Addison's question echoed throughout the cold, dark warehouse, but MM was only focused on her.
He was holding Addi's arms so tight she might've cried out if she wasn't still halfway drugged with the knockout gas. He held her still as his gaze raked over her, assessing for damage like the medic he was. "Addison, you ok? Addison!" he shouted trying to get her to concentrate on him.
All she could do was shake her head frantically as she reached for him and gripped his shirt in her fists. "Billy," she repeated. "Where's Billy? Where is Billy?" All she could think about was that he wasn't here and it was the first thing to truly make her panic so far.
"Butcher went to the other address…Addison, focus. Are you hurt? Do you remember any of what happened? Do you know who took you? Did you see anything?"
Addison forced herself to take a breath as she shook her head again, still holding on to him. "No…I don't… I was fucking high as a kite. I don't remember anything. We have to get to Billy. We have to get out of here, he said…that guy…"
MM finally gave in, and nodded his head, sliding his arm around her back. "You're right, this place could blow any second, let's go."
Addison could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to just swing her over his shoulder and carry her out of there but he knew well enough not to. Addison was determined to make it out on her own now that she knew she was okay. Good enough, anyway.
Still, MM kept one arm around her. It wasn't until she was able to trot outside with them that he visibly relaxed.
As soon as they were out of the building, MM made sure Frenchie had a hold of Addison before he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He started dialing as they ran to the car, Frenchie making sure Addison could make it on her own.
"Fuck," MM growled, thumbing the screen and dialing again. "I can't get any service. That motherfucker must've had some kind of access point set up for his own WiFi."
He tossed his phone to Addison as he climbed into the car and started the engine in one motion. "Keep trying, I know a shortcut," he growled. As he peeled down the road Addison swore she heard the building they just left explode behind them and she felt her blood run cold as she tried to dial Billy again.
The old tires on Billy's Cadillac skidded, gravel flying as Billy slammed on the breaks in front of the second location, jumping out of the car barely before it came to a complete stop.
Kimiko was hot on his heels. He burst through the entryway of the abandoned building, knocking the old door right off its hinges to crash to the floor. It looked like an old restaurant and they dashed through the lobby, around the corner into a large room with a few dusty tables and overturned chairs.
"Addi?!" Billy shouted. "Addi, where are you?!"
A quiet noise came from the next room over and together they raced in that direction. The sight that met them made Billy roar in defeat. It wasn't her. It wasn't fucking her. He felt like he was going to be sick and he almost threw a table into the wall but the sound of the young woman whimpering desperately snapped him out of it.
"Fucking hell," he growled. Kimiko was already with her, pulling the gag from her mouth and trying in her way to reassure her silently.
"We're gonna get you out of here," Billy rumbled as he crossed around behind her, flipping his knife open to cut through the zip ties binding her wrists.
"He - he said there's a bomb," the young woman whimpered, her whole body trembling as Kimiko helped her to stand.
"Get her out of here," Butcher said to Kimiko, turning to meet her stare.
She shook her head frantically, using her free hand to sign wildly at him.
Butcher shook his head. "I have to check. I have to make sure she ain't…" He swallowed. "Get her out. Now."
The sky was just beginning to lighten on the horizon as sunrise drew nearer. Addison, MM and Frenchie pulled up to the abandoned lot to find Kimiko jogging through the parking lot, or trying, with her arm around another woman who looked like she could barely stand upright.
As soon as they parked, Frenchie called out for Kimiko and ran to help her but all Addison could see was who wasn't there.
She scrambled out of the car in a daze, still partly in shock, half drugged, exhausted and buzzed out of her mind on adrenaline all at the same time. "Billy…" she choked out, looking from Kimiko toward the building and to Kimiko again. "Billy, where's Billy?!" Addison stumbled forward, looking desperately at Kimiko, who shook her head, as she helped the woman lean against the hood of the car. As soon as both her hands were free she started signing frantically.
"He's in there," Frenchie translated. "He's looking for you."
Addison whirled around, pushing off hard and ready to race in to find him but MM moved like lightning and snagged her around the waist with his arm, pulling her back against him. A frustrated cry left her as he held onto her easily. She was too weak to do anything but push futilely at his muscled arm.
"I have to…please!" she cried out. She couldn't focus enough to listen but she just knew the place was going to -
A fiery explosion tore through the atmosphere in front them and they all ducked on instinct. Addison heard a horrible scream then realized it came from herself. "No!" She cried out, finally lurching away from MM. "No…" She took two steps forward but there was no use going any further. She fisted her fingers in her own shirt, her hands shaking as panic and despair bubbled up inside of her. The building was in flames now. Heat wove through the air, warming her skin while debris and ashes floated down from the sky. It was smoky and hazy and she couldn't see much of anything but she couldn't tear her gaze away either.
He was gone. This was it. She'd gotten him killed, blown to pieces. After everything he'd been through, it was her that killed him. A desperate sob escaped from her throat and she had to gasp for air as her lungs began to seize up. Her chest was filling with smoke but it felt like lead, heavy and dark and horrible. The image of his dead body, in there now, blackened, burning, wouldn't leave her head. She'd done this to him. She caused this. "Nooo…" she heaved, clutching her middle. She was frozen where she stood, unable to move, not even able to collapse.
The grey smoke swirled and changed in front of her, shadows shifting and wavering until she couldn't tell if what she was seeing was real or she was hallucinating. It felt like she'd been suspended there for hours but it had only been a few seconds. And now the smoke was coming toward her, maybe coming to take her too...shifting into a dark figure of death. Oh please, please take me too, she thought. Let me go with him…Billy…
The hazy smoke figure whirled and evolved as she watched through her blurry vision until she could almost imagine she really was looking at Billy, hunched over, stalking and stumbling toward her. What a cruel trick for her mind to play on her, she thought, the tears coming harder now.
But then MM called out from behind her, and the figure came closer and looked up at her. Billy. It was him. He was alive. Somehow, he was alive.
When their eyes met suddenly they were both running toward each other, like magnets unable to control the pull they felt to be melded together. Addison was crying desperately now, her face wet with tears. She couldn't get to him fast enough.
As soon as she was close enough, she leapt into his arms, and they crashed into each other with so much force all of the wind was knocked out of her. Billy dropped to his knees as he held her against his chest with an iron embrace. He was covered in soot and smoke and dirt. His shirt was torn and her clothes were still wet with her blood but she couldn't care. Her bare knees scraped against the pavement as he dragged her closer and she held on to him desperately, straddling his lap on the ground.
"Addison," he gasped roughly, and she sobbed again at the sound of his rough voice. "Addison. You're okay. Holy fuck, ya scared me," he slid his hand into her hair, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead. "You're my girl, ya hear me?" he was crying with her now, his heavy brow furrowed and his eyes glistening. His strong fingers were tangled so deep in her hair she was sure he'd never be able to get them out again and he was holding her so tight she could hardly breathe. "My girl…"
"Billy," she said his name, in gasps and soft shudders, over and over.
He tugged on her hair so he could look at her, look in her eyes, maybe to try and convince himself she was real because that's how she felt too and she could only cry harder when she met his dark hazel eyes, brimming with tears and fire and affection and need and everything else ever.
"I love you," she sobbed out, still struggling for breath, her heart racing wildly in her chest. "I'm so sorry, Billy. I love you. I love you."
Somehow the emotion in his eyes grew even deeper. "I love you, too, sunshine," he husked, his voice low and thick and gruff and perfect. "I love you too."
Sirens sounded in the distance and Addi realized everyone was probably staring at them but she couldn't care less. Billy shifted and gathered Addison even closer, pressing her face back into the crook of his neck.
She closed her eyes and stayed still until she could hear the beating of his heart, over and over and over. Her Billy. He was alive. He was okay.
"I love you," she said again, sighing against his pulse, "I love you, I love you," and she felt him repeat it with her.
Listening to his heart, in his arms like this, after what they'd made it through, Addison knew with an absoluteness she had never experienced ever before in her life that she would never willingly leave his side again.