~One For the Road~
Chapter Five: Never Say Forever
"Rach, when was the last time you saw Joey and Phoebe?"
Before Rachel could reply, Joey and Phoebe appeared in the lobby.
"Hey, there you guys are. I thought we were going to breakfast?" Joey said as they approached the group.
"Janice?" Phoebe looked confused, and Joey instinctively backed away from Chandler's annoying ex.
"We don't have time to explain all of this," Chandler said quickly, "Where's Ross?"
~*~
"I don't know who Nicholas is!" Ross cried desperately.
"Ross, what's going on?" Emily cried.
"I wish I knew," Ross whispered.
"Bing…is that the name he is using? Chandler Bing?" the tall man asked flatly.
A flash of recognition passed through Ross' eyes, and the man knew that he knew.
"You know Chandler, don't you?"
Ross nodded robotically, and the man pulled his gun from Emily's head, and threw her to the ground carelessly.
"What do you want with Chandler?" Ross asked, once Emily was safely at his side.
"I want him dead," the tall man answered coldly.
~*~
"You guys need to stay in your rooms. Do NOT answer the door for anyone but me and, uh, Janice."
Janice gave Chandler a look, and he shook his head.
"Where are you going? Why is Janice here? Where's Ross?" the questions came fast and furious, but Chandler simply shook his head, and ushered his friends toward the elevator.
"I'll explain later. Right now, I need to find Ross," Chandler hit the 'up' button on the elevator, and scanned the lobby suspiciously.
The others stood looking at Chandler, still confused by his odd behavior. But they all trusted him, because at the moment, they had no reason not to.
*
After securing Joey, Phoebe, Rachel and Monica in Monica's hotel room, Chandler and Janice made their way down to Janice's waiting car. Chandler pulled his bag out of the backseat, and changed his clothes as Janice made her way toward the church.
"If they aren't at the church, we have to assume Yuri has them," Nicholas said, as he checked, then re-checked his weapons.
"I agree. The network is trying to locate his exact whereabouts now, and they'll call when they have something. But Nicky—if they have your friends, then they are on to you. Your friends will always be in danger, as long as Yuri is alive."
"Then we will have to assure that Yuri doesn't make it out of London alive," Nicholas said flatly, and slid his clip into his handgun, before holstering it underneath his black jacket.
They pulled up to the church, and scrambled out of the car. Nicholas made his way around the back of the church, while Penelope walked through the front door. Scanning the perimeter, Nicholas relaxed slightly, when he saw nothing amiss. He made his way toward the front, and saw Penelope shaking her head.
"What?" Nicholas asked.
"They aren't there. No one knows where they went."
Nicholas shook his head in frustration. Things were going from bad to worse, and as Penelope's phone rang, Nicholas wondered just how much more this situation could spiral out of control.
"Hello?" Penelope kept eye contact with Nicholas as she answered the phone. She listened for a minute, and then hung up the phone quietly.
"Did they find him?"
"Yes. He's at the hotel." Penelope said quietly.
"Shit," Nicholas closed his eyes, and swallowed back the bile that came up in his throat. He and Penelope raced toward the car, and sped toward the hotel.
They could not get there fast enough. Nicholas took several deep breaths, in a vain attempt to calm his jagged nerves. Penelope came to a screeching halt in front of the hotel, and the pair ran into the hotel at full speed. They rushed toward Monica's hotel room, and only slowed when they reached the room itself. Nicholas pulled out his handgun, and reached out to knock on the hotel room door. To his dismay, the door swung open easily as he knocked.
Nicholas and Penelope stormed into the room, and scanned it with their eyes and guns. Nicholas fought to control his emotions, as he noted darkly that there were clear signs of a struggle in the room. He tried to keep the mental image of Monica in danger out of his head.
He was failing miserably.
"Nick," Penelope said sharply, pulling Nicholas back to reality.
"What?"
"Basement."
Nicholas nodded, and he and Penelope made their way to the service elevators. The stepped in, and both took deep breaths as the doors slid closed.
"What's the plan?" Penelope asked.
"To stay alive," Nicholas smiled, and pulled out his handgun.
As the door to the service elevator opened, Nicholas found himself face to face with one of Yuri's guards.
~***~
"Ross!" Monica cried happily, as several large men ushered the rest of the group into the small supply room.
Ross looked at his friends sadly, and simply nodded at the group. They were each forced down and tied to plain aluminum chairs that sat next to Ross and Emily.
Once the men left the room, Ross looked over at Monica.
"We have to get outta here. That guy is trying to kill Chandler!"
"What?"
"Yeah. Apparently, we're bait," Ross added sourly.
The entire group began struggling with their expertly tied ropes, hoping that at least one of them could get to Chandler before it was too late.
"Ross, you will not believe who is here with Chandler—" Rachel whispered.
"Who?"
"Janice!"
"Janice?" Ross looked at Rachel strangely.
"Ross!" Emily growled, and Rachel rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that Emily was playing the jealous fiancé at a time like this!
"Got it!" Joey said triumphantly, and pulled his hands free. He quickly went to work untying the others, and just as he had Monica freed, the door swung open.
"Well, well, aren't we crafty?" the man glared at Joey menacingly.
~***~
The guard seemed just as shocked as Nicholas, and Nicholas took the opportunity to grab the guard's weapon from him, and toss it aside. The guard recovered quickly, and pushed him toward the wall. The force of him hitting the wall jarred Nicholas' gun from his hand, and sent it sliding across the cement floor.
"Penny," Nicholas yelled, "Go—find them!"
Penelope nodded, and ran deeper into the basement.
The guard kneed Nicholas in the stomach, and Nicholas reciprocated my head butting him. The guard staggered backward, and Nicholas spun off of the wall and kicked him in the head. He grabbed his stomach, struggling to recover, as the guard came toward him once more. Nicholas kicked the man in the gut, then placed his hands on both sides of his head. He jerked the head swiftly to the left, and heard a large crack. The guard fell to the ground with a deadly thump. Nicholas recovered his gun, and proceeded down the hallway, listening for any signs of struggle. Another man came from around the corner, his left arm wrapped around Penelope. In his right hand, he held a gun.
"Drop it," the guard growled. He pointed the gun at Penelope's head, and Nicholas dropped his gun, and put his hands in the air.
~***~
"I don't think you realize the situation that you are in," the tall man sighed, as his accomplice pushed Joey back onto his chair. "I'm afraid, I will need to teach you a lesson." The man scanned the room slowly, and then nodded toward Emily, and another man pulled Emily to the middle of the room.
"You bastard!" Rachel screamed before she could control it.
The man simply smirked, and nodded toward Rachel. He looked at Ross, and noted the look of horror that had crossed his face. The guard pulled Rachel into the middle of the room, and the two women sat back to back.
"Now," the tall man said, looking directly at Ross, "Pick one."
AN: Okay, this'll do for now. The next chapter will have some more action, and then it'll get all angsty—yeah, I know, but let's face it: I suck at writing action! LOL.