"Jay, you have to go!" Sam yelled over the sound of gunfire and explosions going off in the background. He tried to suppress the grimace of pain fighting to make its way onto his face as the piece of shrapnel lodged in his leg decided to take this particular moment to remind him of its presence. Based on the look on Jay's face, he did a piss poor job of it.
"I'm not leaving you!" Jay yelled, trying futilely to put him on his back. Unfortunately for both of them, Jay's left arm was in almost as bad shape as Sam's leg.
"There's no time for this!" Sam shouted back, desperation coloring his voice. He pointed to the group of children huddled in the corner of the room. They stared back wide-eyed. "You've got to evac the kids! I won't let them die because of me!"
"But—"
"No, buts! Get them out of here!"
Jay hesitated for a second, staring into Sam's eyes. Sam watched as various emotions flitted through his friend's deep brown orbs before finally settling on determination. Jay closed his eyes and, after a short moment, nodded gravely. "Alright... Is there anything—"
"No time for this, just go!" Sam desperately yelled, fighting off a wave of dizziness to give him a small punch on the shoulder. Sam smiled as the blow seemed to wake Jay up. He started moving in earnest, herding the children towards the evac point. As he exited the room, he sent one last heartbroken look in Sam's direction. Not wanting Jay's last memory of him to be of his despairing over his fate, Sam smiled and gave him a cheeky thumbs up. The hurt on Jay's face didn't dissipate a bit at Sam's attempt to lighten the mood, but it didn't matter. An instant later, he rounded the corner and was gone. The moment Jay was gone, he dropped the smile, letting his exhausted body drop to the floor.
I'm so fucking tired... Sam thought as his eyelids drooped closed. Still, not a terrible way to die. Sacrificing myself to save a friend and some kids. Probably better than I deserve to be honest.
After an undetermined amount of time, Sam heard the chopper taking off in the distance. Using the last bit of his energy, Sam crawled over the wall and propped himself up against it. He wanted to see the chopper get away. Make sure that their mistakes would be fixed. For a few seconds, he saw nothing but the flaming wreck that had once been a bustling city.
Despite desperately wanting to avert his eyes from the disaster unfolding in front of him, Sam forced himself to hold steady. He'd have plenty of time to rest when he was dead. Eventually, his vigil was rewarded with the sight of chopper rising up.
Sam checked his watch. Still two minutes left. They were going to make it.
BOOM.
Sam's eyes shot up from his watch just in time to catch the fireball that had once been the chopper drop out of the sky.
"No... Why?" Sam gasped, suddenly wide awake. Using a reserve of energy he didn't realize he had, he crawled up to the window and drew himself high enough to look down at the flaming mess.
Despair slowly flooded through him as he stared at the wreck, brain unable to catch up with the sight before him. How was this possible? They'd taken out all the AA, he was sure of it. How...? A hidden weapon cache they'd missed?
He must have stared at the wreck in a daze for at least a few minutes because, in the distance, the first bomb dropped, lighting up the sky. It was time.
So he wasn't even going to get his heroic end, after all. A small painful laugh forced its way out of his throat as the second bomb dropped, getting ever closer.
A chopper full of kids goes down, and I make it all about me and my ending. Typical. God, I'm such a piece of shit.
Sam watched as bomb after bomb dropped. Finally, one dropped close enough to blow up the glass window he was looking through, knocking him back onto the floor.
As his vision faded to black, one last simple thought managed to overwhelm all others.
Fuck this shit.
"HEY! I'M NOT DRUNK!" Carl yelled as Sam watched the bouncer pull him out of the bar. "YA HEAR! NOT DRUNK!" He turned and stared right at Sam. "Sammy, help a brother out, will ya! Tell 'em!"
Sam glanced over at Carl, who was by now desperately holding onto the doorframe as the bouncer did his best to force him out the door. Everyone left in the bar turned to look at Sam, laughing at his misfortune. Sam, for his part, just rolled his eyes at the display. "Carl, if you don't want to get kicked out of a bar, how about you don't piss out in the open?"
"Not my fault they put such a fine-looking toilet out there," Carl groused as he continued to cling onto the doorframe. "I felt it calling to me. I mean, why else was it just sitting there? Who just puts a toilet out in the open?"
"That was a vase, you fucking drunk moron," the bouncer said from outside. "Now, let go of the damn doorframe and get the fuck out of here!"
"Well, why'd they get a vase that looks so much like a toilet then?" Carl complained.
As Carl continued to fight to stay in the bar, a new patron walked up to the bar.
Sunglasses indoors and hood up... Man, this guy think he's a famous actor or something? Sam suppressed the urge to shake his head as he turned back to his drink. As usual, his body complained, sending a shot of searing pain running up his spine. Ignoring the now-familiar sensation, Sam lifted his beer to his lips and took a long slow drink.
As he put his drink down, the new arrival came over and sat right next to him at the bar. Sam lifted a brow quizzically at him. The bar wasn't exactly crowded, and the man had had plenty of seating choices other than the one he'd chosen.
Sam shook his head lightly, forcing his tired brain to focus on the new arrival.
No, I was wrong. Definitely not a wannabe celeb. Sam decided as he studied the man that had decided to invade his personal space. Something about that posture a bit too stiff for that... And the way he's angling his body in such a way that he can see all the entrances to the room... I do that same thing. Military background, maybe?
"So, this what passes for an exciting night for you nowadays, Sammy?" The man said, looking up and whipping off the sunglasses to reveal a familiar smirk. "Got to tell you, Sam, retirement doesn't seem to be treating you too good."
Vinny Collins. A regular in his recurring nightmares. He looked the same as ever. Good-looking in a sort of classic Italian way. Salt and pepper hair slicked back—though Sam thought he noticed a bit more salt and less pepper than the last time he'd seen him—and clean-shaven thin face.
And he was sitting here. In his bar. The fucking nerve on this guy.
"Collins!" Sam growled, barely managing to suppress the urge to jump over the bar and strangle the man. With the state of his body, that was sure to end badly for him. As it was, he decided to settle with just putting his good hand on the gun he kept holstered in his jacket. Just in case. "What the fuck are you doing here? Thought I made it pretty clear the last time we talked that I was out."
"You did, you did," Vinny said, raising his hands defensively. "I just figured that two years might have dulled your resolve a bit."
Sam didn't even dignify that with a proper response. He just growled menacingly.
That son of a bitch Vinny just raised his arms placatingly and laughed. "Fine, fine. Truth is, it just so happens that you happen to be perfect for a job I need to do."
Sam just stared at him, having trouble figuring out what was more shocking—the fact that this human-shaped pile of trash had the gall to talk to him or that he felt like he needed a cripple like him.
"Alright, I'm only going to say this once." Sam narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his shotgun. "Get the fuck out of my bar. I never want to see your face ever again."
"Come on, man! Just hear me out!" Vinny said with a pleading expression. "You know that I wouldn't come to you if I didn't feel like I needed your help!"
Sam just glared at him silently, waiting for him to realize that he had no intention of giving in to his simpering smile. Unfortunately for him, Vinny was nothing if not persistent.
"Look, Sam, buddy, don't you want to know what's going on it your town?" Vinny said, leaning forward. "Cuz, believe it or not, something pretty damn interesting is happening here."
"Something's happening here? Something you're interested in?" Sam said, interested despite himself.
"Yup. Crazy, right?" Vinny said with an exaggerated sigh. "I mean, this isn't exactly the middle of nowhere, but it's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find me in either, right?"
Understatement of the year. Vinny Collins could usually only be found in the center of the biggest conflicts in the world. Karachi, Beirut, Tehran, sure, but Echo Creek, California? It was beyond strange.
"You've got thirty seconds," Sam finally said.
"Great! So, a few days ago, at the local high school, some interesting things happened." Vinny reached into this hoodie pocket and pulled out a folder. Opening it, he revealed pictures of what looked like a carriage being pulled by some weird lion/lizard hybrid, a girl waving what looked like a pink magic wand around and creating a flaming rainbow, and a bunch of monsters attacking that same girl outside a convenience store.
"What am I looking at here?" Sam said, as he closely scrutinized the pictures. "Pictures of a movie being shot here?"
"Not quite," Vinny said, shaking his finger knowingly. "No, what you're looking at is real magic."
"Real magic?" Sam scoffed. "You've got ten seconds left. Don't waste your time with jokes."
Vinny laughed. "I'm being straight with you, man! Real magic."
Sam furrowed his brow and took another look at the photos. The one constant in all the photos was a blond teen, maybe 14 or 15 years old, by the looks of it. She was also the one carrying around the wand looking object.
"You think this girl can do real magic," Sam stated deadpan.
"We know she can," Vinny answered, equally deadpan.
Sam stared at the photos for a few more seconds before heaving a tired sigh. "Alright, so let's say that I actually believed that this girl could do magic. What exactly do you want me to do about it? I'm not exactly able-bodied anymore."
Sam rapped his left arm with his right fist, causing a dull sort of plasticky sound to ring out.
"Doesn't matter for this job. We just need you to become a teacher at Echo Creek Academy, where she goes to school." Vinny plastered a slimy smile on his face that was probably meant to be charming. "Get her trust. Figure out what she's up to. You were born and raised here. Even used to be a teacher. It's the perfect cover because it's real. No eyebrows raised if you suddenly get hired to teach a class here in case her backers are watching."
"Figured she must have backers or you would have just grabbed her off the street as soon as you found out about her," Sam said, giving Vinny a cold glare. "So who is her backer then? A terrorist organization? Another Country?"
"No idea," Vinny said with a shrug. "That's what we want you to figure out."
"So you'll know if it's worth pissing them off to kidnap the girl," Sam said in disgust. "What in the hell makes you think I'd help you ever again after what happened last time?"
"I just think that you're a good man. A good man with a soft spot for children." Vinny shook his head. "If you don't accept the job, I'll have no choice but to go to someone else. Someone without that soft spot." Vinny tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I think the higher-ups wanted Emilia for this job originally before I remembered that this job happened to be in your hometown. I don't think I need to tell you what would happen if she was the one chosen, now do I?"
Sam shuddered. Emilia was a viper. She was willing to just about anything to reach her goals. Torture, murder, seduction, blackmail... nothing was beyond her. Though Sam supposed that could be said about pretty much any of Vinny's operators. What set Emilia apart, however, was how sadistic she was. Where most other operators would do what they had to do, Emilia enjoyed toying with people. As a result, almost all of her jobs ended up with the people involved getting hurt, one way or another. Not only that, her acting ability was one of a kind. Even Sam hadn't been immune to her deceptions, despite knowing what she was like ahead of time.
"You scumbag, you'd send Emilia to work on a kid?!" Sam spit out.
"It's not really up to me, you know. Well, that and she is the best," Vinny said with another shrug, acting as if it wasn't his problem.
Sam stared at Vinny, his fist opening and closing as he considered everything that he'd said. He'd sworn to himself that he wouldn't let himself get caught up in Vinny's schemes ever again. Not after what had happened last time. And yet, here he was, seriously considering doing the job.
He checked his watch and sighed. "I've taken up way more than my thirty seconds, and I can see that I wasted both our time here. I guess that there's nothing that I can do to convince you to come back." Vinny got up, grabbing the folder of photos and stuffing it back in his hoodie pocket. "It was nice catching up. You've got my number. Call me if you change your mind."
Vinny tossed his card onto the bar in front of Sam and started slowly walking towards the door.
It was all for show. The threat to send Emilia, leaving now, his slow casual walk, all of it. Sam knew it. And yet... He just couldn't let it happen. Couldn't let there be even a chance in hell that Emilia would be sent after this poor kid. Shit.
"Collins gets your ass back here," Sam growled, impotent frustration flooding through him.
"Oh my, did you change your mind already?" Vinny said, a broad smile on his face. He walked back over and sat back down, waiting for Sam to initiate the conversation.
"Fuck you," Sam said. "You knew that I'd accept."
"Guilty as charged. My job is to get people to do things they don't want to do, and I'm pretty good at my job."
Sam closed his eyes and did his best to suppress the desire to whip out the pistol and blow the slimy prick head clean off. It would be so easy. Just a quick pull of a trigger and boom! Bye-bye Vinny. Unfortunately, as satisfying as that would be in the moment, all it would lead to was jail time for him and Vinny's boss replacing him with another stooge. Then the kid would be in trouble again, and he wouldn't be in a position to help her.
Once he managed to regain his composure, he opened his eyes and turned a markedly calmer gaze at the still grinning Vinny.
"I'll take the job on one condition."
"Oh?" Vinny sat up straighter and looked him in the eye.
"I don't want to see a single other operator anywhere near Echo Creek. If I'm going to do this job, I'll do it my way."
"Don't want backup do we?" Vinny said with a smirk. "Fair enough, you always were a bit of a lone wolf." Vinny pulled a different folder out of his hoodie pocket. How did he fit all these folders in there without bending them all? "I figured you'd probably accept, so I went ahead and got you the job. You start as the new Math teacher on Monday. Good luck!"
Without another word, Vinny spun around and walked out of the bar. This time he didn't take his time and was soon gone. The instant he disappeared, the tension drained out of Sam's body, and he let himself slump onto the bar. Sam massaged his temple as a familiar ache in his head signaled the arrival of a migraine.
How did I get involved with Collins again? I promised myself I'd never let it happen again, and yet here I am...
Sam let out an exasperated sigh. God, this was going to suck. With a heavy heart, he opened up the folder and got to work studying his new target, Star Butterfly.