Aubrey watched the boat disappear into the horizon, tears slipping down her cheeks, crying half out of pain, half out of fear. Her leg was throbbing and it was taking all of her strength not to pass out from the pain. She awkwardly eased herself into a sitting position, wincing as the pain shot up her leg. Jessica quickly set about removing her cardigan, tearing the fabric into makeshift bandages, gently applying pressure as Aubrey hissed in pain.
"Sorry honey, I can control it here, but we need to get you to a hospital so they check it out and give you some pain relief. The bullet went straight though, so it should just be a case of stitches, but they'll have to make sure there's no major arterial damage first."
Aubrey shook her head furiously, "No, not yet, we have to help Beca and Chloe."
"They'll be okay." Cynthia-Rose squeezed the blonde's shoulder, trying to reassure her friend, knowing that the last thing Aubrey needed right now was to get herself worked up. "They've got Amy, and whilst Fergus doesn't have what he wants, he won't risk hurting them."
"But what about after he gets what he wants? What then? Is he really just going to let them go? I mean, he shot me, he's not exactly a poster child for sanity!"
"I don't know. But we'll get to them before that." Cynthia-Rose tried to sooth her injured friend.
Aubrey scoffed, "Oh yeah? And how are we gonna do that exactly? Paddle after them in this wooden box?"
Cynthia-Rose gave her a cunning smile as she reached into her pocket.
"No… but we can always report them to Chicago and the US Army, tell them where they're going. After all, why else would I have swiped a phone with all their secret plans on?"
She waved it triumphantly in front of the Bellas, who all gasped in shock and wonder, Aubrey pulling the singer into a tight hug, "You're a genius!" she grinned.
"I'm not just a pretty face y'know." The young woman winked as Aubrey pulled away, grimacing as another wave of pain radiated through her.
A cautious sense of optimism spread through the group as the bay came into view. Maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to save their friends before anything got ugly. Lilly hopped out of the boat as they bumped against the dock, using her unique skill set to tether the boat to the dock, before helping her friends disembark. The Bellas then helped the injured Aubrey out, steadying the boat as she lent on Jessica, her face grey with pain.
"Where are they going anyway?" Aubrey asked, trying to think about anything but the agony she was in.
"The Cayman Islands?"
"I can't believe it…" Chloe rested her head on the wall behind her, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Well I for one, am in great need of a summer vacation." Beca smirked, doing what she always did in desperate situations.
Chloe simply rolled her eyes, so used to the unrelenting sarcasm of the younger Bella that it no longer phased her. In fact she found it endearing, although it had one more than one occasion gotten them into trouble. Not possibly life-threatening, kidnapped by a career criminal and taken overseas trouble, but definitely the sort of trouble that lead to bar fights. The two sat in silence as the new information washed over them, trying to comprehend the sheer absurdity of the situation they found themselves in.
"How long do you reckon it is from France to the Cayman Islands?" Beca asked, eyebrows furrowed as she tried to work it out.
"By boat? Easily 4 hours, probably longer." The ginger sighed, "And I am not good on boats. My dad used to take me fishing as a kid, but I'd spend the whole time throwing up over the side..."
"Oh God, don't tell me you're about to start puking up everywhere…" the brunette moaned, "You know how I get with puke!"
"Oh yeah, the World's after party." Chloe giggled, remembering how her friend had behaved, "When every time Legacy threw up from drinking too much, you followed because the mere sound of someone vomiting sets you off."
Beca shuddered at the mere memory of that night, feeling that familiar wave of nausea build in her throat, "Ugh. I still maintain that it was a fair response!"
"Mmm, I'm not sure Emily would agree!" Chloe shook her head, remembering the look of horror on the young legacy's face.
"I didn't mean to puke on her head, she was just… in the way." The brunette blushed furious as Chloe giggled helplessly, all worries momentarily forgotten. "Besides, it's not like you haven't made an ass of yourself before!"
"I don't know what you mean!" Chloe protested, cheeks turning as red as her hair.
"Oh really? What about Aubrey's graduation party? When you got so drunk you decided to give Ashley a strip tease?" Beca arched an eyebrow, mischief written on every inch of her face. Chloe's impromptu strip tease was perhaps one of her favourite memories, although she had wished it was her lap that the ginger had been grinding on.
"I did not!" Chloe gasped indignantly.
"Oh yes you did! I'm pretty sure Jessica still has the video."
"No… I do not remember that." The redhead was appalled, trying to search her brain for the memory of that night.
"I'm not surprised! You drank like two whole bottles of wine by yourself, you were really out of it."
"Oh my god…." Chloe blushed furiously, hiding her face behind her hair, utterly embarrassed by her drunk self.
Beca chuckled to herself, shaking her head fondly. "It was a good night though. Can you believe it was five years ago?"
"Huh. Has it really been that long?" Chloe smiled softly, the flush in her cheeks slowly dissipating, "We had fun didn't we Beca?"
"Oh definitely! The best years of my life were with the Bellas! You guys are my family." Beca winced as she heard herself, "Ugh, kidnap makes me sappy..."
Chloe simply laughed in response, once again resting her head on the brunette's shoulder. The pair sat like that for hours, laughing and reminiscing about their lives with the Bellas, in a desperate attempt to ignore both the danger they were in, and the secret feelings they had harboured for each other since the day they met. Now was simply not the time.
"Cynthia, will you use that phone to call an ambulance?" Jessica asked, gently lowering Aubrey onto a nearby bench, as her friend's breathing started to become laboured with the effort of walking.
"No, we have to get back to the hotel- find Chicago-" the injured blonde tried to get up again, but the pain made her head swim, the young woman turning quickly to throw up in a nearby trash can.
"Bree…" Ashley started softly, "You have a hole in your leg, you're in so much pain that it's making you throw up, you need to go to the hospital. You are less than useless like this. Besides... there's a baby girl back home that needs you in one-piece."
Aubrey leant back on the bench, her forehead damp with sweat. She opened her mouth to protest, but she knew her friend was right. There was no way she could carry on like this.
"Fine." She mumbled, her head starting to throb.
"Bree?" Jessica quickly placed a hand on her friends forehead, "Shit, she's burning up… Bree, stay with me honey. How's that ambulance coming?"
"I don't speak French!" Cynthia-Rose was starting to panic, unable to help her friend.
"Here. I'll do it." Ashley took the phone off her, "Bonjour? J'ai besoin d'une ambulance s'il vous plaît. Port de Nice, doc sept. Mon ami a reçu une balle dans la jambe, notre autre amie est médecin donc nous avons pu lui donner un traitement d'urgence, mais elle a perdu beaucoup de sang, elle ne va pas bien. Nous sommes ici avec l'armée américaine dans le cadre de la tournée USO, pourriez-vous leur demander de nous rencontrer à l'hôpital? Nous sommes ici avec le capitaine Chicago Cole, dites-lui que c'est urgent. Merci."
She hung up, looking round at the bewildered yet impressed faces of her friends. "What? I'm a translator, you guys know this!"
Before anyone could respond to what definitely felt like new information, their attention was drawn back to Aubrey thanks to Jessica's panicked tone.
"Bree? Bree? Honey can you hear me?" The blonde gently shook her friend's shoulder to no avail, "Aubrey?"
"What is it? What's happening?" Emily knelt down next to Aubrey, stroking her hair out of her face, panicking when there was no response.
"She's passed out, it's probably the pain, but given the amount of blood she's lost it could be… it could be a bad sign. Did they give you an ETA on the ambulance?" Jessica was trying to keep calm, knowing that if she freaked out everyone else would follow suit.
"About 3 minutes." Ashley responded, sensing her panic and keeping her tone calm.
Jessica took Aubrey's pulse. It was starting to slow down, and she knew her friend didn't have that long before she'd be in trouble. Thankfully, the approaching sound of sirens soothed her worries a little, as an ambulance appeared around the corner. Lilly waved it down, two paramedics quickly joining the distressed singing group.
"Êtes-vous les américans? Est-ce que tu parles français?" One of them asked, kneeling next to Aubrey and taking her pulse.
"Oui, j'ai appelé l'ambulance." Ashley stood close by, ready to translate in between the paramedics and the Bellas.
"Que s'est-il passé?" The paramedic attached the unconscious blonde to the heart monitor as the other wheeled over the gurney.
"Elle a été abattue. C'est une longue histoire, ont-ils appelé l'armée?"
"Oui, ils vont vous y rencontrer. Un seul d'entre vous peut venir en ambulance avec nous, les autres devront prendre un taxi." Aubrey was now on the gurney, attached to various machines and suddenly looking very small.
Ashley turned to her friends. "Okay, only one of us can go with her, the rest of us need to get a cab to the hospital, Chicago's gonna meet us there so we can fill him in, send him after Hobart."
"You should go with them, you're the one who speaks French, I'll get the others in an Uber XL and we'll meet you there. That way if the doctors need to talk to someone about Bree, we're not having to battle with a language barrier as well." In the absence of their usual leader, Flo stepped up, sensing the other Bellas distress, and given the fact that Jessica had been so level headed for them before, it was time she had a moment to herself to feel her emotions. Ashley simply nodded and followed the paramedics back into the ambulance, Flo opening up the Uber app on the procured mobile phone.
'They kidnapped our friends and shot Aubrey, the least they can do is pay for the Uber to the hospital…' The large shuttle arrived within two minutes of the ambulance leaving, the ambulance quickly outpacing the taxi full of Bellas as it screeched through the traffic, blue lights and sirens blaring.
Chloe smiled softly as she listened to the brunette snore softly. It had been an exhausting time for the two Bellas, even before they were kidnapped and put on a boat to the Cayman Islands, and the redhead had no issue with Beca nodding off. After all, the sound of Beca snoring was probably the most comforting sound that she knew, having used it to get to sleep for the last year. Ever since they moved into the studio apartment with Amy, the two had been forced to share a bed, and Chloe (who was a light sleeper) had at first taken an issue with the noise, desperately trying to get the brunette to stop. She'd tried everything; rolling her over; pinching her nose; stealing her pillows so she was flat on her back rather than propped up; but nothing had worked. Eventually however, Chloe had adjusted to the sound to such an extent that she couldn't fall asleep without it. She hated it when Beca had to work late, the bed so big and so cold without her in it, but the other side of that was the small brunette trying to quietly slip into bed next to her roommate when she thought she was asleep, and she would quietly whisper good night before curling up next to her.
Of course, Chloe had never told her this, nor had she told her that she wanted, more than anything, to roll over and kiss the short brunette, then pour her heart out. She'd been in love with the girl for so long that she couldn't remember a time when Beca hadn't been in every waking thought. But she kept those feelings hidden, for good reason. She didn't let anyone know about that side of her, expect for Aubrey. She'd been through far too much pain because of it.
"Oh Beca…" she whispered, "Why does it have to be so hard? Why can't I just tell you how I feel?"
Beca, who had stirred slightly, heard every word. She bit her lip, wondering whether or not to respond. She couldn't be sure if Chloe meant what she thought she did, and she didn't want to ruin what she already had. Could she really risk everything? She opened her mouth, hoping that once she started talking she'd figure out what to do.
Just then, the door banged open, causing Chloe to jolt upright. Beca screamed internally, convinced that she'd missed the opportunity to finally to finally tell Chloe how she felt. Why couldn't she do this? It wasn't this hard, surely?
"G'day ladies! We'll be at the Cayman Islands in about three hours. And that's when the fun really begins." Fergus Hobart grinned cruelly as he observed his captives, "But…"
Two of his lackies came in behind him and cut the cable ties around Beca's ankles, dragging her to her feet.
"I think we can start the fun a little early... it's time for you two to spend a little time apart."
"What! No!" Beca struggled against Hobart's henchmen as they tried to wrestle her out of the room, "CHLOE!" she screamed.
"BECA!" Chloe fought against the restraints, desperate to help her friend.
Beca was fighting hard against the men holding her back already, but the second that she heard the pain and fear in Chloe's voice, a surge of adrenaline overcame her and she managed to snatch herself free, charging at Hobart. Unfortunately, the tall man had seen her coming and dodged out of the way, Beca stumbling and hitting the metal floor hard. Grunting in pain, she tried to scramble back to her feet, but Hobart pulled her up by her hair and landed a hard punch in her ribs. The brunette cried out as she felt a crack, all the air leaving her lungs at once. Fergus let her crumble to the floor, his henchmen once again pulling her to her feet, Chloe only able to watch helplessly as her friend was manhandled out of sight. She glared daggers at the towering kidnapper, "Where are you taking her?"
"What is it with you girls? Always asking questions that you don't need to know the answers to?" Fergus chuckled, heading for the door.
"You bastard! I swear to God I'm gonna kill you. You harm another hair on her head and I'll make you wish you'd never been born!" The red-head snarled, tugging so hard at the cable tie around her wrists that she drew blood.
"Sweetheart…" Fergus slowly paced back towards the captive Bella, suddenly dropping to her level, grabbing her hair so she was forced to look up at him. Chloe gasped in pain, eyes wide with fear, "I'm the one that calls the shots around here. Got it? So, if I decide to hurt your friend, that's exactly what I'm going to do. Ask your friend Aubrey. And if you open your pretty little mouth one more time, I'll bring her back to you one piece at a time. Do I make myself clear?"
Chloe nodded quickly, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes, shrinking as Fergus let go off her and got to his feet.
"Good girl. Sit tight. I'll be back soon."
The door slammed shut behind her kidnapper, Chloe letting out a loud sob, burying her head in her knees. Why was this happening to her? Why was it that every time she let herself feel this way for a girl something like this happened? What was going to happen to her? To Beca? What if she never saw Beca again? What if she'd missed her chance to tell how she really felt? What if he hurt Beca again? What if he hurt her worse? What if he killed her? She thought about what he'd said. What had he done to Aubrey? Was she hurt? Was she dead? Where was she?
Chloe's head spiralled with darker and darker what ifs, and with no Beca to anchor her thoughts, the spiral was uncontrollable. Chloe sobbed heavily for a good half an hour before finally falling into a fevered sleep, filled with haunting images of her past, and the potential, Beca-less future that awaited her.
"OI! Assholes! I know you can hear me!" Beca, now upright with her hands bound tightly behind her back still, was pacing up and down the small room she'd been shoved into, kicking at every door and wall within reach. Her ribs were throbbing but she didn't care. She had to get back to Chloe.
"You take me back to Chloe right now! Or I'm gonna introduce you to a whole new world of pain! You hear me? I swear if you hurt her I'm going to kill you!"
The door was suddenly flung open as Fergus moved swiftly through the door, grabbing Beca by the throat and slamming her against the wall. The brunette cried out in pain, chest pounding, struggling for breath as the grip around her throat tightened.
"Now I'm going to tell you the same thing I've just told your friend. I'm the one in control here. I decide what happens to you and that bimbo in the other room, and if I decide if I hurt her or you. Keep yelling, and I will hurt her. Do you understand me?"
Beca nodded, still struggling for breath, helpless in his grip with her hands tied behind her. He released her, allowing her to crumple to the ground. She spluttered as air suddenly re-entered her lungs, all but choking on it as she tried to re-oxygenate her body. Hobart grabbed her legs roughly, forcing her ankles together as he fastened a new cable tie around them. He left Beca catching her breath, uncharacteristic tears forming at the corner of her eyes. The door slammed shut, leaving Beca very much alone.
"Shit…" she whispered, "Shit."
How could she keep Chloe safe now? She'd seen something in Chloe's eyes that had terrified her more than anything else that had happened whilst they'd be kidnapped; a haunted look that Beca had never seen before, and she hated it. She hated the thought that someone might have hurt Chloe in the past; the level of pain that she had seen in the ginger's eyes broke her heart. She rested her head on the wall behind her, sighing softly. How had she got herself into this mess? Why couldn't she just tell Chloe how she felt? Why was it so damn hard to say those words? And now… now she might never get to tell her. Why was she such a damn coward?
"I'm sorry Chlo…" she whispered, closing her eyes, "I wish I hadn't hesitated. I'd do anything to take it all back and save you from all this."
"What the hell did you do that for?" Amy yelled, eyes blazing with fury as her father re-entered the surveillance room.
"They were far too comfortable with each other; this isn't supposed to be a holiday!" He simply shrugged, feeling no remorse.
"It's me that you're black mailing, not them! Why are you punishing them?"
"Oh pumpkin, I've gotta get some fun out of this!"
Amy looked at him in horror, shaking her head, "What is wrong with you?"
"Sunshine." Fergus chuckled cruelly, "This is what us Hobarts do for fun. We've been doing this for generations."
"Then I don't want to be a Hobart. After I've given you the money, we're done."
"Fine by me Patricia." Fergus left the surveillance room, locking the door behind him.
Tears slipped down the blonde singer's face. How could she have let this happen to her best friends? The reason she'd moved in with Beca and Chloe over the other Bellas was because she'd promised Aubrey she'd help them. All the Bellas knew how the pair felt about each other, even if they remained totally oblivious to it, or at least oblivious to the fact that the other felt the same way. Amy knew that together the girls were unstoppable. She also knew that apart, they were intensely vulnerable. Beca may put on a strong façade but underneath it all she was just as vulnerable as the rest of them; and Chloe, well, Aubrey's last words to her had been ringing in her ears. The ginger was clearly struggling more than could ever have been anticipated. The Australian bit her lip, watching her friends, helpless and suffering.
"I'm gonna get you out of this guys. I promise."
"Get her out of here, take her to the lounge. I'm sick of listening to her whining…" Hobart turned his back on his daughter, his eyes falling hungrily on the redhead on his surveillance feed.