lips back into a snarl, Collins tightened his grip on Hayley's shoulder as she slumped back further into him, forcing him to relax the knife ever so slightly against her throat.

"But then Quinn had to go and fuck it up. I told him to send more men to that train yard. It's not surprising you got away. It was a profitable partnership when Lucky was alive. Niall was supposed to take over when his Father died, he was at least marginally more capable than his son. Michael doesn't have the foresight or the pull his Grandfather had, but you gotta work with what you got right?"

"Right, and you do?" Aiden mocked. "You're just riding on the back of Lucky's original ideas. Using Bellwether to influence those women to attend your clubs so you can kidnap them for your auctions. But it's really Lucky's auctions isn't it? You don't even have the originality to get a new venue. And Lucky was the one who discovered Genentech's data on Digital Drugs. All you did was patent the idea as your own."

Collins' grey eyes sharpened, almost smoky with the same barely concealed ferocity of a firestorm.

"If it fits with your internal monologue, then by all means run with that impression. Even without Blume's psychological profile on you, it's obvious you'd rather believe everyone else is inept than think you've been successfully outmanoeuvred. I know you'd love to think I wasn't the one manipulating you like a puppet, but it's far from the truth. And Lucky's ideas were just that, ideas. I re-worked Bellwether's code to suit my needs. I came up with the idea to use it to lure women out so Quinn's men could kidnap them. Sure, I may have used the Club's resources and Blume may have provided the hardware but I created Klockwork. Using a Botnet hidden inside Gnaural to hide Klockwork was my idea. So you must have found Cr0w, did you leave her alive by any chance?"

"Why?"

A lazy smirk tugged on the corner of Collins mouth. "She's a loose end. I wasn't entirely forthcoming about her assignment."

Aiden tucked that particular piece of information away to examine later.

"And the Digital Drugs?" Aiden asked, an edge creeping in to his voice as the internal timer clicked down in his head.

"Already being distributed I'm afraid," he said with a sardonic twist of his lips. "You couldn't stop the auction and you can't stop the drugs."

"What now? What do you want from me?" Aiden asked, playing for time, feeling the fuse burn out far too slowly.

"Your scalp. Fucking Charlotte Gardner is on my back. If I bring you in, she won't be able to touch me. Imagine the accolades I'd get if I capture the Vigilante. Dead of course, can't have you telling any secrets. Must really grate on you that I've been two steps ahead this entire time. I…." Collins stopped, cocking his head slightly.

Aiden tensed, shifted his body slightly. He'd heard it too, and was waiting for Collins to react, a coiled readiness in his body as he took a gamble that he'd be faster than the other three people in the room.

Faintly, sirens floated almost languidly to their position. A frown dug into Collins expression, Aiden could almost see the thoughts as they appeared on his face.

"How did you call the Cops?" he hissed, the first hint of alarm pushing through the mask of arrogance which, up until a moment ago, had been permanency affixed to his face.

While Collins had managed to jam normal cell signals, Aiden had connected to ctOS's satellite network which let him send 911 messages and GPS coordinates to emergency services. The satellite operated via Bluetooth and didn't need a normal cell signal to connect. He'd sent a message saying that the Vigilante was in a shootout at Brandon Docks. He knew that the Cops would discover cell signals had been jammed, and make their own connections.

He pulled the knife away from Hayley's throat and pointed it at Aiden. "You're fucking dead."

The next few moments happened devastatingly fast, threading together until the sequence of events became almost indistinguishable.

No sooner had Collins finished speaking than Hayley reared her head back. She struck Collins in the nose, stumbled out of his grip as he lurched back clutching his face. She used her hand to chop down, the clumsy movement not having any of her usual grace but was effective regardless. His entire frame went rigid, unable to prevent his body from toppling to the floor. Hayley wavered, took one step back, hit the wall and collapsed down it like a drop of water.

Aiden couldn't spare her any more attention. Instead he launched himself at Angela, watched as shock rolled over her face as he came at her. Belatedly she seemed to realize she actually had a weapon. Her finger jerked half-heartedly against the trigger. Aiden was lucky she was such a terrible shot. He felt the pluck of a bullet against his sleeve, nicking him, before he was on her.

He grabbed the top of the gun and pushed it away from his torso. He had a brief moment of satisfaction when he felt her cheekbone give way as he delivered a brutal punch to her face. Angela let go of the gun, stumbled sideways, head striking the wall and crumpled to the ground.

"The fuck…"

Spinning around, Aiden watched Levi try to fire the rifle. The trigger kept clicking but no bullet came out.

"It's a biometric rifle asshole," Aiden snarled.

Understanding and horror lit up Levi's expression as he dropped the rifle and scrambled for the gun in his holster. It didn't matter, Aiden was already squeezing the trigger of Hayley's Glock. Levi's head jerked back as the bullet struck his eye socket, dead before he could blink.

Swinging back around, he stalked towards Collins as he sat up and looked around for the knife. As Collins' fingers found the hilt, Aiden stamped down, grinding bone. Blume's CIO shrieked with such force that it sounded like his vocal cords might snap.

Reaching over, Aiden grabbed Collins hair and wrenched his head back. Blood from his broken nose had dripped down his face, over his chin and was beginning to dry like cracked red paint. Lips pulled back into a snarl revealed stark white teeth stained with flecks of blood.

"I bet you think you've won right? Go ahead, kill me, but then you'll never know what else Quinn had planned. This auction is just the tip of the iceberg. Plus I know how he's distributing Gnaural. I may even have a way to stop it," Collins taunted, thin lips tipping up into a humorless half-smile. "What's it going be? Kill me and you'll spend months chasing your tail again."

Collins let out a guttural sound resembling a laugh which ground like broken glass in Aiden's ear. He wasn't certain Collins wasn't making a last ditch attempt to save his own life, but it still made Aiden pause as he considered his options.

But the compulsion to retaliate was slowly consuming him, engulfing the rational part of his mind and destroying the boundaries of any coherent thoughts still existing. It was like a purification but more twisted and distorted, creeping up his spine, leaving a trail of acidic retribution burning deep inside him.

"I don't care."

A small frown wedged between Collins eyes. Grabbing the knife, Aiden indulged in the fear he saw in Collins' eyes when he realized he'd misjudged the situation entirely. Slashing across his throat, Aiden felt the hot spurt of blood across his face. He wiped his face in disgust, watching Collins choke on his own blood.

Standing up, he swivelled to face Angela Balik.

_/_I_/_

Leaning against Julian Collins, Hayley felt a surreal sense of dislocation, like her skin had been picked clean until all she felt was the uncoordinated effect of her bones trying to support her. Through the haze of meandering consciousness she was trying to concentrate on the dialogue between Aiden and Julian.

She leant further back into Julian, forcing him to prop her up using both hands. Despite it being a deliberate tactic on her part, it wasn't entirely feigned as she waited for an opportunity, when the steel of her own knife wasn't pressing into her skin, tightening her airways like a noose.

There were moments where muscle memory and reflex took over. Where the almost animalistic instinct to survive snapped like a loud retort. Hayley didn't even remember her brain sending the signal, she just snapped her head back into Julian's nose when he lifted the knife away.

Pain flared to life as soon as she moved, shooting an intense fire up her spine to explode like a grenade in her shoulder. Her uninjured arm blindly shot out, hoping to strike the vagus nerve in the side of Julian's neck. She must have succeeded because he dropped to the floor.

Hayley took one step backwards felt the wall and slid down it, utterly spent and in a tremendous amount of pain. Her vision darkened until all the saw was tiny pinpoints of light, echoing black as she fought to retain her precarious hold on consciousness.

In the end, she must have passed out briefly, because when she next opened her eyes, the room's dynamic has shifted. The bodyguard was dead. Her gaze crawled along the floor, up over Julian Collins' legs to stare at the large slash of red across his throat.

Aiden walked past her field of vision, towards Angela Balik huddled against the wall. Angela was shaking her head, moaning quietly, the white of her eyes shining with terror even as resignation fused to her expression. Like she knew pleading with Aiden wouldn't change her fate.

"Please, I had no choice. Look," she held out her wrist where a Klockwork device was attached. "I was trapped, I couldn't escape because of this fucking thing. I had to do what they asked or he would have killed me."

Aiden's lip twitched, his mask of controlled calm slipping to expose the roiling fury beneath.

With absolutely no change in expression, Aiden raised the gun and pointed it at Angela. She tried to scramble to her feet but the bullet exploded from the chamber and seared though her head, brain matter and bone splattering across the wall as she slumped forward.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Hayley jerked awake when the deeper baritones of Aiden's voice drifted to her.

"Hayley."

She jerked her head up. Aiden settled down in front of her, she could sense his urgency even as concern tightened his expression.

"We have to move. Come on, I'll help you."

Just the thought of moving was agonizing, and already her body was sending sharp warnings that it wasn't the best idea. She was pretty sure her clavicle was broken, the bullet buried inside her still causing some type of internal damage.

Reaching down, Aiden gently pulled her into a standing position. Hayley hissed and groaned, knew she sounded like a wounded animal. Putting his arm around her, Aiden gripped her hip and moved towards the door, essentially taking most of her weight.

Searing, fiery bursts of pain pulsated through her shoulder, intensifying and jarring. With each step the pain amplified, the bloody muscle quivering as her consciousness ebbed.

"Aiden," she groaned. "Stop."

Sirens screamed outside the warehouse, pounding into her skull.

"Put me down."

"No," he grunted and continued to pull her along.

A strangled cry was ripped from her throat as he jostled her shoulder. She wasn't even sure her feet were moving, everything felt numb and raw.

A groaning sound filtered through her awareness until Hayley recognized she was making the sound. Maybe Aiden realized he was doing her more damage because he stopped. He looked down at her, she felt his probing assessment even if she didn't have the energy to meet his gaze. Aiden lowered her against the wall. Despair turned in her chest like a bird shifting in its nest, scratching its needle-like claws into her body to rake its hurt further into her mind.

"Aiden, you have to go."

He shook his head, made a low snarling sound. "No. Not without you."

Hayley blinked and tried to focus on Aiden's face. "Please," she begged, mouth so dry she felt like the words were sand scraping their way up her throat. "We can't both escape."

The truth of her words sunk into Aiden's expression, charred with the bitterness of defeat.

Hayley's heart jumped into her throat as her brain registered that the wailing sirens were even closer. The Cops would be inside the warehouse in minutes.

"I need a hospital," Hayley insisted. "Not just some Mob Doctor."

For the first time since she'd met up with Aiden, he looked truly panicked and uncertain. Chicago PD had entered the building, Hayley could hear them shouting. Anguish etched into Aiden's expression as he looked down at her, impotent rage lashing in his eyes.

"You need to go Aiden. You're not abandoning me. It's survival."

He hesitated, even as his window of opportunity was closing until she almost heard it slam shut.

"I'll fix this. I'll come for you," Aiden promised.

Hayley nodded, really more of her head drooping, she tasted blood in her mouth. In the back of her mind, she wasn't even sure she'd survive. She'd lost a lot of blood and she was having trouble breathing. Words like hypovolemic shock and pneumothorax ran through her mind as the world darkened along the edges, like ink bleeding into her vision.

Hayley watched Aiden get up and run, heard the shouting, the shooting. But at that stage, it was easier to close just her eyes, drift into the darkness as it wrapped all around her.

Authors note:

1. Virtual Reality porn is a growing industry. With the invention of headsets like Occulus Rift, porn websites now offer a VR experience. It's a growing industry and not beyond the realm of possibility that a technology similar to Klockwork (but hopefully without the darker themes) will exist someday. As a side note, while researching VR Porn, I'd hate for someone to see my browsing history. Do you think they'd buy my excuse; "It's for research purposes?"

2. Apologies for the delay in updating. I was 2/3 the way through writing these chapters and my computer decided to crash and refuse to turn back on. Without me backing it up. Insert numerous profanities at my stupidity, add in a week-long sulk and I got back to *re-writing* the entire thing. It's done. One more chapter to go.