- Chapter Thirty-Two -

The Slow Kiss Goodnight

"Sam..." Blinking through the haze clouding her vision, Daniella attempted to raise her head to her savior but was too groggy to do so. If she'd had had the strength, the heiress would have laughed to herself - of course it was her thief.

[Nadine Gets Some Long Overdue Answers]

Fiery fist of fury pounding into the reinforced wall with nary a hairsbreadth between the exposed metal and the wretch's skull, Nadine didn't so much as wince at the contact. The unfortunate scribe she'd found wandering the corridor with a clipboard couldn't say the same as her rough knuckles grazed his whiskery cheek. Reminiscent of an African clawless otter, from the simpering slouch's bearing and appearance it was clear why he'd gone into book-keeping. Hopefully for his own sake he was smart enough to avoid unnecessary conflict and talk.

"I'm only going to ask you once: where is the girl?!" Short on temper as ever, the former mercenary's coolly commanding tone left no doubt that she was good for her word.

Pants unmistakably soiled from the experience, the grunt of the operation was sorely tempted to divulge everything he knew about the situation, but not for the reason one might expect. Sick to death of the Adler heiress and hearing just how much she meant to the immediate future of the gang, once they had actually gotten a hold of her everything had become infinitely more irksome. Tighten security, double shifts, triple them even. While that was all well and fine, Jian hadn't paid much heed to what that meant for accounting, how much creativity and haste they required to pull it off without any warning whatsoever. To be fair he never had paid much mind to that side of the business, which was more than fine with the head accountant.

Too terrified to lie, all he could speak in that moment was the truth. "I don't know. No one knows where she vanished to." So far as his entire department was concerned, twit could stay lost. "After the boss had a private word with her, she had been sent to one of the old offices to cool off and reconsider. Standard procedure, for the wealthy and important." Betraying the greedy, under-handed sleaze that the man was at his core, there was no mistaking which he would put precedence over. "No one ever imagined she would throw herself out the window!"

Throwing one's own self out of the window definitely screamed the exact move either of her parents would have done in the same position. In fact, it had even happened once. Story checking out, Nadine knocked the snitch out cold before flicking on the radio to fill in the others on the current situation. His boss could deal with this one accordingly.

[Cause & Effect]

Bulb flickering shyly as an ordinary housefly skimmed the luminescent surface, the light shinning over the operating table showed the first signs of needing a change. While the brief disturbance was only mildly troublesome, the buzzing insect was downright irritating. Brow covered with sweat and surgical mask weighing soggily at the upper edges, the unlicensed surgeon made a mental note to attend to the matter later. For now there was work of the utmost importance to be done and no one else that could do it! Well, no one else that he trusted...

Falling completely unconscious just after he'd found her, all it took to recognize his unexpected guest as the young woman in the news was a simple brush of the hair. Rather what had happened when he went to move her was that the bearish tangle had fallen out of her bloodless face as he carried the fair maiden down the stairs. No different than lugging around bags of kibble really, at first he hadn't immediately placed her through the grime coating just about every square inch he could see, although it would be lying to say that something hadn't sparked in his brain. A memory, or even a photograph perhaps? Something about her seemed oddly familiar, yet he hadn't properly figured it out until after the patient had been cleaned up for surgery.

Careful of witnesses as he descended with the stranger - including family that, given the timeline, was more than likely still lingering someplace in the building - the young man hadn't seen any other option. Sure, ethically the "right" answer was to bring her to the hospital (and alert her family that she was still alive), but it probably wasn't a coincidence that she was that banged up in this particular part of town. No where would really be safe for the girl, not if those Orange Pusses were on the prowl, so the least he could do was get her a few more minutes.

Well, that was only assuming that he had the same magic ability Alberto had for patching up wounded creatures that couldn't fend for themselves. Having grown up where they had and in the manner in which they did, his medical skill was more than sufficient to get by; really all that was lacking was the degree. All the same, he had never put his skills to use on a human before - not with the intention of saving a life.

"So now we wait." Mumbling to himself as she was still out cold from the preanesthetic sedation - in this case a combination of acepromazine and morphine - the young man began to clear up the empty Telazol container. Though unqualified to actually lend a hand in any of the operations, he'd sat in on Alberto's work more times than he could count, so he was confident in his work. What he was less confident about was that he'd administered the correct amount for something bigger than a dog... and how she would react...

Eyes fluttering wildly below the lid, Daniella slowly began to stir after what felt like an eternity of being underwater. Not immediately aware of her new surroundings or that so much of her skin was exposed, the first thing the heiress' mind registered was that her body felt warmer than it had up on the roof. Warmer and lighter. Like her bones had become hollow and made her weigh less than a feather. A mermaid with the wings of an angel. Some kind of siren? Ugly, scaled, and angry, the picture that bridged dream and consciousness was as nightmare-inducing as the unabridged collection of world lore she'd read at too young a age.

Sunken ice sapphires snapping open like lilies begging for light, the first thing she saw was a splendid hologram glow overhead. Heaven? But she thought that she had decided to live, to find a reason, a way to make her father and ancestors before proud? Well, maybe all of that could come after she'd found a way to make up for her guilt and her shame. Had she died regardless? Giggling from another body and hearing it before she even realized that she had been the one laughing, floating on cloud nine (hehe, that was funny. But why nine? Why not eight? Or eleven? Eleven even rhymed with heaven), it seemed plausible. Maybe a good attitude was all it took after all.

Out of nowhere a hand touched her arm, her wrist, her forehead, checking her vitals. At first the young woman's instinct was to flinch away out of fear that she had been captured once more, however her body had been turned to stone; volcanic (because that was the most beautiful in her opinion), the rock that had replaced the flesh was too heavy and too ancient to move. Helpless against the dark-haired angel that stood above, despite not being able to move she realized that she wasn't afraid. Unlike the false divine and his lover, this touch was soft, careful; almost afraid that just a single wrong move might break her into a million pieces. Just like her father had been when she was little.

"Daddy..." If her voice hadn't been robbed by a sea witch and her body turned into living stone, Daniella would have smiled for the first man she had ever loved.

[Back in the Precinct]

Using the fact that all eyes and ears would be on the fight to his advantage, the brunette displayed a surprising amount of pliability by folding himself as close to double as his six feet would allow. Hunched over, thinking small thoughts, and literally holding his breath in order to suck it all in, Sam slithered and slid through the beehive undetected. Every second exposed was a risk, however every millisecond that went by without completing the objective was twice as worse. Nerves one thing, the success or failure of tonight could have meant everything for the future... of his wallet.

Better than good at his craft, on the way out the thief had also managed to grab a small parting gift - however this all ended, with whatever information he uncovered, this whole episode wouldn't feel like a monumental waste. Swiping a manila from the top of one desk and a printed document from another, everything he'd gathered he'd stashed in a single fluid movement. Oh yeah, Sam Drake still had it. And yet somehow the expert pickpocket could imagine that he'd still hear it from the others - cough, cough, Nadine - for not retrieving more intel. True, it would have been great if that opportunity had presented itself, but he was under no obligating to grab shit. Not a damn thing.

Other than the girl, but that was obviously a given.

Tempted to take a little sneak peak at what he'd lifted, there wasn't nearly enough distance between himself and the buzzing drones to risk that biscuit. Having only just put the brain of the beast at his back, there was absolutely no telling how long the brawl would last, let alone how quickly everyone would return to their work as normal. If there was on thing he could honestly say that he'd taken away from his various prison stints, it was that you ALWAYS stay on your guard until the coast was clear.

Weary of random encounters as he neared the front doors of the police station, Sam was so on edge from the adrenaline buzz that he nearly jumped out of his skin when the comms on his person crackled unexpectedly to life. It was Nadine, calling with good news. The best news, even. "We have a lead." There weren't many times that Drake could say it about his partner's partner (or ex-partner's ex-partner, depending when you looked at it), but this was one of those rare time he could have kissed her.

[A "Doctor's" Discretion]

Bandages fresh as the crisp linen sheets the delirious heiress was wrinkling with every muscle spasm and jerk she made, the veterinarian's brother kept his left hand firmly against her sternum. Applying just enough pressure to keep her down (and by extension from pulling the stitches or otherwise causing harm), he seriously contemplated administering the rest of the morphine. More than aware of what the drug was capable of doing to a person, the younger Parades had intentionally given her a low dosage - he was now coming to regret that call.

Movements becoming more predictable but showing no signs that they were slowing, the heiress put on an uneven grimace that might have been meant as a smile. Manageable enough for his nerves, the irksome part was that she began to squirm around, one arm thrust out while the other failed at reaching for his face. Immovable for the most part, her legs shuddered before they too began to roll every which way on the exam table.

Patience ground down to an all time low, the young man gave in to the very human impulse to do the easy thing. Wrong as it was, he gave in fairly easily. Letting go of the upward-pawing creature just long enough to grab the vial on the tray, the remainder of the dosage hit her with a hallelujah chorus only he could hear. Forced into a blissful state too mentally euphoric and physically lethargic to be a burden, the breathing doll sighed in contentment before sinking back into the white. Freed of the task of pinning her, the young man thought about his next move.

Alberto might have understood the situation if he were to come home too early (assuming that the case had clearly been made), but at the end of the day he might have been too good an egg to bring into this one. Cat would have totally understood and bent over backwards to help in any way she could, however she wasn't there. Christ only knew how the rest of the family would have reacted if they caught wind of the fact that the odd one in the family had been discovered with a drugged and badly wounded woman.

No, they couldn't learn of this. Not a one.

Which meant that the lone Parades brother had to relocate the missing heiress. But where to? With the scoundrels from Orange Tiger involved in this ordeal somehow, there wasn't anybody that he could trust with her whereabouts. Even if they had been a freakishly close-knit group, he still wouldn't count any of his neighbors in the helpful column. So far as anyone that might be dependable in the heiress' corner, the only coherent thing he could make out from her muttering was 'daddy'. According to everything he'd heard, Rafe was dead.

...Or was he?

[The "A" Team Brings Their "A" Game]

Word spread far and wide among the mismatched companions that their girl had flown the coop - and in style at that - it hadn't taken long for a new strategy to replace the old one. Exiting the precinct objective number one for those inside, the new goal was to locate and recover the heiress. Another no brainer, Logan and Chloe made short work of agreeing to part ways in the name of scouring the streets. Once able, Nadine would join that effort and widen the net; returning to his roots, Sam would take the high ground.

Claiming that he had been too busy following a hunch to immediately answer the call, once the soldier could finally be bother to check in, Wyatt's only real contribution had been to cause his mother to worry just long enough to let it show. Right, a gut feeling. Sure.

Still searching for a more concrete reason to trust Wyatt than just because he was a friend's child, Sam pounced on asking why the kid hadn't said anything sooner if he thought he'd found something. "A hunch, huh? Why not share that with the rest of the class sooner?" The thief didn't honestly expect a real answer to that, but it was a descent head start towards saying that there was a lack of trust that needed to be handled. One way or another.

Predictably, the soldier had been able to pass it off with a simple excuse, "Why get everyone's hopes up when it might be nothing?"

Like everyone else on the team that had been listening in to the public exchange, Logan had nothing valuable to offer, so he said nothing. Frankly he didn't read a good vibe from the way that Wyatt's answer had deflected Sam's question, however as he wasn't wanted in that world, that wasn't any of his business. No, he was only there because it was wrong to just abandon Dani. To that end, the surfer broke into a brisk jog; mindful of running into Orange Tiger, the blonde figured that posing as a night jogger wouldn't immediately draw unwanted attention.

Not usually one to stay quiet, Chloe privately agreed that there was something fishy about Wyatt not sounding in sooner. But hell if she was going to be the one to say that her best mate's son wasn't on the up and up. More accustomed to playing the spy than any one person should have been, Frazer merely bit her tongue and made a mental receipt of this conversation. Come what may, that was a problem for another day.

[For Those In Morphine Comas]

Plan in mind, all that was left was to enact it.

Admittedly still somewhat unsure of where he could take the girl that would be safe enough, as he cleared away the rest of the evidence the young man was only certain of one thing: his sole interest was in monitoring the girl. As a child Alberto had taken in all kinds of defenseless and shattered animals to rehabilitate them (and was mostly successful in that endeavorer), so why should this be any different? In the younger brother's mind, it wasn't. Sure, people, strays, and birds required different types of care, but ultimately it was the same thing in effect.

Nigh exhausted from tipping the morally taxing high road, Parades allowed himself a small break once the waste had been disposed of. Turning around to glance critically at the heiress once more, other than the wide clown-like grin stretching her thin unpainted lips, there was no other change to her health. Trained to see deeper than the surface, from the serene way her head was laying it seemed as if she were almost dreaming.

Hopefully for her own sake, miss Adler was able to recall happier times than these. Honestly he couldn't fathom why she would be given to el ángel de la muerte when she was worth so much money, yet there was no mistaking the handiwork. Could it have been that there was no one to pay her ransom, and this was just the Pusses' way of getting back at her? Or was there something more at play than just money? It was no secret (at least not in these parts to anyone with a brain) that the Adler name was synonymous with danger. Could he have just blundered his way into a secret war?

Troubled by the prospect and musing briefly on what he would do if it came down to bloodshed on the open street, it suddenly hit him: why did they have to go anywhere? Obviously staying in the clinic was a no-go, but what was preventing him from keeping the slumbering princesa in transit? As their parents taught them at an early age, a moving target was significantly more difficult to track than an unmoving one.

Added bonus - if he took his brother's van and stashed the girl in the backseat to sleep off the morphine (and other drugs), he could just excuse her as a friend that had drunk too much. No one would question an unconscious woman then. And as for how little she was wearing now, all that needed was a blanket to fix.

Score and score.

Making no promises to his brother nor leaving any notes explaining where he might be, the young hero swiped the keys to the clunky blue van and put them in his back pocket. First checking his phone for any missed calls, he then proceeded to take the itchy gray coverlet he used on particularly cold nights and threw it over the young woman's body. Wrapping his arms tight around her waist as he flung her over his shoulder with a woozy giggle, the duo made their way down the stairs and towards the parking space outside. One of the few good things about this neighborhood was that carrying a drunk home was almost a daily occurrence.

Apartment door locked with some minor difficulty, this time the young man opened the back first; out of it as she was, the heiress' occasional wiggle didn't make his job any easier. Hips swaying like they could tell no lies beneath the blanket, before her head bounced against the hard cushion of the bench-like seat, she beamed once more. Showing teeth this time, her depth perception was so off that she looked like she was seeing something over his shoulder. Well, at least she's happy and won't feel that until later.

Praying that she remained secure without anything to hold her in place on the drive, he was about to close the door when a fist from out of nowhere nailed him square in his jaw. Mouth full of the coppery taste of blood and face slick with a crimson spurt, it was all he could do to catch himself on the uneven pavement.

"Ok, I know this looks bad-"

Unable to even finish his sentence, the would-be hero was being pulled back up by the front of his shirt. Eyes only able to see the color red after chancing upon the limp form of a girl being smuggled in a rug, the six-foot hitter slugged the little creep once more. Even if this was a whole separate crime and a completely different girl than the one everyone was desperately searching for, this bullshit wasn't going to stand in his book. And neither would the fucker that would do something like this to an innocent child.

"Sam..." Blinking listlessly through the dreamy haze clouding her vision, Daniella attempted to raise her head to her earthly savior but was too groggy to do so. If she'd had had the strength or ability, what she would have saw was an epic beat-down in her name, however, being so doped up all she could do was listen. Only, in her state it didn't sound like a one-sided massacre - what she heard was the older man calling out to her from another castle. The heiress would have laughed to herself - of course it was her thief that had come to her rescue.

Thankfully for the whimpering Parades brother, it was enough to put the confrontation to a pause.

Good thing for him too, because he wasn't sure he could handle much more. Hand going to his head (where most of the blows had landed), the younger of the two men felt the damage as his assailant rushed to check on the girl once he'd realized that she was capable of speech. That'll teach him to do anything for someone ever again...

"Take me home." Half a command and half a plea, the heiress reached out for her real hero. She didn't understand what was going on around her; after all the torture and loneliness, she just wanted to curl up in a nice warm bed. Preferably in the arms of the one person that had been there for her. "Please," tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, "please, Sam."

Against his better judgment he took the frightened child into his arms, grabbing the radio to tell the others the good news as she clutched him for dear life. "I found her."