Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.

Hawkes did his job well. He knew how to hide in plain sight, how to become just another face in the crowd. He knew how to follow without being seen. All things that were important for his next job. He watched the kid and his interactions with his little girlfriend. He figured they were together. If it was the same girl from the island, he figured they were probably together for a lot longer than he originally thought. With the way Darius talked to Hawkes and the look on his face when he taunted the kid made him realize the kid had spirit.

The last time the two faced off each other, the kid had somehow managed to get a gun. The teen could have ended him then and there if he really wanted to. But Darius didn't for some reason. It's what he would have done. He shook his head as he figured he had probably been in the business for far too long. He didn't mean to get into the merc business. Like almost everyone who gets involved, it happened over a strange set of circumstance. Hawkes could hardly remember what those circumstances were anymore.

The man watched Darius go back and forth between school, his girlfriend's house, and his own house. He wanted to catch him in a pattern. And he did. He never left his house after six. Which was why when the kid had come home after school today, Hawkes decided tonight would be the night he struck. He would make sure the kid understood what he wanted and that he was not to be messed with again. He left the house at five to go back to his hideout and grab his stuff. He would storm the house around seven, which was dark enough for him to move without being seen by anyone.

To say that Darius was nervous as hell would be an understatement. He hadn't been to the school dance in forever. And this would be the first "formal" event that he and Brooklynn would be doing together. Then a thought had crossed his mind. Oh God, I'm going to have to step up my game with Prom, aren't I? Darius shrugged it off. For now, he was getting ready to go to dinner with Brooklynn. The teen was wearing his uncle's suit from his wedding. (Look up Bruno Mars suit. It's the grey three piece.)

Darius had the vest on, and had his tie and suit coat on a hanger. He would meet up with Brooklynn for dinner and then put the rest of it on as they left her parent's house. The plan was to have dinner at 5:30, and he and Brooklynn would head to the school at 6:30. Afterwards, they would go to his Uncle's house for dessert. Darius looked down at his computer. For some reason, his body was telling him that he needed to have a better hiding place for the flash drive. He didn't even think his uncle knew what it was. Which was good. He didn't want his family involved if they didn't need to be. He decided to grab the flash drive, and headed to his girlfriend's house. After he got in the jeep, he figured it would be best to put it in the glove box.

The teen pulled up to Brooklynn's house, and walked up the familiar steps and driveway. He was greeted by Tim, who pulled him inside. He said to the teen, "Brooklynn will be down in a minute. Then we're having chicken and salad."

Darius thanked Tim, and after setting his suit coat and tie down on the couch, was greeted a moment later by Jake. The two had grown close as they did their therapy sessions. Jake felt that there was no one better for his daughter than Darius. A few moments later, Brooklynn came down the stairs. She was not in her dress, but Darius could see she had done her makeup and hair. He smiled as she walked up and gave him a hug and soft kiss. "You look great." she complimented.

"Thanks. It's my Uncle's suit from his wedding day." he explained. "You look nice too." he teased.

Brooklynn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Not all of us can get ready in five minutes."

Darius gave a small chuckle, and bantered, "To be fair, it took me thirty to get out all the wrinkles. And this is one of the rare times I cared about how my facial hair looks." the teen pointed out how he had trimmed it down to look more like a goatee instead of a full on beard.

"God, even your face looks better than me." Brooklynn groaned.

"Not for long though." Tim said, motioning for them to get to the table. "Wait till you see the dress that she picked out. It looks gorgeous."

Darius smiled as Brooklynn blushed a little bit. After they had eaten and cleared their plates, Brooklynn excused herself to put on her dress. Darius offered to do a little bit of the dishes, but Jake said that it was his night anyways. Darius decided to put on his tie and check his suit coat. He wouldn't wear the coat while driving, but he defiantly would be wearing the vest for the entire evening.

Looking in the mirror while adjusting his tie, he saw a pinkish colored skirt was coming down the stairs. He smirked at the signature color. But when he turned around, his jaw literally almost dropped. Brooklynn wore a pink ruffled dress that hung slightly above her shoes. She came down, and once again walked up to him. This time, her head was closer to his chin. Without knowing what to say, he asked, "You're wearing heels to a dance?"

She laughed, and said, "I knew this was a ridiculous dress."

Darius shook his head. "No, you look amazing. You look... beautiful. I can't describe it any other way."

"He's right sweetheart." Jake said. "You look amazing."

Tim came around the corner and raised his phone up. "Pictures!" After a few minutes of posing and laughing, Tim said, "Alright, I've had my fun. Now, you guys have yours."

Jake spoke up as Darius grabbed his coat. "I know that you two know this, but I would be a bad parent if I didn't remind you guys. Be back by 11:30 latest, and no funny business between you two."

Darius gave a chuckle. "We promise to behave."

"Love you guys." Brooklynn said as she followed him out the door.

6:25 PM

Darkness had fallen, giving Hawkes the perfect time to move without being seen. The night had fallen almost an hour earlier, but he had his gear, and was ready. He looked in the driveway before heading to the back. The jeep is gone? It's probably nothing to worry about. Just as long as the kid is still home. Hawkes peeked inside the home, and saw two people. A man and a woman sitting on the couch watching T.V. Their backs were turned towards the kitchen window he was currently looking through. He decided to find another way in. He thought about climbing anything on the house, but he was worried that the noise would attract to much attention. He couldn't climb the tree because it was too far for him to quietly crawl onto. He sighed internally, and decided to find access to the basement if they even had one.

After looking around, he didn't find anything. But he did find a back door. He tried it, and smirked when it was unlocked. He opened it carefully, and made his way over to the couch. He decided it would be best to knock out the woman first, and then the man. Best to not have a screaming woman. Then Hawkes remembered that you can grab both heads and butt them together. So, he did just that. They never saw it coming. He quickly tied them up in chairs, but a muzzle on the woman's mouth, and started searching the house.

He searched everywhere. The bedrooms, the bathrooms, the kitchen. He even searched the basement which he found. Nothing. But he did have to admit that whoever used the workout equipment was pretty impressive. He sighed, and went back up to the living room. Maybe his parents know where it is. Hawkes walked into the living room to see the man was starting to come to while the wife was wide awake. She screamed, but it was muffled by the muzzle he had on. Hawkes got a glass of water, and threw it at the man. The liquid splashed on his face, and he woke up a little bit faster.

Josh blinked, and started looking around. He was suddenly confused as to why he couldn't move. That's when he noticed Hawkes. He gave a small scream in fear, but quickly calmed himself down. "Who are you? What do you want? Money? I can give you all that I have in cash, the T.V."

Hawkes stopped him. "I don't want money, and I don't want your possessions. I want to talk about Darius."

At hearing his nephew's name, Josh said, "Where's my kid? You haven't hurt him, have you? I'll give you whatever you want. Just bring him back."

Hawkes gave an unenthusiastic laugh. "Don't worry. I haven't hurt him."

"Where is he?" Josh asked, unintentionally interrupting the man.

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Hawkes said, his voice laced with annoyance. The wife started shaking and crying, trying to break free of the rope that held her to the chair. "Neither of you will get hurt. We don't even need to bring Darius into this if you can tell me what I want to know."

Josh told his wife to calm down and to stop moving. She nodded in understanding, but was still crying. "What do you want?"

Hawkes began, "A few months ago, I had been to Isla Nublar with a few people. We were doing a job that required us to get a laptop that held years of research to make dinosaurs. Unfortunately for us, the six kids, Darius specifically, stopped me from completing my mission. They destroyed the laptop. But I believe that he may have copied the information onto a flash drive and took it with him."

"Why do you think that?" Josh asked.

"Because I had captured one of his friends, and told him I would exchange his girlfriend for the laptop." Hawkes continued. "A few hours later, someone else delivered the laptop, but Darius managed to destroy it. I don't think that was part of the plan, but it happened anyways. My client really wants this research. So, unless you can tell me where it is, maybe on a flash drive, we don't have to involve Darius."

Josh's head was spinning. "I don't know what you're talking about. He never mentioned fighting off assassins."

Hawkes interrupted him this time. "No, I'm not an assassin. I'm a merc. We specialize in all sorts of things. Infiltrating, stealing, liberating, but killing is part of the job. And I don't want to kill you. I just want the flash drive."

"I don't know where it is. Or if Darius even has it. He never mentioned it to me." Josh explained. Just then, his wife had fallen over with her chair still attached to her. She tried to crawl to the door, but Hawkes got to her first.

He pulled out a knife, and grabbed her head, and pulled up, exposing her neck. Looking back at Josh, he said, "Last chance. Tell me where it is."

Josh started to panic. "I don't know. I swear to God, I don't know. I swear to you on my SISTER'S grave, I don't know."

Hawkes looked at Josh with an intense stare. His hard look changed into disappointment. He could tell that if Josh was lying, he would have already told the truth. "I'm very sorry to hear that." Hawkes pulled the woman back over and set her next to Josh. She had resumed her crying and hyperventilating. Hawkes had duct tape, and took a strip to put on Josh's face. Taking two cloth bags, he put them over their heads, and took out his knife once again.

The two teens got to the school at 6:40. Just in time for Darius to find a good parking space. After getting out of the car and putting his suit coat on, he helped Brooklynn out of the jeep, and walked towards the school. The two teens spent the entire night dancing, eating, and drinking the punch and soda selections. The football team came with their girls, and they all had fun. Brooklynn had actually connected with a few of them, and became friends. For the first time, Brooklynn felt like a normal kid. She was glad that she had taken a break from vlogging. She felt much more comfortable behind the camera now.

Darius left Brooklynn alone for a few minutes as he was grabbing another drink for him and a cookie for Brooklynn. She was sitting by the a few of the other girls. Jack sat down next her, and said, "Having fun?" he asked her.

Brooklynn looked at him with a smile. "Yeah. This is my first dance."

Jack smiled back. "Darius wanted to show you something. He's getting it ready, but he asked me to take you to him."

Brooklynn raised an eyebrow. "That's impossible, Darius is getting me a cookie."

Jack shook his head. "I didn't see him passing the food desk."

Brooklynn said, "He probably just got lost in the crowd." She looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. Looking back up at Jack with a confused look, he just shook his head with a shrug.

"I can go back and just tell him you're waiting for your cookie." Jack offered. "Or I can get it for you, since he's a no show."

Brooklynn shook her head this time. "No thanks. I'll just wait for him."

Jack sat down, and sighed. He kept his arms in his pocket, and said, "Alright. I'll wait with you then. If he sees you, he won't be as pissed at me." he joked. Brooklynn just smiled, but quickly looked the other way. For some reason, she could feel someone staring at her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Jake had laid back in his chair, and put his hands on his head. The thing that bothered her was that she could feel his eyes on her. After another few seconds, he shifted in his seat and sat up. "Well, Darius seems to be taking his sweet time."

Brooklynn didn't pay him any mind. Or, she tried her best to. He stood up, and looked down at her again. Brooklynn finally sighed. "You're sure that Darius has a surprise for me?"

Jack nodded. "I told him I would bring you to him."

Brooklynn bit her lip, then internally sighed. "Fine." She got up, and started following Jack out of the gym.

Mikey and Blake saw the two start to leave. "Oh no."

"What?" Blake asked as Mikey got up.

"That son of a bitch." Mikey said, walking fast.

Blake looked where Mikey was looking and exclaimed, "What the hell?" He sent a quick text to Darius.

Mikey made it to Jack and Brooklynn first, and got in between the two. "Hey, Brooklynn, everything okay?"

"Yeah, I can't find Darius though." she answered. "Jack was helping me look for him."

Blake said, "I think I saw him talking to Shawn. I know for a fact he was on his way back."

"Actually, Darius had asked me and Shawn to help with a little present for Brooklynn." Jack said.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Jack nodded. "What's the surprise?" Mikey asked.

Jack smiled and shook his head. "Well, I can't say it in front of Brooklynn. That would SPOIL the surprise."

"No, no, Jack." Darius's voice spoke up. Jack looked behind him to see Darius and Shawn. "What was the surprise?" Jack suddenly went pale and his mouth went dry.

Jack tried to speak, but Shawn beat him to it. "I don't remember being asked to help with a surprise for Brooklynn. Did you ask for my help Darius?"

Darius shook his head. He glared at Jack. "I always thought of you as a friend, Jack. You slimy son of a bitch."

Jack put his hands up, and said, "Hey, come on. I was asked by James to help you with a surprise for you guys. In fact, James was just on his way-" Darius stopped listening to Jack, and gave him a swift punch, hitting him square in the jaw. Jack stumbled back, and clutched his jaw. He groaned and moaned in pain as he bit his tongue and inside his cheek.

Mikey and Blake backed up along with Brooklynn. She looked at Darius's eyes, and saw pure hatred and anger. Jack finally stopped moaning, and started crying. In tears, he asked, "What the fuck, man?"

Darius gave a hateful chuckle, and said, "Funny. That's exactly what I was thinking. What the fuck, man?"

Jack thought about throwing a punch at Darius, but he knew that Blake, Shawn, AND Mikey would all try to defend Darius. He was going to spit on him, but he knew that they all would beat his ass without a second thought. He just put his head down, and walked away.

Darius watched him, and then looked back at Brooklynn. He pulled her into a hug, and asked, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Brooklynn shook her head. "I'm fine."

Darius looked back at Mikey and Blake. "Thanks for the text Blake."

"Yeah man." Blake said, patting Darius on the back. Mikey and Shawn did the same, and made sure Brooklynn was okay.

Once they had all went their separate ways, Darius asked again, "How are you feeling? Do you want to stay? Leave?"

"I want to leave." Brooklynn said firmly. "Let's go to your Uncle's house for dessert, but I don't want to dance anymore. I'm sorry."

Darius shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I get it." The two teens walked out of the auditorium to the Jeep. Darius noticed that Brooklynn was more quiet than usual. "I'm sorry for taking so long. I should have just kept walking as Shawn was talking."

Brooklynn said, "I'm not mad at you Darius. I just... Everything was happening so fast, and one minute I was confused, and then when Mikey and Blake came over and started confronting Jack, I got scared, because I didn't know where you were." Brooklynn wiped the tears that managed to escape. "You have good friends Darius."

The older teen took his right hand, and took Brooklynn's left. She didn't stop him from holding her hand and rubbing his thumb on the top to comfort her. The teen pulled up into the driveway. Before he got out, he asked her once again, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I can take you home if you prefer."

Brooklynn shook her head. "No. I want to see your Aunt and Uncle. They're always sweet to me."

Darius once again nodded, and got out of the driver's side, and opened Brooklynn's door. He walked her up his stairs, and went inside the house. What he saw was interesting. "Hmm." the teen said. "They must have turned the lights off to watch T.V."

"I'll check the couch." Brooklynn said.

Darius moved to the kitchen. He figured it would be a good idea to get it ready for them. The teen opened the fridge, and smiled. "I forgot that we had the cheese cake variety pack. Do you like the chocolate ones, or the strawberry? I'm not so picky." Darius turned around, and his eyes widened as he froze. Brooklynn had a look of pure horror in her eyes. She had a gun pointed to her head, which was being handled by none other than the merc Hawkes. He breathed before continuing to the counter. "I'm honestly surprised you didn't eat a slice of cake. This stuff is delicious." The teen opened the utensil drawer, and grabbed a fork, and stashed a small knife in the pocket of his pants.

"We have a lot to discuss." Hawkes said, nodding to the living room. Darius took his slice of cheesecake with him over to where the merc stood. "You have something that my employer wants. And he's willing to do anything to get it."

"Where's my Aunt and Uncle?" Darius asked. Hawkes looked to the two chairs. That's when the teen saw the two bodies. He gulped and swallowed his spit as Brooklynn started giving a cry for help.

Hawkes didn't like that at all. "If you try to call for help, or do anything to scream, I'll put a bullet in your head without a second thought. I have other ways to get what I want, but this is the easiest if we all just calm down and cooperate."

The teen asked, "What do you want?"

"I want the flash drive that holds Wu's research. It was on the laptop you stole from us." Hawkes explained.

Darius scoffed. "The only reason we stole it was because your boss, Wu, wanted to create more dinosaurs and monsters. He learned nothing from the first park, nothing from Jurassic World, and it seems like he's learned nothing from his two hybrid experiments. He wants to create more E750's, Indominus Rexes, both of those things we fought on our own, and you think after six months of living among killing machines, we were just gonna let Wu make MORE?"

Hawkes dismissed his argument. "And had you just left us alone, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"You're right. We would probably living in a world where dinosaurs ruled the Earth again." Darius argued back. "You're welcome."

"Look kid, I don't work for Wu. My current employer just wants the research." Hawkes said. "I don't want to kill your friends, but it's part of the job. And if you don't give me what I want, it's going to end poorly for your girlfriend here. So, give me the flash drive, or whatever thing you decided to store the research on, and I'll be on my way."

"After you kill us." Darius said, rolling his eyes. "I give you what you want, and you're still going to kill us. We're a threat to your operation. You know what we can do. You know what I can do. We fought each other."

"But the killing would stop with you two." Hawkes explained. "Your other friends would be safe and unharmed. So, give me the flash drive."

Darius shook his head. "I can't." Hawkes scoffed, and put his gun away. Darius thought that was the end of it, but Hawkes revealed a knife, and placed it on Brooklynn's throat. "I don't have it."

"I don't believe you." Hawkes said, pressing the blade slightly harder, causing Brooklynn to cry. "Last chance."

"I swear, I don't have it." Darius said.

"Why should I believe you?" Hawkes asked.

"For fucks sake, don't you think I would have given it to you by now if I did?" Darius countered. "I would have tried to make a deal with you, or something. I don't have it."

Hawkes thought for a moment before sighing. "This wasn't how it was supposed to go." Brooklynn lifted her foot up, and using her shoe, she back kicked his shin, causing him to groan in pain, and loosen his grip on her just enough to headbutt him, causing him to let go. But he wasn't stunned for long.

Darius saw the gun in his hand, and took out his knife. Using his right hand, he lifted his arm up, and tried to stab Hawkes. The merc used his left hand to grab Darius's wrist. The teen saw Hawkes start pointing the gun at him, and used his left hand to catch Hawkes's wrist. Darius tried to keep Hawkes pressed against the wall, but the older man was much stronger.

Darius was pushed back, and Hawkes made Darius's back towards the wall. He tried to use it to his advantage to gain some leverage to use gravity. But it wasn't working. Darius felt his left arm start to lose its strength. The gun was almost pointed directly at him. "Brooklynn, run! RUN!" he shouted.

SMASH! Brooklynn took one of the glass candle cups, and threw it at Hawkes's head. It connected, and ricocheted. This caused Hawkes to lose concentration on Darius. The teen took advantage of this, and kicked Hawkes's leg out from underneath him. As he fell, Hawkes kept a grip on Darius, and pulled him down. The gun clattered away from them both.

Darius and Hawkes started punching ach other. The teen knew he had to get away and find the gun. Hawkes managed to kick the teen off of him. Once they recovered, they both saw the gun. The barrel was pointed towards Hawkes, and the handle was facing Darius. The two men raced for it. Darius managed to grab the gun and pick it up. Hawkes got his hand on the barrel, and kept pushing towards Darius, thinking if he could overpower the younger teen, he would be able to get the gun back and end this encounter.

BAM! "AHHHH!" THUD! The body slumped to the ground. The barrel had been lifted high enough that the bullet went through his heart. Darius kept the gun pointed towards Hawkes. After several seconds of pure silence, Darius groaned and sighed. Looking over to where his Uncle and Aunt laid, he took a deep breath, and walked towards them. Feeling their wrists, he didn't find a pulse. After trying to check their neck, but feeling cold blood, Darius knew that they were gone.

The teen sighed, and felt tears form. Suddenly, he heard crying. He walked towards the noise, and found Brooklynn behind the couch, curled up in the fetal position. Darius said, "Brooklynn, are you hurt?" The girl looked towards the sound of the voice, and saw Darius. She practically flung herself into his arms, and started sobbing. He held her in a tight hug, and said, "Shh, shh. You're okay. You're okay. Come on. Let's get out of here." Brooklynn nodded, and got up with Darius. He made sure he had his phone. He decided to leave the gun. He could hear sirens pulling up to his house.

The two teens walked out of the house, and Darius saw three cop cars. Two officers ran over to help. Darius said, "Help her! I don't know how bad she's hurt." One of the cops took her, while the other asked if Darius was okay. He ignored his question, and said, "There are three dead bodies in there. Two males, one Caucasian and one black, and the third victim is a black female."

"Okay, we're going to take a look around, and then I'll get your statement. Does that sound okay?" the cop asked.

Darius nodded his head. Another cop pulled him aside. The ambulance came a few minutes later, and the medics started checking on Brooklynn. A moment later, someone came over to check on him. He was too tired to resist. As the medic asked him questions, and he refused to answer, he finally asked, "Is Brooklynn okay?"

The medic answered, "She is being evaluated for injuries. But she's going to be fine." Darius nodded. "How did you get all this blood on you?"

Darius processed the question, and answered, "I got into a fight. The guy that broke in attacked us. I tried to fight him off."

"So, all of this blood is yours?" she asked.

Darius shook his head. "I don't know. I had to shoot him in self defense. Some of his blood is probably on me."

The medic asked, "Are you feeling any nausea, feeling sick?"

Darius nodded. "A little nauseas. And I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired."

"Okay." she told him. "I'm gonna give you some water, and I'll see what we can do about getting you some rest. Sound good?"

Darius nodded once again. "Where's Brooklynn?"

"I can bring you to her if you want." the medic offered.

Darius immediately nodded and stood up. A moment later, he was by her side while she was being evaluated. Once she was done, they just sat in the ambulance, and Brooklynn continued to cry on his shoulder. Darius just kept himself together as best as he could. He sighed. Nothing could ever just stay right for him. Well, that's not true. He still had Brooklynn. That was a good thing. But it was moments like this that made him wonder for how long did he have her?

AAAAAAAND scene. There ya go. Love y'all. Hope you're enjoying still, stay home, stay safe.