The Prince's Bodyguard
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N:
Chapter 55 (Trina Awakens)
"You should not be here," Rocky hissed. Jason shrugged, knowing full well she wasn't going to keep him away. She probably could, but she'd have to restrain him. They were hiding out in the motel Cat was staying at, ready to find that potion. Rocky had been staking her out and finally learned where she was keeping the potion.
"You need a second hand." Jason crossed his arms and stared down Rocky's fierce glare. Her right eyebrow was raised skeptically. "I'm not sitting in a hospital room watching my girlfriend die; and I know how good you are, but if I'm not here to make sure we get that potion, all I'm going to do is worry. Sorry, but you're not getting rid of me."
He held his breath, standing his ground. He was well aware if she wanted, she could easily tie him up or somehow make him stay away with very little effort. "I have to do this, Rocky." Rocky's eyes narrowed more and Jason looked down to the sword hanging from his hip. It was the hotel's sword that had been hanging from the wall; management didn't want it back and let him keep it. "I'm not defenseless. I've got a weapon." He looked up and closed his fists tight. "I know how to fight since Trina's been teaching me some martial arts stuff…"
"That is true. This is what I was telling Trina, though: A relationship with your bodyguard keeps the client from staying put when told simply because they want to protect their guard."
"Yeah, well, what can be done?" He swept his hands outwards, shrugging gently. "I'm not asking for anyone to approve and neither is she. Though, if you think about it…" He smirked and flattened his eyebrows. "If I go away while you're here, there's no protection for me. I'm safer with you than without, right? It isn't as though Trina's uncle isn't there to watch over her."
"Jesus." Rocky rolled her eyes and scoffed. "You really are a fucking prince, playing hero." She crossed her arms and started to growl, her nostrils flaring and glare sharpening. "So be it. Stay close, and if we're caught by Cat, I want you staying out of the way and in cover…Got that?"
"Yes." He swallowed hard and nodded, figuring this was the best he was going to get. "I'll do what I can to stay out of danger, don't you worry."
Rocky tapped her cheek and tilted her head, smirking bright. "You know something?" The woman walked over to a sack nearby and reached into it, piquing Jason's interest. "I was going to do this as a prank to show I'm not always so serious, and then I thought better of it. Until now."
She removed folded red fabric from the bag; a bag belonging to that of a hotel gift shop. The fabric was red, silk, and Jason could tell one border had a gold trim. "What…is that?"
"Something I was going to put on you and make fun of you about." Rocky unfolded it and waved it in the air. Jason's eyes grew wide and his blood went cold when he saw a caped forming. "Partly Trina's idea, wanting to tease you about prince clichés that I slightly understand."
"I am not wearing that."
"Oh yes." Rocky grinned from ear to ear and narrowed her eyes. "You are. To complete the look."
"I am not a cliché."
"In a way you are, but I'm not judging."
"I am not." He grunted as she put the cape on him.
Rocky shrugged and took a small step back. "In a way, sure. This is real life, and you are no fantastical perfect prince charming like those you see in fairy tales…but you are not just a prince, you're Trina's prince." He furrowed his brow and leaned his head back slowly, recalling ancient words he spoke so long ago. "You are her hope for a better future, rescuing her from depression, loneliness and her own personal hell. You're not a prince charming of fiction, you're a real 'prince charming' rescuing your girl from her own demons. You may hate being called prince charming because of ideology and the connotation, but you are one in a sense…own it, be proud of it, and deal with it."
"I guess I hadn't thought of it like that. Trina and I make fun of those clichés all the time, so I never really, you know…"
"One thing a good bodyguard does is learn everything possible about the person you are protecting. One thing I can tell you for sure about how Trina feels; she does view you as such. For as much as you two put down those kind of fairy tales, she honestly sees you as one. Except you're real, and I think she accepts that."
"I'd go to hell and back for her."
"And that's what makes you her prince." Rocky looked down the hall, studying it closely before taking a breath. "If you're speaking figuratively, metaphorically. Even if you were not a prince, you would be her prince." He raised an eyebrow, unsure of how Rocky meant. The woman exhaled and closed her eyes. "Take her sister and this guy, Ian. According to Trina, Ian is making Tori exceptionally happy, treating her right and with the utmost respect. He is Tori's prince, but he is not a literal, actual, prince. You understand?"
"Yeah…yeah, I think so."
"You might be an actual prince, but I'm fairly certain that doesn't play much of a factor." Rocky brushed a hand towards him, her brow furrowing. "Prince or not, I get the feeling you would act the same."
"I would."
"There you go. Now, when Trina wakes up…I'm gonna need you to wear that cape." Jason raised an eyebrow and started to protest when Rocky smirked. "Cece and Gunther want a photograph." He paled and narrowed his eyes.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Very much, even I need some small joys here and there."
"Lovely." He almost preferred her when he was being deathly serious and scary. "So how are we going to do this?"
"Cat has a small jewelry box she's got hidden away in the hotel end table beside her bed. Inside that is the potion-a clear blue vial and syringe." He was surprised to hear she had it so easily accessed, but Rocky did tell him earlier she was stressed out the last she spotted her. "She's slipping up a little bit. Making mistakes. We need to take advantage of this moment before she regains her composure."
"Right…"
The door opened up and Cat walked out, not seeing Jason and Rocky hidden in the vending lounge. Jason had a card key in his hand that Rocky lifted from one of the maids; so once Cat was out of sight, he sprang for the door.
"Almost too easy." Rocky stood guard at the door, facing it just in case it opened up. Meanwhile, Jason opened up the end table and lifted out a small box. His heartbeat was dull and loud as he slowly ran his fingers along the oak texture. "Oh god." He took a deep breath, holding it while slowly lifting the lid. "Moment of truth.
Expecting a blue vial, he saw only an empty and unused syringe. Beside the slot was a long cylindrical shaped hole. His heart sank and he looked over his shoulder. "It's not here, Rocky!"
"What?"
The bedroom curtains moved in the corner of his eyes and he started to turn, growing pale as a tall middle aged man stepped into view. He had dark brown hair and a pointed goatee. In his left hand a vial full of blue liquid was being twisted through his fingers. "Looking for this?"
Jason reached out, but Rocky swiftly pushed his arm down. "I recognize your face," Rocky growled, "Johnathon Valentine. You're supposed to be imprisoned in DC."
"Oh?" John chuckled darkly, his cold blue eyes glaring into Jason's soul. "You know what I love about the American people? The liberals. They'd rather see criminals on the streets than in prison, wouldn't you know!" John spread his arms out, mocking them with a deep, bellowing laugh. "People in DC learned a business man had been arrested under suspicion of an assassination plot against the president. Realizing that was not the case, liberal protestors stood outside the white house until he decided I'm not a threat." He laughed again, closing his eyes and holding his gut. "Why I predict in a few years law enforcement will be culled and criminals praised."
"I have a little more faith in the American people than that, but this isn't about them." Jason took a step forward, ignoring Rocky's warning growl. "I need that potion, and I'm going to get it." He wasn't going to back down. "I don't care who you are. You stand in between me and my girlfriend waking up, and I don't think you know what that means."
"Eh, what do I know? You're the one thinking of turning to a democracy rather than leaving things as a monarchy. I doubt the people of a nation know what they want, they change their mind so often. Just look at history! How fickle-minded people are when they don't have people making their decisions for them."
"He's distracting us," Rocky whispered from behind, "Why is he distracting us?" John moved his hands behind his back and started to smirk. Jason took another step forward, shrugging off Rocky's hand from his shoulder. "He has the potion, Cat doesn't. So what is this?"
"You know Jason, it's funny we should meet like this." John approached Jason, his eyes remaining glued to the younger. "Did you think my daughter solely bore the contract against the Vanderkovan royalty?" Jason's eyebrows shot up and the man chuckled. "Your mother has her life a little longer. My wife was contracted to eliminate the queen…" He felt his heart stop and clenched his fists tight as John spread his arms out and spoke with a new tone of malice and scorn in his voice. "Well God save the queen, that he did, when my wife was cut down with my brother's family! Of course, she had to be there in my steed because I was unavailable…"
"You're telling me you split the contracts?"
"No. We don't split contracts. Contracts were given to us individually. My wife, your mother. You're my daughter's contract." John's vile smirk twisted and grew as a slow realization dawned on Jason in the form of a question. "So, if my daughter was for you and my wife was for your mother…"
Jason flared his nostrils and rage seeped into his heart. "You…"
"Oh, and years ago? Your uncle?"
"He died of a heart attack."
"Well timed. Poorly though, because he was supposed to die after being crowned, not beforehand."
"It was a heart attack."
"Please." John rolled his eyes and raised the blue vial. "We have a poison capable of leaving someone in a comatose state with the feeling of only a burning sensation overcoming them…this in a modern age where there are already a number of poisons capable of inducing a heart attack and going untraced."
Jason started to growl and reached for the handle of his sword, ready to avenge his uncle and his father, both of whom appeared to have been killed by this man. "You took them, didn't you? It was you? My father? My uncle?"
"Yes."
"I'll kill you."
"Jason," Rocky called out, "Think! He has no weapon on him. All he's doing is provoking." He fought his urge to lash out, trying to think of why this man would bother simply distracting him.
Then his mind went to Trina, laying in the hospital with only her uncle to watch over her. A sense of fear pulsed in his heart and he took his hand from the handle of his sword. "Trina. Uncle Raul. They're in danger!" He turned and ran past Rocky, stopping at the door to point at the snarling man in the back of the room. "I'll deal with you later. Rocky, get that vial from him, but don't kill him…"
Rocky froze and John raised an eyebrow. "What?" She inquired. "What would you have me do?"
"I don't know." He narrowed his eyes and pushed open the door. "He killed my father and my uncle, he needs to face justice."
Jason raced to the hospital and found a familiar scene before him. Trina remained undisturbed, but Raul was asleep in the chair. After checking the man's pulse and determining that he was alive, he looked around the room to see if anyone might be hiding.
Carefully he listened to the life monitor, indicating Trina's vitals still normal. Cat wanted her awake to torture, so he took into consideration that John had the vial and Cat would be unlikely to come after Trina without it.
He also considered the assassins bore similar tactics to their parents before. Cat and her father used poisons and likely were proficient in hand to hand combat. The one consideration he knew was that Joshua was the one assassin ready to torture and murder Trina on the spot, regardless of Cat's orders-yet he'd been arrested and placed in captivity.
Juniper's warning resounded in his head, and he narrowed his eyes while thinking of how much damage Joshua could do with just one hand. "Janet did this to Beck and Henrique. Joshua was placed in a prison hospital, could he have escaped?"
Instinctively, Jason started to pull the hotel's sword from the belt wrapped around his waist. He narrowed his eyes, sliding them towards the side. He knew there was at least five feet between his back and the door, leaving him unguarded.
A shuffling sound behind him set off his alarm and he felt the wind around him that accompanied a whooshing noise. "I don't think so!" He whirled around, swinging the sword through the air and catching the chain of nunchuck. As it wrapped around the blade, he glared into the eyes of the assassin standing before him.
Joshua's hair framed his murderous gaze and snarling expression. His stump arm was wrapped in bandages and in a sling before his waist, but he still stood strong. "I was not expecting you," Joshua said with a vicious snarl. "My father lays in the ground along with my mother, my sister a treacherous snake. Perhaps you can tell me where she is…I'll get the answer from you as you lay bleeding."
"You're not here for them. You're here to finish Trina off." Jason swung his sword down, tearing the nunchucks away from Joshua. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. "I won't allow it." He raised the blade, pointing it at Raul. "How did you get past him?"
"I incapacitated him with one of my weapons. You think you're the only one with non-lethal bullets? I care little for his life, I'm here for the girl." Joshua growled and took another step forward. "You will feel the pain I felt. You will grieve as I grieved for my wife. Do not think all of us assassins are incapable of love."
"Take another step and you can join her." Where were Raul's guards? Was Joshua so efficient, so cruel and calculating that he could slip past-or take out a number of soldiers? "And tell me now…the general's men?"
"Incapacitated same as the general." Joshua reached into the jacket he wore and removed three long needlelike blades. "Do not think me ineffective with one hand." Jason's eyes widened and he ducked to the side as Joshua threw the darts. He turned his head and watched the darts fly into the wall, sticking in place.
Thinking fast, he performed a jumping kick that Trina taught him, striking Joshua in the side. The assassin stumbled and jumped in order to land on his feet and gain footing. As a result, Jason continued the assault, following up with a swift left jab.
Joshua bared his teeth and raised a curved arm, blocking the punch, but leaving himself open to a knee-kick into the right side. "I'll kill you," Joshua breathed, "For my wife, for my child." Joshua turned on the faucet nearby and splashed hot water towards Jason.
On reflex, he put his arm in front of his face to keep the water from his eyes. The assassin grabbed the nunchucks off the floor and swung them for Jason's ribs. "Hah!" He leapt out of the way just in time to avoid a crushing strike and swung his blade for Joshua's arm. "Not this time!" Joshua spun away and glared back at him. "I'll not lose my other hand to you."
"I should have cut off your head for what you did to her." Jason thrust his blade forward and Joshua leapt back. The assassin's coat flapped open, revealing a flash of a familiar blue vial in the inside pocket, stopping Jason in his tracks. "What the hell? There's a second potion?"
Joshua glanced down at his coat and shrugged. "So there is." Fearing the worst and realizing what this meant, Jason pointed his blade for Joshua's neck and began to growl.
"What were you going to do to her? You've defied Cat's orders so often that you're surely not planning on starting to please Cat now." Joshua chuckled darkly and shook his head.
"No sir, I don't give a rat's ass what she wants done. I want the ultimate vengeance, but I need Trina awake just the same." The man's expression seemed to darken and his lips curled back into a vicious, toothy snarl. "Of course I have different torture methods in mind for the bitch than my cousin does…Cat may just outright kill her, giving her a slow and conscious death, but I want more. I want her to suffer. To see how truly powerless she is in her final moments."
"Asshole!" Jason swung his blade again, rushing forward and making several quick sweeps. "You'll not have her, you'll never have her." Joshua kept leaping back, until he was almost at the wall. "June told me how cruelly sadistic your methods were, I will not let you harm a hair on Trina's head!"
Joshua grimaced when he was dealt a swift kick in the abdomen. Thinking fast, Jason dealt a crushing uppercut into the assassin's jaw. He hooked his sword into the belt on his waist and grabbed the nunchucks from the assassin.
The assassin straightened his posture, growling as Jason spun, bent low, and swept a leg through the air-catching Joshua's cheek and sending him crashing to the floor.
Joshua flipped onto his back, but froze as Jason removed his sword once more and held the tip of the blade to his neck. "Don't even think about moving." He breathed in deep, flaring his nostrils and glaring into the trembling gaze of the assassin on the ground.
Raul opened his eyes, blinked twice and sprung to life the moment he saw Jason and the assassin on the ground. "Where in the fuck did you come from?" Raul removed the pistol from his waist and hurried over, aiming it down at Joshua's head. The assassin emitted a violent growl as the door to the room swung open and Rocky entered with multiple of Raul's soldiers.
"So this is what John was distracting us from?" Rocky furrowed her brow and breathed in slowly. "That means he knew what Joshua was up to-maybe even aided in Joshua's escape…"
"He has another vial." Keeping his sword in place, Jason leaned down and rifled through Joshua's jacket. He grabbed the blue vial and yanked it out. "Cat's made more of these."
"Great." Rocky held up the vial John had and glanced over to Raul. "These things can be studied."
"Yes," Raul stated, "I know just the person to study it. Holland, my sister-in-law." He nodded to Jason. "Let her study them, I'm sure it will bolster your nation's healthcare in some way. We can send samples out to other governments, including Spain's."
"Yeah." Jason looked at Trina and pressed his lips together. "More importantly, though…" Rocky lowered the hand holding her vial and watched as the soldiers picked Joshua off the ground. Jason approached Trina, hearing the soldiers ask what he wanted to do about the assassin. "Do whatever you want," he replied softly, "I've finally got what I need to wake her."
Raul motioned to his soldiers, barking orders and escorting them outside. Rocky remained in the room, standing before the door and crossing her arms. "In case you're curious, I knocked John out and handed him over to some of the Spanish police. His fate's in your hands."
"Have them extradite him to Vanderkova. I'll tell David to hold him for judgment. My mother will decide his fate, not me."
"You're sure?"
"Positive. Now give me a moment."
Jason leaned gently over Trina, pushing a hand beneath her head and propping her up. The color remained in her face, and she still bore the appearance of a deep sleep. "Any danger of Cat showing up, Rocky?"
"I've not seen any sign of her since she left the motel. If she had any inclination of what Joshua was up to, I don't know. She may not attack, but again, I am not certain of her actions." Rocky took Jason's vial and poked a syringe into it. "Here. It's about damned time…"
"God let this work." His heart beat heavily, pumping fear and hope through his veins as Rocky proceeded to inject the potion into Trina's body. "Come on love." A nervous smile formed across his face and his eyebrows curled in the center. "Please. I need you. I need you…"
He lay her head back onto the pillow and moved his hand over her hands, still clutching a fresh bouquet of roses. A minute passed and tears filled his eyes. Jason bent over, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Trina. Always, and forever. I swear to you, I will never let something like this happen to you again…"
As he leaned upright, he watched for signs of the medicine working through her. After what felt like an eternity, her eyes began to flutter and her forehead tensed. He gasped out in surprise, feeling the relief washing over him. Trina's lips parted and her eyelids slid open.
"J-Jason?"
"I'm here." A relieved chuckle fell from his lips and he nearly crashed to his knees. "God I'm here."
"Why…in god's name…are you wearing a cape?" He blinked twice and looked down himself, having forgotten about Rocky's prank. "Cat poisoned me, didn't she?" Trina's eyes travelled to her hands and she blinked multiple times. "Why am I positioned like-"
"At least it wasn't an apple?"
"No dwarves? Thank you god…"
He chuckled once, his tears dripping from his cheeks and framing his growing smile. "I could go buy some garden gnomes and place them around you if you want."
"Please don't." Trina raised a hand up, cupping his face and smiling briskly as fresh tears fell from her eyes. "Jason, I…I felt like-I don't know. There was this nightmare, I was surrounded by fire, but I couldn't die. I wanted to die-I wanted it to kill me, it burned so much." Jason swallowed hard and Trina sniffed. "There were these moments, I felt like you were there. Those moments, the fire wasn't so bad. What was it? What caused that? What happened to me?"
"Cat created a poison meant to put you to sleep, I guess it was called 'fire' for that reason…I don't know if it was just a dream, because it was literally burning inside of you. Somehow it put you in the state you were in, until we got the antidote."
"I see…and the assassins?"
"Most are gone, defeated by our allies."
He embraced her, holding her with a tight hug. "I'm just glad you're okay. I love you, Trina. If I had lost you…I can't even bear to think of it."
"I love you too." Trina embraced him, her soft lips kissing his shoulder. "What happens now?"
Raul entered the room, pushing his pistol into the holster on his waist. "You rest." Trina and Jason looked at the man, and Jason's gaze fell towards the general's gun. "You come stay with us and we will celebrate Christmas together. Allow yourself some time to recuperate-the both of you."
"Uncle Raul." Trina smiled gently and raised her head up to him. "It's great to see you. This is-"
"Your boyfriend. We've met." Raul smiled at her and placed a tender hand on her shoulder. "He's a good man, cares deeply for you. I approve of him." Trina's cheeks turned red. Raul met Jason's eyes and he exhaled. "The assassin responsible for this lives, do not worry; but I have ensured he will never walk again…he will face judgement, be sure of that."
So, quite a bit here, and a stunning revelation. What are your thoughts?
