Chapter Six: The Death of Chandler Bing
"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."
Ross looked absolutely horrified. He stuttered something indecipherable, and kept shifting his eyes from Emily to Rachel and back.
"Ross!" Emily cried, exasperated. It was as though she was shocked that Ross was having a hard time making the choice. Ross shot her a helpless look, then he looked at Joey and Monica, both of whom looked as lost and panicked as he did.
Suddenly, the door to the small room swung open, and two large men pushed Chandler and Janice into the room roughly. Ross breathed a small sigh of relief, believing that he would no longer have to choose who would be shot. His panic returned when he realized that, in all likelihood, Chandler was now the one who would be shot.
"Nicholas, how nice of you to join us," the tall man looked down at Chandler, who had been pushed to the floor.
"Let them go, Yuri, this has nothing to do with them," Nicholas spat.
"Oh, right. These are Chandler Bing's friends, aren't they?"
Nicholas said nothing; he simply set his jaw, and glared angrily at Yuri.
"Wilson, you and Lawrence watch the elevators. I'll take care of this," Yuri smiled at Nicholas.
Two of the guards left the room, leaving two other guards and Yuri to 'take care' of Nicholas and the others.
"Let them go," Nicholas repeated softly but firmly.
"You are really in no position to give orders," Yuri spat.
Nicholas and Penelope exchanged glances, both knowing that there would be no way to protect the others from what they had to do.
"Now," Yuri clapped his hands once to emphasize his point, "Your friend was about to help me decide who I should punish for their very foolish escape attempt."
Ross tensed. He was sure that Yuri had forgotten about them when Chandler came in. He looked at Chandler, who was looking at Janice.
Yuri put his gun to Rachel's head. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, and froze. Everyone except Chandler and Janice gasped, and Ross cried out.
Yuri smiled, and pulled the gun from Rachel's head.
"You've made your choice," Yuri smiled, and nodded toward the guard. The man moved forward, and untied Emily. Rachel shot Monica a panicked look. Yuri yanked Emily from her chair, and pushed her to the ground next to Chandler. He pointed the gun at her head, and Ross once again cried out.
Nicholas nodded to Penelope: it was now or never.
Yuri pressed the gun into the back of Emily's skull, and let out a small laugh. Then, on cue from Nicholas, Penelope let out one of Janice's signature whines, startling Yuri only slightly. Nicholas used that opportunity to tackle Yuri to the ground.
Yuri's guards pointed their guns, but Nicholas and Yuri were rolling around on the floor, both struggling for the weapon, and the guards could not get a clean shot. They were too distracted to notice Penelope, who whacked one on the head with her shoe, then used the first guard's gun to corner the second guard.
"Drop it or I shoot," Penelope yelled.
Nicholas and Yuri rolled their way into a corner, and Nicholas managed to knee Yuri in the groin, before grabbing his gun, and scrambling off of Yuri. He scanned the room, and saw that it was now secure. He took a deep breath, and struggled to center himself. Yuri groaned, and rolled forward, breaking up Nicholas' thoughts.
"On your knees," Nicholas said flatly, as he dragged Yuri into the center of the room.
"Chandler, maybe we should call the police," Rachel suggested nervously.
"We can't do that," Nicholas replied softly, as Penelope forced the guards next to Yuri.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and the two remaining guards walked in. Upon seeing the situation, they raised their guns, fully intending to kill Penelope and Nicholas.
Two shots rang out, and the two guards fell to the ground, both with bullets in their heads.
Nicholas and Penelope lowered their guns slowly. Nicholas nodded toward Penelope, and she pulled out a small phone, and walked out of the room.
The small group stared at the guards that lay bleeding on the floor. Monica looked at Chandler, and noted that he did not seem quite as flustered as the rest of them. Fighting to control her body's trembling, she cleared her throat softly.
"Chandler, what's going on?"
Chandler looked up at Monica, and smiled softly. He looked at the ground, and bit his lip, before speaking.
"I'll explain later," he said softly.
"Why not tell them, now?" Yuri spoke up, his voice tinged with a slight panic.
"Shut up, Yuri," Nicholas seethed.
"I'm sure they would like to know why you did not blink, when you pulled that trigger just now," Yuri continued, seemingly unfazed, "Or why you killed the real Chandler Bing," Yuri smiled slyly.
Ross, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, Emily and Monica all looked at Chandler, all wondering if what this stranger was saying could possibly be true. It was at this moment that Penelope re-entered the room.
"Nick, they are on the way. We need to finish this."
"We have to get them out of here," Nicholas nodded toward his friends.
"There's no time! We have to go," Penelope argued, but began untying Ross anyway.
Nicholas sighed, and backed up slightly. He knew he had to get rid of these men, but he didn't want to kill them in front of his friends. But Penelope was right: they had to go.
Suddenly, one of the remaining guards lunged toward Phoebe, who screamed and nearly fell backward on her chair. Without a word, Nicholas shot the man in the back of the head, narrowly missing Phoebe.
Phoebe cried out, as the man fell dead at her side. Her blood-spattered face paled considerably, as she watched Chandler shoot the other guard in the back of the head.
"You are a coward, and a murderer!" Yuri screamed, as Nicholas walked around Yuri, stopping in front of the kneeling man.
"You are the genocidal maniac, not me," Nicholas stated calmly.
"You know nothing," Yuri said, his voice now filled with exhaustion, "You killed my only daughter, my only pride," Yuri was now sobbing.
"Your daughter was not meant to be killed," Nicholas' voice was raspy, and equally soft, "I was assigned to kill you."
"You failed, and you will suffer for that, always," Yuri's voice was now filled with anger.
"Perhaps," Nicholas said, and took a step backwards, "but I will not fail again." Nicholas pointed his gun at Yuri's head, and pulled the trigger.
"How are they?" Nicholas stood up and approached his doctor, as she walked into the room.
"They are all suffering from shock, but otherwise, they are unharmed," the doctor replied flatly, "And they want to know where they are."
Nicholas nodded silently, and pushed his hands into his black trousers.
"I suppose I should talk to them," he said, more to himself than to the doctor.
"I think it's imperative that you do," she replied, and left the room.
Nicholas sighed, and pushed open the door to the adjacent room. He walked into the large room, and looked at his friends, who were all staring at him with a strange mixture of awe, anger and fear. He silently crossed the room, and pulled open the large, heavy drapes that covered the picture windows at the north end of the room. The room was now flooded with natural light.
Nicholas stood at the window for a moment, staring out at the sprawling garden that the window overlooked. He took a deep breath, and turned to his friends.
"I owe you an explanation, I know," he sighed deeply, and leaned on a stool that sat near the window. The backlight made it almost impossible for the others to see his face.
"Who were those men? Why did they want to kill you? Why did you kill them?" They were all valid questions, but the answers to them would certainly drive his friends away. Nicholas took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
"My name is not Chandler Bing. It's Nicholas Caulfield. The woman you know as Janice is my assistant, Penelope Graves. I work for a small, underground network that takes care of problems that governments cannot, or will not get involved with. I'm a hit man." He watched his friend's reactions, but found he could not read any of them, so he continued.
"Yuri was an insurgent leader who was trying to overthrow a small Eastern European government. I was assigned to kill him, but I accidentally killed his daughter. He went insane, and used all of his resources and connections to track me down. I'm sorry that you were thrown into the middle of this—I never wanted this to happen. As soon as I found out, I relocated to London."
"What about what Yuri said, about you killing Chandler?" Ross asked softly.
Nicholas swallowed hard, and looked at his feet.
"You never really knew the real Chandler Bing," Nicholas said softly, "Ross, you went to college with him, but the rest of you never really knew him. He was an evil, conniving, underhanded, awful person. He was working with an underground anarchist organization in upstate New York. When a plot to assassinate the president failed, I was sent in to take care of it. It was my first assignment with the network. I had just recently joined and needed an alternate identity. The network altered my face, erased all of the real Chandler's history, and gave me his life—or at least the life he told his parents about. It was never my intention to hurt any of you. The person you know as Chandler—I AM that person. I care about all of you, and I know that you are confused, but I swear—I never wanted to hurt any of you," Nicholas looked at Monica intently, but she refused to meet his eyes.
"Chandler—Nicholas—whatever your name is," Phoebe said softly, "I think I can speak for the rest of the group when I say that we never want to see you again."
Nicholas dropped his head, and closed his eyes. When no one countered Phoebe's statement, he knew that he had lost them all.
"For what it's worth," Nicholas said after a long silence," I am sorry."
"Just leave us alone," Ross said flatly.
Nicholas nodded, and left the room without another word.
Once he was in the next room, Nicholas sank onto the floor, and closed his eyes. In just 24 hours, he had lost everything he cared about. He felt the dark hands of grief reach through him, and consume him, squeezing the life out of his broken heart.
He would rather be dead.
AN: Sorry for the loooong delay—I was on vacation (Vegas, baybee!). But I am back now, and rushing to catch up here. The fic will now get a bit more angsty, as Nicholas struggles to win his friends back. Let me know what you think, and I'll try to get this one done. Okay, I'm tired—nap time, lol.
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