The Assignment
Chapter Eight
April 6th, 1912
Ellicot
Ellicot Inn
9:00pm
Hawkeye and Havoc snuck out of the building after seeing the Innkeeper leave, putting out a sign stating he went to dinner and would return shortly. They then walked behind the Inn through the alley, sticking to the shadows. It didn't take them long to find the door, light peaking out around the edges.
Havoc then suggested they contact Mustang for back up before they continued, and Hawkeye agreed. She slipped back inside to make the call and informed their commander of their plan as well as a promise to call in ten minutes if there was nothing to find.
Once she had rejoined Havoc they slipped into the basement, opening the door only as far as they needed to fit inside. Once they had reached the bottom of the stairs, they noticed the sound coming from the far end of the basement. It was muffled even here, but the unmistakable sound of someone's brief cry of pain cut off by a hit was one that had them both rushing forward.
They now had eight minutes to investigate and report back before Mustang brought in the rest of the troops, he had waiting for them, and this could possibly be a false lead, but they couldn't allow someone to be injured when they could prevent it.
They reached the door at the other end of the room and drew their guns before Havoc kicked the door and they both rushed through it. There in the center of the floor laid Falman crumbled in a heap with the Innkeeper standing over him with an iron pipe. In the corner on a moldy mattress laid Breda, held in place by a second large man pinning their teammate and hitting him a final time as Havoc leveled his gun at the attacker.
"Freeze!" Hawkeye stated.
"I told you they were military." The big man said to the innkeeper.
"Of course, they are, they're like fleas, appearing everywhere." Said the innkeeper as he threw the pipe at Hawkeye, who easily dodged the weapon. The Innkeeper then kicked Falman for good measure even as he raised his hands. "Don't shoot, I'm unarmed." He said sarcastically.
The big man stood as well, raising his hands in the air and moving slowly toward the Innkeeper and Falman. "I said freeze" Hawkeye said then gestured for Havoc to restrain the men. Havoc handed Hawkeye his gun, not willing to come with in arms' reach with a weapon before cuffing the Innkeeper, the big man. With Hawkeye watching he then drug them over and cuffed them to a pipe.
Once the men were secured Havoc rushed to Falman to check his injuries. Falman pushed at him weakly. "I'm okay, broken legs. Go check Breda. Internal injuries." Falman said.
"ETA six minutes. Unless he got impatient." Havoc said before turning his attention to Breda. Hawkeye continued to glare at the attackers while she made her way slowly to Falman to check on him as well.
"How severe are the breaks?" she asked without looking away from the men.
"I won't be walking out of here on my own Lieutenant." Falman said tightly.
She nodded briefly, then called behind herself for a report on Breda. Havoc hovered over his friend muttering quietly. He paused long enough to inform her they were going to need a stretcher. Before she could respond, Mustang swept into the room, fingers posed to snap, as he assessed the situation. Behind him the basement filled with soldiers.
"You are ahead of schedule sir." Hawkeye said.
"How thoughtless of me." Mustang replied. "How are they?"
"We're going to need a medic to look them over. Both are severely injured." Havoc replied as he helped Breda sit up.
Mustang nodded briefly, and Fuery, who had been standing in the doorway went to go collect the medic they had on the team as well as a couple of people to help them move the injured. The Innkeeper had stopped grumbling the moment Mustang appeared and had grown progressively paler. The bigger man continued to sit there with an arrogant smirk on his face.
Moments later, Breda and Falman were seen by the medic and his team before they were lifted onto litters to be carried out of the basement. MPs then came in to take the two men away. Falman had provided them with enough information before he had been carried away to lead Mustang to believe his men were still in danger.
There were at least three other people involved in the kidnapping. No one was letting their guard down until they were free of Ellicot. At least they had gotten their teammates back, however. Upstairs, Fuery had claimed the keys to all the empty rooms to house the team, and organized watch shifts, as one of the ground floor rooms was claimed as a medical suite.
The medic set to work but suggested that someone go collect the nearest doctor to help him stabilize the men. Fuery sent one of the new recruits to find the town doctor as a team of ten men led the prisoners over to town hall were they would be housed until they could be transferred to a secure prison.
Falman sighed with relief as he was laid in one of the room's two single size beds. It was over now. They had made it through the ordeal. He glanced over at Breda and wondered if the other man had meant the things, he said or if he was reacting to the situation. Falman found himself hoping that Heymans meant it. It would complicate their work. They would have to keep it secret or one or both would be transferred, but he wanted to give it a try. He hoped Heymans agreed.
They had time to discuss it later. After they had patched the two of them up and got them some food and water because it had been a while, again he had lost track of how long it had been, trapped in a haze of pain medication as the doctor set his legs while Fuery and the medic held him in place.
Breda was seemingly asleep, as a second doctor and nurse poked and prodded to determine his injuries. He woke only when the nurse brushed against his back above his kidney. With a nod to herself she returned to prodding the man. He had a couple more spots that required attention, including what they assumed was broken bones.
The worst seemed to be over, they all breathed a sigh of relief as the doctors continued to fix their wounds and set about making casts for the broken bones. Apparently, Breda seemed also have some bruised organs. Falman would be relieved, he had been convinced Breda's injuries were worse than that. Both men would have to visit a proper hospital when they returned to the city to be certain they were healing correctly, but for now it seemed they were not in danger of long term injuries.