A/N Hey guys, this is very early because I'm getting a guest tomorrow so things are going to be busy! I have to be up 4:30 T_T lol
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and please don't murder me just yet XD
Trigger warnings apply to this chapter: Grief and attempted rape (it doesn't get out of hand, I promise)
A guttural cry was wrenched from her throat. Lara's legs gave out from under her but she was held up, forced to watch the burning wreckage as pieces of the boat fell back to earth, making little waves and ripples as it hit the watery surface.
"No!" she cried. "No, no no… this can't be..."
She struggled to see through the tears that were pouring down her face, her breaths coming in short rapid bursts. Hobson said something but she could not hear a thing. She felt like her insides were being ripped apart.
"Seto…" she mewled. She clutched at her heart wanting to rip it right out of her chest. "I can't lose him," she thought.
Lara fisted her hands in her hair completely overwhelmed by the anguish that was devouring her soul. Her throat burned. The lump in her chest was suffocating.
Hobson pulled her hands away forcing her to look at him, but she did not want to see that grotesque face. He won. She could not live without Seto. Everything was meaningless without him. It felt like the ring on her finger burned. Moments of their life together flashed before her eyes. Kaiba walking in on her shaving her legs in the bathtub, the first time he said he loved her, when he saved her from falling off the rooftop, the first time he kissed her, when he asked her to marry him…
Lara wanted to die then. She wanted to die with her last thoughts being of Seto. The warmth of his embrace, the sound of his voice. "Do what you need to to stay alive". She did not want to without him.
Mokuba.
Mokuba's happy smiling face popped into her head, interrupting her thoughts.
What would Mokuba do? He was pure and precious.
"Stay alive"
"Stay alive"
"Stay alive"
That became her mantra. Lara focussed her thoughts on Mokuba and kept repeating Kaiba's words in her head, over and over. She was trying to regain control. Trying to control her breath. Trying to focus on Hobson's face.
"My my, it seems you really loved him. Oh well, that's the end of Seto Kaiba." He grinned. Lara slapped him across the face. The sound echoing like a cracked whip. She did not even realise what she was doing until she felt the sting in her hand.
"You can hit me as hard as you want until your hand tires my dear, but it won't bring him back," Hobson taunted. Lara suddenly felt the full weight of her grief and anger. She felt heat seeping from her pores. Kemo and his partner aimed their guns at her but she did not care; they could not do any worse to her. She looked down at Hobson until her tear-stained face was inches from his.
"Nothing may bring him back, but what you've done is given me a reason to destroy you." Her voice was eerily soft and calm, velvety. "Your men, guns, none of it scares me because I have nothing to lose now."
Kemo pulled her away from his boss and Hobson gestured for them to take her away. Looking back as they marched her away, Lara saw Hobson rub the side of his face.
In a daze, she traversed down several corridors and two flights of stairs. There were no windows any more. The place was bathed in cold, artificial light. Lara was led into a room that was obviously the sleeping quarters of one of the men. There was a single bed, a small locker, a chair and table with an industrial looking lamp on it.
The heavy metal door was loudly closed by Kemo's partner, making Lara jump. It startled her back to her senses. Taking in everything around her, Lara realised she was in a bad situation.
Hobson was clear about his intention for her and now she was stuck in this small space with two men who were vastly stronger than she was and a locked door. She had a plan to take down Hobson but it relied on her staying alive to do it.
Lara realised that she would have to play along with whatever twisted plan they had for her. The thought was repulsive. All she needed was an opportunity to break away from them. She was fast, she knew that. Whether she had to run or fight, she fancied her chances.
Kemo was still holding her wrist tightly. So tightly in fact that she knew there would be an ugly bruise forming. She herd movement behind her and tried turning around but Kemo grabbed her other wrist as well holding her firmly and preventing Lara from moving much. His face was twisted in an ugly sneer and she had to force herself to remain calm like Kenji had taught her.
"Stay calm Lara, panicking isn't going to help you when you're in danger," he had said.
She listened carefully to the sounds behind her. She heard the distinct sound of a zip being opened and after a little shuffle, a kevlar vest was tossed onto the bed. Next she heard a plastic clip buckle and that obviously belonged to the utility belt that met the vest. Finally, she saw out of the corner of her eye, a silenced handgun join the pile.
That eased her nerves a little but the relief was short lived as the man pulled her arms back, holding them tightly behind her.
"My turn," Kemo said, his face inches from hers. She tried to turn her face away from his rancid breath but he held her cheeks between his thumb and fingers, forcing her to look at him.
Kemo quickly removed his gear just as his partner had done, but Lara noticed that he did not remove his gun which remained holstered. He did, though, pull out his knife once more.
Kemo approached Lara with wild excitement in his eyes. She was still trapped in the vice like grip of the man behind her. Kemo ran the black blade of his tactical knife along the side of her face. It was clear that Hobson was not the only sadistic one there.
"How do you think Kaiba would feel if he knew what we were going to do with you?" Kemo taunted. Lara grit her teeth, saying nothing. She looked him in the eye, unafraid. She was still reeling from everything that happened. There was a swirling vortex of grief within her, it left no room for fear.
The man behind her chuckled. "Trying to be brave. When we're done with you, you'll be begging for it, or for it to stop." The second possibility seemed to excite him more.
She remained quiet. The image of the gun on the bed is what she chose to focus on. That was her ticket out.
"I'll get a reaction out of her." Kemo grinned. Lara stiffened as she felt the point of the blade scrape against the skin of her throat. She thought she heard the door rattle but was distracted as she watched the sharp point travel down her chest and along the exposed skin between the parted sections of her shirt. Kemo licked his lips lasciviously at the sight, but instead of doing anything, he pulled the knife away and placed it at the bottom of the placket.
"Are you watching?" he asked.
"Ich werde dich langsam und schmerzvoll umbringen," Lara said as sweetly as she could. She steeled herself because she knew what was coming. Kemo sharply pulled the knife up splitting her shirt wide open. Exposing her in ways that made her feel sullied.
"I think she likes it," Kemo said to his partner as both men laughed.
"Fick dich ins Knie," Lara said to him straight-faced.
"That didn't sound very friendly," Kemo said and slapped her across her face. Lara's mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood and knew he had split her lip.
"You need to be taught how to behave." Kemo pulled apart her shirt and the man behind her laughed, she could feel the bulge in his pants against her back. Kemo had stowed his knife away so he could touch her skin. He had stepped back allowing him to run his hands all the way down to the waistband of her jeans and Lara saw her opportunity.
With both men distracted, now was her chance. With her arms still firmly pinned behind her, she pushed back on them lifting her knees up and kicked Kemo squarely in the chest with all the force she could muster sending him flying back into the metal table. She landed on her feet and as she did so, stomped on her restrainer's foot and felt his hold slacken. She pulled her arm out of his grasp, bending her body out of the way as she slammed her arm back into his groin making him double over then elbowed him in the face, instantly breaking his nose and shoulder threw him onto the floor but Kemo came back at her with his knife held out. Lara forcefully slammed her hand into his wrist while the other hit the back of his hand making the knife fly out of his grasp and clattered to the floor. He recovered quickly and pulled her towards him but she had enough space to move and kicked him hard in the groin. He coughed, letting go of her as he fell to his knees and keeping her hand flat and firm, brought it crushingly against his throat.
Lara moved fast. Just as he keeled over with his knees bent, clutching at his throat, she reached for the knife and threw it at his broken-nosed partner. The blade embedding itself deep in his neck but she did not stop to look. She saw Kemo move and ripped off her shirt as she launched herself at the bed, using it to grab the silenced gun and pointed it at Kemo who had his hand on his own pistol.
"Don't even think about it," she growled. Lara got to her feet holding the gun steady with her shirt. She walked over to Kemo placing her foot on his wrist and painfully pushed his hand away from the holster. Then, using the loose end of her shirt, she pulled out his gun and tossed it away from them.
"Are you going to kill me Lara?" he rasped. Despite his current predicament, he was smug. He did not think she had the instincts of a killer. "You don't have it in you."
She looked at him in the eye with a twisted smirk and pointed the gun at his partner who was making gurgling noises as his life ebbed away. Lara took one look at the man. His face was bloody and tear-stained, his mouth opened and closed like a carefree fish underwater, but that was far from what he was.
She looked back at Kemo and pulled the trigger without batting an eyelid. Instantly, the sounds stopped.
"You have no idea what I'm capable of," she said silkily. Lara now saw a hint of fear in his eyes. She stood over his legs and pointed the silenced barrel at him.
"Please," he begged.
"I thought you guys said I was the one who would be doing the begging." Lara was breathing calmly. She could feel nothing. It was as if her feet were not even touching the ground. She pulled the gun towards her until it was aimed at his knee. Without warning, she pulled the trigger again and the space was filled with the agonizing howls from Kemo.
The floor was a mess of blood and bone. Lara felt nothing.
"I told you I would kill you painfully." She stepped over him still training the gun on him. He was trying to rein in his cries and once he had calmed down a little more, she pointed the gun at his elbow.
"No! Please don't!" His eyes were wide.
"You better tell me what I want to know."
"Anything."
"How many people work here, excluding Hobson?" She asked lowly.
"Twenty six." His answer came through ragged breaths.
"Twenty were sent to Domino City," she stated.
"Everyone here has a responsibility to keep the place running but we are all trained."
"Interesting." Lara did not know if anyone survived the boat explosion. She felt a pang through her body at the thought. She closed her eyes, trying to force the sight from her mind. She figured it was likely that Kemo was all that was left.
"I've told you what you wanted to know. Let me go."
"You're not going anywhere," Lara said callously and shot him in the elbow. His cries were piercing, sobs were peppered with curses. They had no effect on her.
"You people killed the love of my life. You tried to have my best friend, no, my brother kidnapped, you threaten my family and you want to destroy our company. I have no mercy left in me." She could feel all the emotions bubbling out of her, they would not be suppressed and with only vengeance on her mind, she pulled the trigger one last time, cleanly shooting him through the stomach. Lara blocked out the sounds, wails, he was making.
She knelt beside him. "That's going to be excruciating. Just wait until the acids start attacking everything around it."
"You won't get away with this!" Kemo yelled weakly.
"I already have." She walked away from him and opened the door, pulling the key out of the lock. With one last look at the scene she was leaving, Lara closed the door behind her and locked it. She ejected the magazine to see how many rounds she had left and was pleased to find that the only ones that were missing were the ones she had fired. Switching the safety on, she slipped the gun into her jeans and pulled her shirt back on even though she could not fasten it closed.
Lara tossed the key into a random open room along the way as she carefully made her way through the labyrinthine base.
Finally she came up to a room that had to be the control room for the entire place, so she slipped inside and quietly closed the door, then pulled out the sat phone and dialled Mokuba.
Rebecca and Mokuba sat together with the computers in front of them as they worked on getting the information Lara wanted. It had taken a while for Rebecca to figure out a way to get into a satellite with no record and a system that did not exist, but she had found a way and now data streamed in.
Yugi and Tea had left the study. It was difficult sitting around and watching the others busy themselves when they could do little to help. It was also hard for Tea to see all that Rebecca had uncovered and know what horror awaited her friend.
The satellite phone sat between Mokuba and Rebecca on the large wooden desk and the moment it rang Yugi and Tea ran back in, desperate for any news. Mokuba answered and placed the call on loudspeaker.
"Mokuba?" They all heard her voice catch. They knew something was very wrong.
"Hey Lara, we're all here," he said, looking down at the phone.
"Good," she said breathlessly. "Were you guys able to get anything?"
"Yeah we were," Rebecca replied. "Um, Lara there is something you should know. The base runs underground, not far, just two floors but there are also two huge underground missile silos."
"What?!" Lara exclaimed with disbelief.
"You heard right." Rebecca spoke clearly but kept her eyes on the screen. She did not even pay attention to Yugi and Tea standing on the other side of the table.
"Can you blow it?" Lara asked.
"It looks like normally it takes two people with a key and one with a pin to launch the sequence but I think I can get around it. This is definitely not a system Kaiba designed. Kaiba Corp. has infinitely better security," Rebecca informed.
"Set it to detonate in an hour," Lara instructed.
"Okay, where am I targeting?"
"No, I mean detonate them in the silos," Lara said deliberately.
"Lara that will take the entire place out, there'll be nothing left."
"I'm banking on it."
"Alright," Rebecca agreed.
"And take the satellite out of orbit."
"You got it."
"Lara is Seto with you?" Mokuba asked. There was a long pause on the line. So long that for a moment Mokuba thought that they had lost the connection but she just did not know what to say.
"Mokuba." Her voice cracked.
"No Lara. No." His voice was soft but firm. He refused to believe it.
"I'm sorry, they took him to a boat and there was an explosion…" Her voice turned into a whisper, everyone could hear her tears, her anguish. Tea covered her mouth in shock. Rebecca's fingers halted over the keyboard. Yugi shook his head, his eyes filling with tears.
"He's not gone, Lara."
"I'm sorry Mokuba." Her sobs broke every heart in the room.
"No one knows Seto like I do. If he were dead, I'd know it! I'd feel it! I'm telling you Lara, Seto is alive. Just have a little more faith in him." Mokuba's pleading voice broke through to her and he heard her trying to compose herself. "Lara?"
"I hear you Mokuba. Beck, one hour," Lara said, her voice hoarse.
"It's already done. Fifty eight minutes and counting, but what if you can't get off the island in an hour?" Rebecca asked.
"It doesn't matter right now. I'll be in touch." The line went dead.
Mokuba stormed out and they looked at each other in the silent room, all at a loss as to what they should do.
"I'll go," Yugi said and followed after Mokuba. He found him staring out the large lounge window. His face arranged in a brittle, stoic mask.
"Mokuba?" Yugi slowly approached his cousin and friend. His face may have been stoic, but his eyes expressed everything.
"He's not dead, Yugi," Mokuba said firmly, his eyes welling up.
"Mokuba…"
"HE'S NOT DEAD!" he bellowed grabbing the porcelain ornament next to him and flinging it across the room where it hit the wall and shattered into tiny pieces.
Yugi looked up at Mokuba's tall form. "I believe you."
"You do?"
"Of course I do. I've seen Kaiba survive a lot. He's brave and smart. I'm sure he's fine," Yugi said gently.
"Thank you, Yugi." His tears silently fell. Yugi left Mokuba with a few moments to himself. He stared unseeingly into the distance. "Please be okay big brother."
A/N:
Ich werde dich langsam und schmerzvoll umbringen - I will kill you slowly and painfully
Fick dich ins Knie - Go fuck youself/get stuffed
