Tori opened her eyes and looked into Roman's brown eyes. He was awake and apparently watching her. The sun was rising outside. They were in bed together. Dean slept on the couch like he had said he would. For some reason Seth chose to stay in the living room as well.
"How long have you been staring?" Tori asked.
"I was thinking about your phone call yesterday," Roman said. "You said the number four. What was that code for?"
"He asked how many," she said.
"How many what?" He asked.
"How many that need to leave. There's four of us," she said.
"You're not going with us," he said.
"They spun it around as if I've been part of something big all along. If I stay behind, I'm gonna take a giant fall for all of us while you're sipping cold drinks in the warm sun somewhere. I have to go," she said.
He tightened his lips in a thin line.
"Don't feel bad about it. I always knew this job would lead me either to my death or on the run one day. You don't get to do what I've done without consequences," she said.
She traced his lips with her thumb. He relaxed them again and kissed her finger. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. For a while he could pretend to be a free man with a loving girlfriend in his arms. Just a normal morning in a normal life.
"I wish things were different," he mumbled. "That we had met in another life."
"I'm going with you," she said. "We can still have that life you're dreaming about."
"What if we don't work out?" He asked.
"Then we don't work out. I'll leave you wherever we end up and go live somewhere else. I still got my contacts. I can move so far away that you'll never be able to find me," she said.
"I'll always find you," he said.
He kissed her again. Their kiss was interrupted by her phone ringing. She grabbed it and answered.
"Rat," she said. "Mmm-hmm. Okay. On our way."
She hung up and jumped out of bed.
"We gotta go," she said.
"So much for trying to have some adult time," he smirked.
"When we arrive," she winked. "You'll have all the time in the world to see if we fit together."
She opened the door and walked into the living room where Dean and Seth were sitting and talking.
"Good, you're awake. We're leaving," Tori said.
"Now?" Seth asked.
"Yes, now. We gotta go to the harbor," Tori said. "We got two hours or they're calling it all off again. You don't fuck over this contact. Trust me. You only get one chance at his help. You're on your own if you don't get there in time."
"There's cameras on the harbor," Dean said.
"They won't spot you on them until you're long gone," Tori said. "Now hurry."
They all jumped out in the car and left the house behind.
"Who's house is it, by the way?" Tori asked.
"A friend of my uncle's. They died together in a car crash. He was a loner. He only had my uncle as a friend and no family," Roman said.
"And the car?" Tori asked.
"Stolen from the place we worked when we decided to make a run for it," Seth grinned. "They fucking deserved that."
Seth drove as fast as he could. They made it to the harbor an hour and a half later. Roman opened the door, grabbed Tori's arm and pulled her out on his side.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Cameras," he answered. "They need to think you were kidnapped. I am not letting you end up on their top ten most wanted list."
They walked down the harbor until someone whistled from a boat. They walked over there and saw four passports waiting. Seth jumped down and looked through them all.
"That's us, alright," Seth said.
Whoever owned the boat managed to stay hidden from the cameras with a big coat and a hat. He was ready for takeoff.
"Let's go," Dean said.
"You're staying here," Roman said to Tori.
"What? No!" Tori objected.
"Keys!" Roman demanded.
Seth threw the car keys to Roman. Roman pulled a gun and placed it at Tori's head. Scared she walked backwards and he followed with that gun to her head the entire time. He knew the cameras would pick up everything, and it would look like she had been kidnapped. He pushed the car keys into her hands.
"Drive to the police station and tell them we left. Tell them we kidnapped you. Tell them to look at the fucking footage from this moment," he said.
"Don't leave me," she said.
"I'm giving you all the proof you need to look innocent. You got bruises on your back and throat. Tell them half the truth. How we beat you up and kidnapped you against your will," he said.
"You don't get it," she said. "I want to come. They're gonna hunt my ass no matter what. I'll never work in this field again. People will be divided. Some will believe me, others won't. My life will still be over."
He gritted his teeth. He had to make her stay. It was one thing that he had to be on the run. He had no other life than the one he knew with Seth and Dean. She had a life. She had a job. Family and friends maybe. He didn't know that for sure but he couldn't bear the thought of her not having anyone. There had to be someone. He chose to believe that.
"I wish it wouldn't come to this," he said. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."
"Are you gonna shoot me?" She asked.
He was faster than her. He was behind her before she knew what was happening. He wrapped his arms around her throat and started squeezing.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm not gonna kill you. Stop fighting it. Go to sleep, Tori."
She passed out shortly after. He lowered her down on the ground. He had to keep a stone face with the cameras on him, but his heart was bleeding for her. He turned around, walked back to the boat and jumped on it. Seth and Dean had already picked up their passports. He grabbed his own and Tori's, and put them in his back pocket.
"Are you okay?" Dean asked.
"Let's just go," Roman sighed.
The boat started sailing out of the harbor. Roman looked over his shoulder. Tori was still on the ground. Someone had noticed her and came running. Some woman in a white dress and a phone in her hand, probably already calling for help.
"She'll live," Seth said.
"I know," Roman said.
"We need to live too," Seth said.
"I know that as well," Roman said. "It's just..."
Roman held a pause as he watched Tori disappear out of his sight. He could no longer see far enough to see if she was still on the ground, or if the woman had managed to wake her up. Once he arrived to wherever they were going, he was gonna check up on her online. He was gonna keep an eye on her from afar.
"Do you think people will judge her for this?" Roman asked.
"Some will. Others will praise her as a hero," Seth answered.
"She's a good woman. A fucking good woman," Roman said. "She trusted us when she didn't have to. She didn't even know us. She came for a story, but she also came for us as people."
"As men," Dean chimed in. "We are men, Roman. It's time we take back those words and own them as our own. We are motherfucking men."