So we had a lovely request for Chris and Heisenberg to work together from Cowgirl0334. I am more than happy to oblige since this actually fit in rather naturally and i only needed to change one small point for it to work. instead of getting away with stealing the book, Charlotte got caught lol. hopefully this chapter ends up being worth the slightly longer wait.
Song Suggestion: I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters
Alt Song Suggestion: ECHO by Crusher Ft. Gumi English [I am an old nerd and this song is a classic. It fits the chapter way too well to not mention it.]
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Fair warning this chapter gets a bit intense. it's not gonna be a fun ride for the stress sensitive. if you get uncomfy, go ahead and stop, next chapter will be back to the more mellow tone.
A sharp headache greeted Heisenberg as his began to wake up. He attempted to open his eyes only to wince and quickly shut them once more as the daylight leaking through the windows caused more pain. The man shifts and grumbles as he moves to cover his eyes with a hand to further block out the light.
"Ughhh, my head," He complains under his breath. What happened? He mentally played back the events to figure it out before eventually remembering. "Fuckin' Bitch."
"Honestly, I'm surprised you failed to consider that she'd try and defend herself. You knew who's house we were in. You're lucky she didn't have a gun hidden under the counter somewhere," says a voice that wasn't too far away.
"Real Sympathetic Sweetheart," He replies sarcastically, rolling his eyes while keeping them shut and covered.
"You just tossed out a plan that was a year in the making, and you want sympathy?" Charlotte points out annoyed.
"We can just go to a different cop," Heisenberg replies. "I'm sure anyone would be more than happy to arrest the old man."
"Oh yeah sure. If we still had the book," Charlotte points out in return. "Thanks to your little stunt I didn't have the time to grab it or the files. So now we're back at square one,"
"Great," he says annoyed.
"Well I certainly hope you're happy with yourself, and it was worth it," Charlotte says as it finally starts to click in Heisenberg's mind that there is shuffling and movement accompanying her talking.
At this point, he shields his eyes and attempts to open them to see what was going on. Charlotte was rifling through their bags and separating out their things. She was absolutely at her wits end with him. We work better as a team, we work better as a team, he always says that but whenever the hell he wants he just goes off and does what he wants and doesn't work as, guess what, A TEAM! She would have been better off just doing this by herself.
"What are you doing?" he asks unamused.
"Getting some space," Charlotte replies shortly. "I wasn't going to just run off without knowing that you're okay after getting knocked out, but I'm still livid with you."
Heisenberg frowns "So what? You're just going to leave me here?"
"I'm just moving to another room for a few days since we're stuck here for a week," She replies in return as she closes up the bag with the remaining items.
"Isn't this something we should talk about?" he asks annoyed as he moves to sit up and pre-emptively magnetizes the lock of the door.
Oh! There's that convenient 'WE' again that only applies if he isn't getting what he wants. "What's there to talk about? It wasn't about you, so you didn't care and did what you wanted. We're going home and after this, I'll just work on this without you, and you can just focus on doing whatever it is that you want," Charlotte says in return as she puts the bag over her shoulder and heads over for the door.
Heisenberg waits with a smile beginning to form only to watch in confusion as the door opened anyways.
Charlotte kicks a small plastic bottle cap back into the room that she used to pre-emptively keep the door slightly ajar, so the lock wouldn't line up properly, before walking out and heading on her way to her separate room.
Heisenberg curses under his breath as he flops back onto the bed. Of course this was the one time she'd remember that locks are made of metal. How to fix this... He allows himself some time to rest and stew in his own upset thoughts before eventually sitting back up to look around the room. A tired sigh crossed his lips as he got up and walked over to his phone to check the time. Next to it was a small, folded note.
Sunday, May 1st, 12:09 PM
The metal lord grumbled as he moved to put the phone in his pocket and picks up the note to read it.
'I'll be in room 231 if you need me, but kindly try not to.'
He rolled his eyes at that before heading to the bed so he could start digging through what was left behind for him. His clothes, shoes, and toiletries. All good to have. There it was. He picked up his wallet and put that back into his pocket as well. The nice thing about having a green card was that he was finally able to have his own bank account. It basically worked as a social security number, and you need one of those to open any form of account in the states. Along with that he was finally put on the company payroll and back paid for the last few months of 'work' so he had money again too.
The thought of packing his things and just leaving crossed his mind for a split second. Instead, he shrugged it off and went out to find some food to eat. As annoying as her attitude was, she'd never really pushed him when he asked for space. He'd try and do the same in return for a little and talk to her again in a few days. If that didn't work, then he'd make his way home on his own.
And so, that's what he did. Time passed, he'd wander around on his own, find food, and enjoy some drinks and generally behaved himself rather well for being left unattended for so long. By Tuesday afternoon he finally decided to go and check on her, and while he fought himself the whole time, he did end up going to the store and getting a small bundle of flowers to try and increase his chances of forgiveness.
The metal lord was about to knock on the door only for it to move as he did so. His brows knit together as concern washed over his face. He cautiously pushed the door which creaked open to show the room had been completely ransacked.
'*'*'*'*'
Charlotte had spent her Sunday and Monday alternating between annoyed rage and upset sulking. Each time her mood flip-flopped it gradually became less and less intense as she came to accept that she was going to either have to give up and move on without her final 'Screw you' to her father, Or buckle up and prepare for at least another two years of waiting while the company rebuilt the data and go that route to find other leads of embezzling or foul play. Neither option was ideal, but it's what she had to choose between.
Monday night turned to Tuesday morning, and the cycle continued the moment she woke up. By now the anger had calmed to a general empty sense of defeat. She knew what she was going to have to choose... As much as this was something she wanted to do, she also wanted to move on with her life. She wasn't going to give that obnoxious self-centered always condescending asshole that was her father take another 2 years away from her just because of her own spite for him.
Charlotte made her way over to her bag to start getting changed for the day, "Damn it all Karl, it was one night, you couldn't figure out how to not be a dick for ONE night." She grumbled under her breath.
Knock knock knock.
UGH, for heaven's sake just let me sulk in peace, Charlotte thought annoyed. "I'll be right there," she calls back to the door.
BANG BANG BANG
The knocking was more Aggressive. It kinda wasn't knocking anymore either. She quickly moved to finish getting dressed and not a moment too soon as the lock gave way and a few masked figures entered the room with bats, crowbars and batons in hand. All blunt weapons that were probably easier to sneak in to a public enough place like this.
This was probably going to hurt... They stayed in a stalemate for a few moments before both side leaped into action.
Charlotte quick moved to pick up the comforter from the bed holding it with both hands like a matador to try and use it as a shield from oncoming attacks and to hide her movement. If they couldn't see her feet it would be harder for them to tell where she planned to move. It worked once, blocking an incoming crowbar, but ultimately the numbers were against her, and she was knocked out.
When she eventually woke up, she couldn't see even after opening her eyes. The sound of an engine and tires thumping against constant uneven ground clued her in enough that she was in some kind of car, most likely a van based on the number of voices she was hearing chattering around her. The texture against her nose answered why she couldn't see, a cloth bag of some kind was placed over her head to blind her. Even then the stench of dirty salt water was present. She was out for quite some time if she was near the ocean again... the question was, did they drive the whole way? That limited how far they could have traveled... she was hungry but not starving. She had been out for at most 24 hours. If they were driving in shifts that would put them closer to-
"Wonder how the other team's holdin' up," says one of the multiple voices.
"Oy shut up, she's movin'," Says another voice that was notably closer to her.
Charlotte remained quiet and stayed still for now. At this point, she had a decent guess where she was, but she wasn't going to bank on being right and risk getting herself killed.
"Just leave'er be, we're almost there," says the first voice earning some chattered agreements in response.
2, 3, 4. Four voices. There were 3 in the room when she was knocked out... Okay, so they had one person outside as a get away driver then and there were 5 people in the vehicle. So, definitely a van then since she didn't feel crowded or anyone sitting next to her. Based on that and standard van layouts there was a two-thirds chance that she was sitting next to a door.
"We better be gettin' paid over time for this shit," said the third voice.
"Paid for the job not the hour dumbass," says a voice from behind her causing her to smile from behind the fabric bag.
100% chance she was next to a door. As long as she was hearing correctly she was in the middle. Unless this was a commercial van. It would only have a slider on one side...okay 50% chance. She shifts her seating a bit... and her arms and legs were tied up. Even if she did try jumping, she wouldn't get very far. There goes that plan.
"We're here," says the quiet driver as the van crawls to a stop.
Fuck.
Doors opened and closed before the sliding door opened next to her. None too gently she was pulled out and dragged by the arms for what felt like ages before the bag was finally removed, and she was pushed to sit down again. The goon that dragged her here left and the sound of the lock sliding into place echoed in the room with no windows.
She had no idea what time it was or what day it was at this point. Instead, she started tapping her foot on the ground and counting. Each time she got to 60 she'd put up or down a finger on her left hand and any time she got to 60 ticks on her left hand she'd put up a finger on her right hand. Keeping track of time was the only advantage she could give herself.
2 hours, 15 minutes and 32 second passed before the door was opened again. Charlotte's expression shifted to one of surprise as she watched as the woman from before, the one that lived with the boulder punching asshole, was led into the room in a much gentler manner.
"Stay here, and if you know what's good for you don't try nothin'," the goon says before walking out and locking the door once more.
Emma looked over to Charlotte with concern. "You're here too? What's going on, Why are we here?"
"Geeh why are we in an unknown location guarded by thugs? Let's give that one some thought," Charlotte replied unamused as she felt a pang of guilt. "If I had to guess, given that they're trying not to bruise you up too much, you're a bargaining chip for that book I accidentally left behind."
The woman remained quiet as she moved to sit on a bare cot that was set up in the corner of the room. Charlotte returned to her tapping to pass the time as the two otherwise remained silent.
5 minutes and 12 seconds. The door opened as a very unhappy father walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
"The shipyard by the bank. Honestly, a bit cliché don't you think fath-" Charlotte was cut off as the man punched her in the face instead.
"Do you think this is funny!" he barks in return with self-righteous fury in his eyes.
Charlotte blinked a few times, stunned by the action before she could do much else she was picked up by the front of her shirt and forced to stand and look at him.
"Did you think I wouldn't figure out that it was you, ungrateful brat!" he shouts before shoving her back into the seat which fell over from the force.
"Think you're so fuckin' clever. 'Oh we're at the shipyard, look at how smart I am'," the man mocks before giving her a swift kick to the gut. "I gave you everything and that wasn't good enough for you. Nooo you had to go ad be a snitch," he says giving her another kick.
Charlotte yelped in pain as the additional blow met her rib cage.
"Did you think I wouldn't figure out it was you? Did you think I wouldn't figure out where you went?" the man asks as Charlotte attempts to prop herself up. "I give you credit I'm still trying to figure out how you knocked out the servers and security system. The fire alarm was a nice attempt at a red herring." the man says as he uses his foot to push her back to the ground. "But you forgot about the webcam on my computer," He says with a manic laugh. "You've been testing my patience for years, but this, is the last straw, I will not stand idly by as you lose your goddamn mind and try to destroy everything this family build."
"Get fucked," Charlotte wheezed out which just pissed her father off even more. He moves to pick her back up by the collar once more and drew his arm back and gave her another solid punch causing her to fall again.
"You really think you're some hot shot now huh? Too good for your own family so you sell me out at the drop of a hat to save you're own skin. Is that what happened? Got a plea deal to help hunt me down?" the man accused as he moved to pick her up once more. "Think you're all that and a bag of chips, but you didn't even hide your tracks. Made it really easy to figure out where you went and who you talked to." He says while reeling back his fist once more. "So here's that fight you wanted honey. You finally pissed m-" he was ready to deck the girl once more only to stop as he was hit in the head by a shoe.
"Stop it," Emma says holding her remaining shoe.
Charlotte watched as her father's expression gradually changed from unbridled rage to a sorrowful mourning as he stared at the quaking woman.
Arnold, aren't you excited?
Charlotte will have a little sibling to play with. Just a few months now.
Maybe this time it will be a boy? I know you were hoping for a son.
Though, I wouldn't complain about another little girl to spoil and dress up.
I'm sorry...
Try not to be too hard on her okay?
You're all she has now... She can be someone amazing if you teach her...
I love you.
The father paused and let go of Charlotte allowing her to shakily fall back to the ground. Thanks to her injuries. Instead, he stoops down and picks up the thrown shoe and slowly walks over. Emma steps back and to the side to try and keep a distance from the unstable individual. Rather than throw it or lash out he simply places it on the cot.
"How far along are you?" He asks quietly.
Emma stared at him confused. "What?" she asks voicing her shock at the unusually civil question. The only response she got was a vague gesture to her stomach. She hesitated to reply but eventually spoke all the same. "... 4 months."
He nods and takes a second before speaking again as well. "Do you know what you're having?"
The pregnant woman looked between the unstable man and the beaten woman on the floor with clear concern. "Not yet. No."
"Well... Just pray it isn't a girl," He says before turning to walk away and leave the room.
'*'*'*'*'
Heisenberg looked around the messy room to try and find any clue of where Charlotte might be only to find none. He did have one Idea though considering the door's current state of disrepair. he pitches the bundle of flowers into the trash before quickly making his way outside to find a taxi.
30 minutes of driving later, and the Metal lord started to see familiar streets leading towards a Cul de Sac of typical suburban houses.
"Stop here," Heisenberg says and the driver obliges allowing Heisenberg to get out after he paid for the ride. He was a good block or so from the BSAA agent's house. and he walked the rest of the way. last thing he needed to worry about was an extra set of eyes to gouge out.
The metal lord made his way down the street and found that the home in question had its door wide open and waiting for him. He had just walked into the doorway when a loud shout near him caused him to jolt.
"Chris!" Rose shouts as she hurries further into the house.
That little squealing brat, Heisenberg thought annoyed as the agent quickly hurried over with a gun already in hand. Heisenberg magnetically pulled it away from Chris with a flick of his hand only for it to drop and clatter against the floor like the knives had the night before. God-damn brat stop messing with the polarities!
Before Heisenberg could do much else he got a solid punch to the face. he stumbled back a few steps before returning the blow and decking Chris in return.
"This is low even for you," Chris says as he lands another hit in return.
"That's rich coming from you, what the Hell did you do with her," Heisenberg asks and continues to go punch for punch with the walking tank.
"What did I do? you're blaming me for what you did?" Chris asks annoyed as he grabs onto the metal lord and throws him further into the house resulting in a resounding thud as he hit the ground. "Emma had nothing to do with the village, let her go and leave her out of this."
"What the shit are you talking about" Heisenberg asks as he pushed himself to get up. "Look I don't know what's going on with your marriage problems but leave me out of it and give Charlotte back."
"Why would I voluntarily be around either of you. I just want you guys to leave me and my family the hell alone." Chris says as he stays ready to act in case this was a diversion. "Wait it wasn't you?"
"Fuckin' hell no. It wasn't you?" Heisenberg asks as he stays put for now. he wasn't exactly going to volunteer to take another haymaker from this guy.
"No," Chris replies in return and the two finally stop beating the daylights out of each other. "I don't have time for this, get out of my house." he says as he moves to walk further into the house with Rose.
"Like hell," Heisenberg replies. There was no way this was a coincidence. Maybe whoever it was left a clue here... as he followed the two, he was able to get a better idea of what happened. The place was torn apart similarly to what he saw at the hotel room. "...shit" he says under his breath as he looked at the destruction.
Chris move to set the dining room table back up though it was unstable thanks to the fact it was now missing a leg.
"Is Emma okay?" Rose asks with quiet concern.
"... I hope so," Chris replies just as quietly. his expression shifts slightly as he walks over to the kitchen island and picks up a neatly folded piece of paper. concern shifts and harden anger returns as his attention snaps back to Heisenberg.
"This is your fault," Chris accuses.
"My fault?" Heisenberg parrots back annoyed. this asshole had some nerve.
"They want that stupid book, they have my wife and child" Chris says while holding up the letter.
"Geeh where have I heard that before." Heisenberg replies as he pretend to clear out his ear with his pinky finger. "It must really suck now that the boot is on the other foot. Makes you want to panic right?" He points out as he notices no change in Chris's glare causing a realization of his own. "...You don't even realize you did this to someone else, do you?"
"You think I deserve this?" Chris asks in disgust.
Heisenberg bobs his head. "Kinda yeah."
The answer causes Chris to pause. "... Maybe I do, but she doesn't. She's a civilian she has nothing to do with this."
"Well guilt by association seems to be your favorite kind, the only reason you're mad about this is because you're the one getting bit in the ass this time." Heisenberg points out annoyed. "Where are they holding her,"
"Why should I tell you?" Chris asks in return.
"Because if they're after the stupid book then chances are they're the same people who took Charlotte, and she might be there too," Heisenberg points out before a twitch of a smirk pulls at his mouth.
"You're not coming with me," Chris says annoyed.
"Try and stop me," Heisenberg replies.
'*'*'*'*'
Charlotte shifts a bit to try and lay on her back. Everything hurt and felt like it was on fire.
It took a moment, but she eventually heard soft footsteps of bare feet against the dirty concrete floor.
"That looked pretty painful... I'd ask if you're okay but," Emma paused to stop speaking as Charlotte heard the sound of sloshing water.
"I'm fine," Charlotte replies shortly as she opened her one eye that wasn't swelling shut at this point to find Emma had knelt down by a bucket from the corner of the room that was catching water from a leaking pipe.
"It's already starting to swell," Emma counters as she gets a bit of the water on the tips of her fingers before holding that to her nose to sniff at it. "I wouldn't drink this, but it's clean enough for cooling the bruises," She says as she moves to get up again and looks around. she makes her way back over to the cot and starts pulling at one of the springs to try and get it free.
"That child of yours will only give you so much protection, don't push your luck," Charlotte warns in a tired and bored tone.
The warning was rather clearly ignored as she heard the sound of tearing fabric thanks to the spring which Emma used to rip some fabric off her pants. More wrestling with the cot followed before Emma eventually made her way over to the knocked over chair and sets that back up next to Charlotte. "Come on, I'll help you over to the cot," She offers as she reaches for Charlotte's hands with her own bound hands. It took some finagling, but Charlotte was eventually standing long enough to get back into the chair which Emma dragged over to the cot since Charlotte's legs were still tied and neither one dared undo any of the knots without having a plan to escape solidified.
A bit more struggling later and Charlotte was able to lay on the slightly more comfortable cot. She watched with mild interest as Emma collected the bucket of questionable water from the corner and placed that by the cot before taking a seat in the chair. Charlotte focused on staring at the ceiling instead after that as Emma would dip the scrap of fabric in the water and gently tend to the swelling bruises, twirling the fabric to get it to rapidly cool off and re applying it to the bruises. As the fabric dried it would get a new dunk into the water.
Charlotte continued to count the seconds as they passed. 1 minute. 3 minutes. 15 minutes. An hour. The whole time that blasted thing was tending to the injuries to try and help them heal faster. It took a minute or two longer before Charlotte spoke. "... I'm sorry."
Emma jolted slightly at the unexpected sound before looking at Charlotte confused. "Why?"
"It's my fault that you're here," Charlotte admits. Maybe if she knew that then the persistent thing would leave her alone. It was only a matter of time. Her dad would get that dumb book back, and she'd be expendable.
"It's not your fault," Emma counters as she continued to tend to the injuries. "You were trying to do the right thing bringing that book to Chris. It sounds like you have a few reasons you don't get along... And I'm still not happy about what happened... but, I'm glad you trusted him enough to ask for help if you were going through all this." Emma says in return as she moves to dip the cloth in water again. "This must have been frightening."
Charlotte moves to cover her eyes as a hiccup catches in her throat and tears threatened to fall. No, she wasn't doing this because it was the 'right thing to do'. She was doing this because she was mad, and spiteful and hurting. 'This must have been frightening,' she says as if she wasn't shaking like a leave just an hour and a half ago.
"I'm sorry if this is an uncomfortable question but... what did you mean before when you said, 'That child of yours will only give you so much protection'?" Emma asks which pulls Charlotte away from her thoughts.
The beaten woman accepts the distraction as Emma continued to tend to her injuries. "... My mother passed away due to complications with childbirth," Charlotte explains. "Because of that, my father's always been a bit... odd. around expecting women. I think he feels guilty, that it was his fault she died. In a way, he's not wrong." she rambles as she explains further... good lord how hard did she hit her head to be this loose lipped. She hadn't even told Karl about this... "I think he feels like if he's accommodating to expecting women, that it will help him 'repent' for killing her."
Emma remained quiet. "What a horrible lie to convince yourself is true..." She says with a sympathetic tone. "Medical problems like that, they're not usually one person's fault if anyone's at all... Having a child is a risk. It's painful and a lot of the times leaves the mother in pretty bad shape they never fully recover from..." The pregnant woman admits. as she actually stopped tending to the wounds to look down at her own stomach and gently place her free hand over it. "I can't imagine living with that kind of guilt over something I couldn't control... I know I wouldn't want Chris to blame himself if something happened to us..."
Charlotte attempts to roll her eyes from behind her hand. "Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine."
"huh? Oh gosh, sorry you're right... that was rather rude and dismissive of me to say..." Emma apologizes as she goes back to tending to Charlotte.
"What? No, that." Charlotte gave a tired sigh. "You care too much..."
"Maybe," Emma admits in return. Even then she stayed by the cot and continued working to make sure that the bruises stayed cool to help them heal until the two eventually fell asleep.
'*'*'*'*'
Much to Heisenberg's annoyance he had to wait to go after these assholes. Chris dropped rose off with a teammate before driving the two to the BSAA HQ To get the book. He put two duffle bags into the back of the SUV before getting back into the driver's seat and hands the book to Heisenberg.
"Why in the shit are we bringing that thing with," Heisenberg asks as Chris starts the car. Was he an idiot? who brings the one thing that's keeping hostages alive with them to a rescue mission.
"It's better to have it and not need it, then need it and end up with both of them dead," Chris says as he puts the car back into drive. "And, technically, now we're not breaking the law." he explains as he starts heading toward the designated address from the letter.
Heisenberg gave a disgusted grumble. "You fucking got this approved as work?"
"Well the alternative is getting arrested again so," Chris starts only to get cut off.
"Again?" Heisenberg asks confused.
"I don't want to talk about it," Chris says in monotone annoyance.
"Of course you don't," Heisenberg replies bored. This guy was lucky he wasn't the sort to go against a deal or the weapons he just put into the back of the car would be conveniently flying into the agent's head.
After driving in silence for 8 solid hours the sun had well since set. Heisenberg cautiously looked over. "We've been driving for a while now. shouldn't you rest or something?"
"This is easy, Try a 12-hour flight across the Atlantic, you don't exactly get to pull over and take a break," Chris points out in return. granted having a co-pilot helps, but that was neither here nor there.
"Show off," Heisenberg grumbles as he moves to cover his face with his hat so he could rest for a bit. it took a few minutes, but he eventually felt the car slow as they pulled off the highway.
"We need to refuel," Chris says which causes the metal lord to smirk behind his hat.
"What happened to no stops on the Atlantic," He asks with a snarky tone.
"This Isn't exactly a military long-distance helicopter," Chris rebuttals as the shifting motion of the vehicle told him they were off the highway and on a regular road again.
"Sure, whatever you say roid rage," Heisenberg replies. He needed the guy in order to get to Charlotte, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.
Heisenberg eventually falls asleep as they continued their traveling. While he was worried about Charlotte, she was clever. She'd probably be fine if she hadn't already taken over as the leader of the rat people.
"Wake up," He hears Chris say as he receives a nudge on his arm that was facing the door of the vehicle.
Heisenberg shifts to get up to find that they were a couple hundred feet from the shipyard, that his door was open, and Chris was already out of the car and geared up.
"This is where the address lead to?" Heisenberg asks curiously.
"Yeah, more specifically a warehouse in the shipyard," Chris says as Heisenberg gets out of the car.
"Well that's a bit Cliché... thanks for the ride, I'll take it from here," Heisenberg replies as he moves to start walking away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Chris asks annoyed causing Heisenberg to stop and turn to face him.
"Um. to the shipyard. where my wife better be, or I'm going to be making it everyone else's problem," Heisenberg replies.
"We need to make a plan first, or we'll just be wasting time," Chris points out.
"We? Oh no. I'm grateful, or something, for the ride, but that's not happening," He says in return as he waves off the idea.
"Look I don't like this either, but we need to work together. The longer we take looking for them, the longer these low lives have to move them to a new location," Chris points out.
"Why should I work with you?" Heisenberg asks with a frown. "I'm a bioweapon remember?"
Chris holds up his pistol and fire creating a soft pop sound thanks to the silencer attached to it. shouts of pain could be heard causing Heisenberg to turn and find some goon crumpled onto the ground in a puddle of their own blood.
"Point received," Heisenberg replies.
"Back up should be here in a few hours," Chris explains as he offers an earpiece to Heisenberg. "Put this in, for now, we can split up, and we'll cover more ground but this way if one of us get a lead we can let the other know," He explains as Heisenberg cautiously accepts the offered device and puts it in his ear.
"Hello, hello hello hello!" He says rather loudly to test the mic causing Chris to wince.
"Will you stop that, they're designed to pick up whispering for stealth missions," He hissed in return.
"Right. got it," He says in a normal tone. Chris takes out his earpiece and adjusts a few settings before putting it back in place.
"Alright. letter said warehouse 6, but it could be a trap," He points out. "I'll scope it out from a distance while you check the other warehouses to see if they hide away from the drop sight,"
"Fine, but if this doesn't work I'm going with my own plan," Heisenberg replies reluctantly.
"Fine," Chris says in return. "This way." he says and starts leading the way into the shipyard before the two split off.
"Remember, not everyone here is involved there are civilians too," Chris says through the earpiece causing Heisenberg to roll his eyes.
"Right so now you're worried about civilians," He says in return. "must be nice getting to pick and choose when that's a concern," Heisenberg adds.
"Look I didn't have the resources for that scale of an evacuation, I had a 6-man team, and we were off the radar. I figured cutting the problem off at the source would resolve the issue in a safer way," Chris finally explains.
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," Heisenberg replies while shaking his head. While Chris worked a bit more stealthily the metal lord casually walked around and looked for where the two women might be hidden. any time he noticed someone with a gun he's mow them down. Rather literally, he found a few industrial saw blades while moseying around. Any attempts to shoot at him were thwarted by keeping a magnetic field activate that would repel the ammo.
"Warehouse 6 was a trap," Chris says through the communicator.
"Shocking," Heisenberg replies as he looks around for leads. "Well 1 through 4 are now empty, moving on to 5."
"I'll meet you there," Chris replies "it's either warehouse 5 or 7."
Heisenberg approached the building around the same time that Chris did and noticed a thug laying on a storage crate and taking aim. he'd be fine, the field would catch it. If he left it be he might be free of a particularly annoying headache...
BANG!
Chris froze in place as his eyes widened before looking around to find the bullet stopped a few inches from his face. one of the saw blade were flung through the air effectively cutting down the stealthier thug causing them to fall off the crate with a metallic thud.
"There, Now we're even for earlier," Heisenberg says as he gets the doors for the warehouse to slide open on their own.
Chris went in first followed by Heisenberg as they started checking and clearing the various rooms within the warehouse. Storage rooms, supply rooms a break room with a few unfortunate goons, a fortunately empty bathroom. Still no sign of them until the made their way to a metal door.
"Locked," Chris says with a frown.
Karl snapped his fingers as the tumblers shifted, and the door creaked open. "Not anymore."
They quickly walked in to find a windowless room. Emma was sitting on a chair and groggily opened her eyes to look over at the two. Upon seeing them she quickly became more away and moved to get up making her tied hands more apparent. "Chris?" she asks quietly.
Heisenberg rolled his eyes as the two reconvened and puts his last remaining disk like saw blade down by the door. "Where is Charlotte?"
Emma looked down at the floor for a moment before looking at Heisenberg as she gestures over to the cot. "She's resting. Please be gentle..." Emma requests as Heisenberg made his way over as well.
Gentle. What the hell sorta person did she think he wa- he stopped as he noticed that she was beaten and bound at the ankles and wrist. He moves more ridged and briskly over and unties her. "Get up," he demands though in his mind it was more of a pleading.
The harsh sharp tone causes Charlotte to open her good eye and look around to try and figure out what was going on. "Karl?" She asks as he moves to prop her up. while her expression was a bit difficult to read her tone was a bit clearer. She was surprised to see him. "And Chris?" She asks as she starts to register who all was in the room. "Wait. Did you two... Did you work together?" Charlotte asks stunned.
"Not now," Heisenberg replies with an exasperated sigh. He was not going to hear the end of this. Even then he was still just happy to see she was alive, She looked like she was run over by a semi but, she was alive. She wasn't able to hide the fact that being held was painful."... By the way, I have had the moral high ground this whole time and I expect a gold star and a cookie for it." Heisenberg says hoping to get her to smile a bit. the joke seems to work as despite the bruising a weak smile could be seen as she quietly chuckles. "This is a new record for me." he adds with a chuckle of his own. Seeing her like this pissed him off to the high heavens and someone was going to die for it, but he wanted to make sure she was okay first... "You're looking good by the way,"
"What can I say, family reunions, really take it out of me," Charlotte replies as she attempts to shift to get more comfortable.
Heisenberg's smile, as fake as it was, fell away. "Your dad did this to you?"
"First time for everything," Charlotte says.
Yeah, and a last time too, that asshole...He gently lays her back down before walking over to Chris and Emma. "Keep an eye on them, get them out if you can, I'm going to check that last warehouse," He says and uses his powers to pick up his remaining saw blade from its place by the door.
Heisenberg makes his way out of the 5th warehouse and down the path to the final building. If he was still here there, was only one other place he'd be. inside the open warehouse area where dozens of guards standing by a man at a desk that was safely inside a thick bulletproof glass box.
"Who the he- You. you're that rat from before," he says as he eventually recognizes Heisenberg. "Shoot him," The man says with a frown. the guards did as they were told, and the bullets simply stopped and fell to the ground before he picked up the metal remains and ricocheted the back at the group, hitting the guards repeatedly causing them to fall to the ground.
"So how'd that work out for you?" Heisenberg asks with a smirk as he starts walking forward and takes a cigar from his pocket allowing it to light on its own.
The man watched horrified as Heisenberg approached and knocked on the glass. "This is going to be fun," he says with a laugh as he allowed the saw blade to repeatedly bash against the glass causing it to slowly chip away.
"L-lets be reasonable," the man says with a nervous smile.
"Reasonable? you mean like how you were reasonable when you were beating your daughter to a pulp," he asks with a sneer in return and the bent and battered saw blade hit the glass with another resounding, cracking thud.
"We never did agree on how to deal with our problems, but at this point I genuinely don't give a fuck if she didn't want to kill you," he says and smacks the glass once more. "Death is too good for you she said. She wanted to take away that company 'cause it was the only thing you cared about. It was the only way to really hurt you." Heisenberg repeats as the man tried to stare him down and hide his own shaking. "I figured she was being a bit dramatic saying that. But you. You certainly wanted to prove her right with that little stunt of yours," Heisenberg says with a sneer as the glass finally started to give way. the man inside the box had turned as pale as a sheet.
"Now I'm gonna respect her wishes. mostly." the metal lord admits as he steps through the hole he made to get in. could he have just unlocked the door? sure. but he always did prefer to put on a show. "She said death is too good for you. So by the time I'm done with you, you're going to be begging me to send you to hell because an eternity there will be less painful."
Terrified pained screams filled the air around the 7th warehouse.
'*'*'*'*'
Chris walks over to the cot with Emma to check on Charlotte. "Can you move?" he asks Charlotte.
"Slowly..." she replies in return. the main problem was that she couldn't really see where she was going, and her depth perception was shot with only one eye able to open properly.
"I'll help support her," Emma offers.
"You shouldn't be carrying anything in your state," Chris points out worried.
"We're sitting ducks here. One well tossed explosive, and we're paste," Emma points out in return as she moves to help Charlotte get up.
Charlotte does so and winces as she gets up. "She's unfortunately correct... we need to move,"
Chris hesitates but nods. " Alright, I'll clear a path and cover you guys," he agrees and heads over to the doorway to peek around and see if there was a threat. "Coast is clear," he says and moves out into the open to keep a better eye on their surroundings.
The process was slow, but they made their way out of the warehouse with minimal problem. honestly the place was a ghost town at this point. dead bodies and blood littered the pathways showing the route that the men had taken around the facility.
a distant shout of pain was heard ringing through the air.
"Time to pick up the pace," Chris says concerned as he continued to look around for any sort of threat.
"Easier said than done," Charlotte replies with a wheezing attempt at a laugh.
another 10 minutes passed before they made it back to Chris's SUV.
"What day is it?" Charlotte asks since she had no idea what time it was when she arrived at the warehouse. once the two were safely in the vehicle he finally allowed himself to check the time.
"Wednesday, May 4th, 10:22 AM" He reads off and puts the phone away.
"fun," Charlotte replies as she was helped to the back seat of the car, so she could lay flat.
It took a good 30 minutes after that before Heisenberg made his way over to the car as well now missing the saw blade he'd been using before.
"So what was this about expecting backup?" He asks with an annoyed laugh.
"I'll Call in for them to meet us somewhere safer, they need medical attention." Chris points out and Heisenberg nods once everyone was back into the car Chris drove the group to safety where they were attended to.
I'm realizing a slight writing inconsistency that Heisenberg was knocked out by the broom but was fine taking multiple hits from Chris. To this I say, Momma adrenaline can make you strong enough to lift a car to save a baby. That's my excuse, and I am sticking to it. it's definitely not plot convenience X'D
nadillaandlaprasthefireandice - They did, but unfortunately Charlotte did not check for personal cameras not connected to the security system in the office before digging around. vnv There certainly was hell to pay with this chapter XD hopefully it was still enjoyable to read.
Charadrius - lol yeah she really can't X'D I had initially planned for this to be a Win for Charlotte and her dad was none the wiser, but the request came in for Chris and Heisenberg to work together and I could not pass it up hahaha. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story ^v^ it's certainly been an interesting race against the clock to finish this before Capcom gives new lore that absolutely wrecks it hahaha.
ScaryBerry - I'm sure he'll think of a way to help comfort rose. Eventually. Something says Chris is going to be very busy because of all this.
Black Moon's Daughter - Lol glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter X'D it was a ton of fun to write and certainly had me giggling a bit as I wrote it. Heisenberg definitely had a fair point, but he just went about making the point in a very, Heisenberg way which made it a bit more aggressive than necessary lol.