A/N: Thanks for everyone who reviewed! Here's your chapter:
Nancy tried her best to disentangle herself from the flailing bodies of her friends and the Gray Man as they tumbled to the ground. "That's them!" she choked as the lights went off in the van. "We have to get out there!" She clawed her way toward the door, trying to avoid the dangling wires from destroyed computers, spitting sparks around them.
Then she was at the door, but it was too dented to open normally. She banged on it frantically. The Gray Man seized the first gun he touched on the fallen weapons rack, his Browning automatic handgun. "Stand back!" he ordered.
"Wait!" Frank had recovered his balance. "Don't waste your ammunition." Taking aim, he sent a hard kick at the jammed door. It loosened slightly. He rammed it with his shoulder and the door creakily swung open, daylight flooding into the darkened van. They were now able to see their attacker as the car that had been bashing them reversed and sped away. Sure enough, its driver had a curiously boyish face. "O' Toole!"
Nancy and the Gray Man jumped out. "My car!" Nancy shouted, waving her keys. "They can't have gone far!"
Frank went to follow them, but turned back. "George!" he called.
George got up gingerly, pressing her hand to a deep, bleeding cut on her temple. "Sorry." she winced, blinking blood out of her eye.
Frank grabbed her by the arm and the two ran to Nancy's car and dove into the backseat just as Nancy floored the gas petal, taking off in hot pursuit of the Assassin's car. As they turned off of Nancy's street, they spotted O' Toole's vehicle, a large navy-colored ATV. "He can't get away in that!" Nancy exclaimed triumphantly.
"You'd be surprised." The Gray Man said. "You can be sure that's no ordinary clunker. All Assassin cars go fast." Sure enough, O' Toole slowly widened the gap between the two cars.
Frank's attention was divided between the chase and George, whose head had not stopped bleeding. He searched around for some sort of bandage and came up with a handful of tissues. "Here. Are you okay?"
George accepted them gratefully. "Fine." she answered faintly, pressing the tissues to her cut. "Just a scratch."
"He's getting away!" Nancy fairly screamed, pushing the car over the 85 mph mark.
The Gray Man looked around. The nearest car was several yards behind them. Rolling down the passenger-side window, he aimed the handgun at the ATV and took several shots. One buried itself in the trunk, and a second shattered the passenger side mirror, but the Assassin kept going.
"Watch out!" Frank cried, seeing a gun emerge from the driver's window of the ATV. "He's going to shoot!" Nancy and her passengers ducked low in their seats.
Nancy swerved in and out of the lane as bullets whipped past them. "He can't shoot and drive at the same time, can he?"
"Apparently." The Gray Man replied dryly. He snapped off a few more shots, missing the tires once again.
Nancy banged the wheel in frustration. "What kind of secret agent are you!" she exploded. "Could you try to hit the Assassin, please?"
The Gray Man fired his last bullet into O' Toole's taillight. "Out of ammo." he said grimly.
"Wait." George spoke up, offering up her standard police-issue revolver. "We're not done yet."
Frank took it from her. "Here, let me take a shot at it." He leaned out his window, but before he could shoot he heard a shriek from Nancy as the windshield shattered into a million glass pellets.
Reflexively, she eased up on the break, but recovered and floored it again. "I'm insured."
Frank groaned as they passed a sign that welcomed them to Chicago. Once they were in city limits, he would have trouble getting in a shot without hurting innocent bystanders. In a last-ditch effort, he aimed at the back left tire and was rewarded with a loud bang as it ruptured, sending the Assassin swerving madly.
"Yes!" Nancy shouted, but the smile died on her face as O' Toole somehow managed to regain control of his vehicle. They were now inside the city, apartment and office buildings surrounding them on all sides. The sidewalks overflowed with people; it was nine am and everyone was heading for work. O' Toole's car weaved lopsidedly in and out of the rush hour crowd, and Nancy did her best to follow. Suddenly, she lost sight of him. "No!"
"Wait!" George called over the rush of air that assaulted them though the missing front window. "He went into that garage!"
Nancy made a sharp left turn into the parking garage, earning honks and curses from the other drivers on the road. She sped through the barrier as it was descending and ignored the yelling of the man in the ticket booth. Driving up the aisle in the garage, she caught a glimpse of her quarry rounding the next corner. "Hey!" a man screamed after her. "The speed limit here is five!" She was going nearly sixty, tires squawking round the bend.
"Where'd he go?" Frank shouted. The car had disappeared from sight.
A door slammed loudly behind them. "I think I know." The Gray Man said grimly. The ATV had pulled into a parking space and now it was empty. A shot rang out to their right and a bullet glanced off the roof of Nancy's car.
"At least he's parked legally." George cracked weakly as Nancy haphazardly found a parking space.
"Everybody out!" Frank shouted, half at the passengers in the car, half at the pedestrians in the garage. The inhabitants of the car jumped out and scattered. "Get down! Stay low!" A bullet whizzed toward him and he ducked, aiming George's revolver in the direction it came from.
Screams came from the other people in the garage. "Be careful! Stay out of the way!" Nancy called to them, earning a bullet from the Assassin, which came within inches of her head.
"Where is he?" George whispered, crouching on the floor next to Frank.
"I don't know." Frank whispered back.
"I'll go this way and you go that way."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Frank asked, seeing the trickle of dried blood running down her face. "Here, take this." He handed her the gun. George nodded and disappeared down the row of cars.
Nancy scuttled through the maze of cars silently. Hearing a noise near her, she stopped breathing, gingerly inching toward the end of the car. Suddenly, she pounced, rolling across the floor and landing on top of the other figure, who twisted around and caught her in a headlock. She growled, realizing that she and the Gray Man had mistakenly attacked each other. "Ow!"
She started to shove him away when the loud click of a cocked gun resounded through the garage. Nancy and the Gray Man froze, looking up to see the boyish Assassin covering them, eyes blazing. "I am looking for Frank Hardy. Tell me where he is and I might spare you."
"Yeah, right." Nancy spat.
O' Toole waved the gun for emphasis. "I know he's here." he said quietly. "Call out for him. He'll listen to you. Tell him to come here."
"Never." Nancy hissed, pale with anger. "I would never betray my friends."
Frank, hiding nearby, listened to the conversation, waiting for his opening. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Nancy's refusal to give him up meant anything more than friendship for him, but realistically, he knew she would die before giving up anyone, even a stranger. But he certainly wasn't going to allow her to die for him.
"I only need Frank." the Assassin reminded menacingly. "Don't force me to take not only yourselves, but your friends. It would be a shame for Ms. Marvin to die just because you were stubborn." Nancy sat sullenly as O' Toole continued. "And it wouldn't take much to finish the job on your husband."
Nancy eyes narrowed. She didn't need to ask if he was telling the truth.
"Call for Frank." The Assassin commanded, sensing her weakness.
"Frank!" Nancy called, as the Gray Man looked on in surprise. Defiantly, she shouted, "Stay away from here!" her voice echoed through the garage.
Angrily, the Assassin kicked Nancy in the face and she grunted in pain. "Frank Hardy! Are you going to let me kill the woman you love?" he taunted loudly. His words bounced off the walls. '...the woman you love... the woman you love... you love...'
Frank gritted his teeth, but stayed where he was. He watched as the Assassin pointed the gun at Nancy. "You have until the count of three to reveal yourself." the Assassin called. "One... two..."
Frank tackled him from behind, throwing him off balance. The Assassin stumbled, but made a quick recovery. "Three." he grinned quietly, having buried the gun in Frank's ribs. Nancy and the Gray Man watched helplessly, too far away to do anything.
Suddenly, a shot rang out. O' Toole screamed as the bullet ripped through his gun hand, causing him to drop it. Frank knocked him to the ground, and Nancy scrambled to pick up his gun and cover him with it. The Gray Man quickly grabbed the Assassin by the jaw, preventing him from breaking the poison capsule hidden in his tooth. The Gray Man scooped the false tooth out of the man's mouth and put it in his pocket for safekeeping. "Nice shot, Miss Fayne." he commented over his shoulder, a bit reluctantly.
"Officer Fayne." George corrected, running down the aisle to her friends.
Nancy hugged her friend. "Great job, George! You're amazing." Then she stood and called to the other people in the garage. "It's okay; it's over. You can come out now, it's safe!" The main exit of the garage was deluged by dozens of frightened people.
George dropped to her knees beside Frank. "Are you okay?" she asked. "I was so worried I'd hit you. That was the hardest shot I've ever had to make!"
"You did great." Frank smiled. "You saved my life. I owe you one." George laughed and hugged him. Frank looked over her shoulder at Nancy. "Nan? Are you okay?" he said, pulling away from George, who looked away quickly.
"Yeah." she said quietly, fingering her jaw were O' Toole had kicked her. "Gonna have a bruise tomorrow though." she felt suddenly uncomfortable, remembering how the Assassin had goaded Frank out of hiding. They were long overdue for a talk.
The Gray Man spoke up. "We need to get this guy into custody." O' Toole was drifting into unconsciousness, clearly in great pain.
"And medical treatment." George added, looking at the Assassin's bloodied arm.
"That's of secondary nature." the Gray Man said dryly.
Nancy nodded emphatically. It almost worried her that she enjoyed seeing the Assassin in pain, but she told herself it was perfectly natural. She looked at Frank, who was watching O' Toole with a steely look in his eye; she could tell he felt the same way. Their eyes met, and she flashed him a look. Later, it said. We need to talk.
A/N: Oh, no, this is not over yet. Coming soon: Nancy and Frank have a talk, and whatever happens to Joe? Review!