- Quay of the Seine, 11pm -
"Remember, we are trying the subtle approach. Mundy, you stay on this building's rooftop and you watch my back."
"Don't worry, Lu', I will."
Mundy wanted to say that he would love to keep his eyes on his lover but the context prevented him from doing so. The five mercenaries were standing on a rooftop, next to the quay of the Seine. From there, they had an excellent view on the boat and its surroundings.
"Ludwig and Misha, you're only efficient on close range so you'll have to come down with me but I'll show you a bench you can watch me from. It shouldn't be a problem if you need to get aggressive from there."
"I don't have Sasha. I will go with fists."
"I only have my bonesaw but it should do zhe trick."
In the moonlight, only the glasses and the Medic's teeth shone. Mundy found it really scary but Misha on the other hand, found it quite positively impressive and somewhat inspiring.
"And by zhe way, needless to say zhat we don't have any respawn system here and zhat I don't have my medigun or my crossbow, so..."
The German man turned to Misha.
"...stay alive and safe."
Misha's face softened. He smiled to Ludwig and nodded.
"You two step in only on my signal. And Mundy, you'll make people fall asleep if I get detected, ok? But please, don't kill anyone. We don't need to spill more blood. One way or the other, we'll get Mélanie."
Misha, Ludwig and Mundy nodded.
Lucien looked at the boat with his piercing eyes. The moon seemed to be dancing with the clouds. Sometimes, it would shine bright and Lucien's eyes would shine equally. The smoke from his cigarette would fly from his nose like the steam from an angry bull. Other times, the moon would hide behind the clouds but even then, Lucien would still be looking at the moving figures on the boat and around, trying to memorise all the positions of the guards and the trajectory of their rounds.
"What am I s'pposed to do?"
Mundy, Ludwig and Misha looked at each other. Lucien, who was close to the roof's edge, took a step back. He put a hand behind his back, elegantly, while his right hand went to his cigarette. He turned around.
"Jérémy, you'll have to stay far and away from all this."
The young Bostonian lost his temper.
"What?! No way! I'm coming with you Pa'!"
The Frenchman walked towards his son, took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it between his index and third finger.
"Non, it's too risky. You should not accept a mission which has interests that are too close..."
He put his two fingers with the cigarette on the young man's chest.
"...to your heart."
"Well that's easy for you to say, what would you say if it was Mundy who was in danger eh?"
Lucien put the cigarette back in his mouth. His eyes flashed angrily.
"Useless question. Mélanie is in danger not Mundy. So now, either you stay next to Mundy without bothering him or you go back home!"
"That's unfair! I want to help! It's me who need to save her!"
"Oh you could try..."
Lucien now smirked.
"But when you'll see her pretty face covered in bruises, will you still think with your head? Will your knees still be able to hold you standing? Will you not lose your mind and swear you'll make those men eat their very teeth?!"
He paused to throw his cigarette end away and quickly light another.
"Eh? Cause that's what happened to me when I found you in that hangar. They were kicking you, you were lying on the floor, unconscious but they kept on kicking. I saw your face bouncing on and off the ground. Then the devil possessed me. I got my knife and ambassador revolver out and I lost my mind."
He puffed some smoke out.
"When I got my mind back, the Seine had turned red with the corpses I threw there and that didn't bring you back... A couple minutes later, Mundy found me next to your body."
Mundy's eyes widened.
"Hold on, so when I asked you where the bad guys were and the pointed at the Seine, you didn't mean that they escaped?!"
"Non, I killed some instantly, others I made sure they suffered before giving their last breath."
Silence fell on the rooftop.
"Such a waste of testing material..."
"Ludwig!" Said Misha, looking angrily at his lover.
"Anyway, you should stay far away from Mélanie until we free her and hide her away from the drug dealers."
He paused.
"If you choose to disobey, just keep in mind that because of you she might end up dead."
Jeremy gulped.
"Mates, let's get this done. Jay', you can stay with me."
He nodded. Lucien, Misha and Ludwig climb down the ladder which connected the rooftop to the ground. Mundy loaded his Sydney Sleeper with actual sleeping darts and got closer to the the edge of the building and sat down. Jeremy sat beside him. Mundy looked through the scope and followed Lucien, Ludwig and Misha.
The three men lead by Lucien stopped by a bench on the opposite barge of the river to the drug dealers boat and a bit further up the Seine. Mundy saw Lucien's lips moving.
He's giving instructions no doubt. So bossy he can be at times...!
Unconsciously, he was smiling.
Oh, now he's moving along, alone.
Lucien was very careful when he reached the area around the boat. A big wooden door kept outside people from entering. And inside? At least a dozen men were patrolling. Mundy's eye was looking at all the guards, trying to see how to get them in case Lucien needed it.
Lucien, who had brilliantly memorised all the rounds, moved from hiding spot to hiding spot as fluidly as a shadow. He made it to the boat without getting detected.
Now, time for the actual mission. The Frenchman thought. But before entering the boat and disappearing from Mundy's scope, he raised his head to his lover's line of sight and nodded as if to say thanks.
On the rooftop, Mundy saw his lover's thanks and sprang to his feet. He raised his arm and waved.
Lucien saw it, nodded again and entered the boat.
Ah, that's it, I can't do much more... Mundy thought. He turned to face Jeremy.
"You're very silent Jay'... Oh bloody hell..."
Jeremy was out of sight.
"Bugger... Bugger... Bugger..."
Mundy was confused.
I can't go after him and look for 'im, Lucien needs me here...
He took his hat off his head and walked in circles on the rooftop.
What the bloody hell am I supposed to do now? If only someone could-oh!
Suddenly he knew. He threw his hat back on his head, ran to the ladder and slided down. He landed in a loud thud but didn't pay attention to that. He ran to his van which was parked near the building he was perched on and slammed the door open.
"Hootsy! I got a job for you!"
The bird rotated his head in a full circle and open its big yellow and black eyes.
"C'mere you beautiful bird, c'mon, chop chop!"
The bird ran on the table it was standing and flew to Mundy's shoulder. When he felt the bird was firmly grasping his shoulder, Mundy slammed the door shut and ran back up the rooftop.
"Okay Hootsy, you gotta find Jeremy but be careful! Lots of bad guys there and don't bother your Papa! He's undercover and we don't want you to blow up his cover!"
The bird looked back at him with a blank stare.
"You understood nothing right..?"
He pondered.
"Oh but wait, I know Lucien has been teaching you frog-eating language, so let me try this..."
He cleared his throat.
"Toi, Hootsy... erm..."
"Hoo?"
"Gimme a second, I'm not fluent yet! Erm...Trouver Jeremy... But erm... attention! Non Papa!"
"Hoo Hoo!"
The bird took off his owner's shoulder.
"If even a bird can understand my broken French, I swear to God I'll have a word with Lu' about how you don't need to speak fluent French to save people!"
And he thought to himself: And he'll answer that it doesn't save lives but it helps to get someone when you're lonely...
"Anyway, let's have a look..."
He got close to the ledge, sat down and looked through the scope.
"Oh, that's Lu'... and... what?! Jeremy has Mélanie?! So quick he is this kid! Anyway, where are the guards... Oops!"
One guard saw Jeremy's shadow on the floor and, turning around, he must have raised the alarm as all the gangsters were swarming.
"Boom, headshot!"
Some guards fell to the ground but father and son were outnumbered. And Mundy could hear gun shots.
Bugger.. Bugger... Bugger... I won't be able to take them all out in time!
Looking through the scope, he saw a flying white labcoat and the great Russian's silhouettes got in the fight.
Ah, good, some help, but still, I don't think we'll manage to get them all... What's that then?!
He heard police sirens and saw through the scope at least half a dozen police cars racing to meet the scene. Mundy didn't stop shooting and as the police created a good enough distraction, the mercenaries got nearly all the gangsters.
"Time to join the fun!"
Mundy raced down to his van.
- Author's note -
Thanks again for reading this guys :D
As always, please let me know what you think, it really makes a difference for me if you liked it or not!
Stay tuned for the next chapter ;) !