Built for Espionage: Chapter Fourteen
Alex contained his relief, joy and utter hope when he and Yassen finally met eyes. Sasha, Yassen and he were standing in a slightly estranged and nearly empty corner of the sitting room, the closest group to them maybe four metres away. His thoughts went wild, he knew Yassen came with Snake- who Alex hadn't seen yet, and that basically ensured that K-unit were somewhere nearby whether they were doing recon or were planning to get Ben and he out of here was something he unfortunately didn't know. And there was no chance of asking Yassen, especially as Sasha's hand on the shoulder tightened again- he was certain there'd be a terrible bruise.
'Was there any doubt I wouldn't show?' Rhetorical question, easy Alex- as much as he wanted nothing more than to escape right now, had to stay quiet. It hadn't occurred to him before, but Yassen and Sasha clearly knew each other. If this conversation wasn't proof, the phone call he, Sasha and Yassen had shared was.
It also proved something Alex had a theory on. Yassen cared about him, for certain, he had assumed it was a favour for his dad, Yassen's partner and friend, but Yassen had taken it further and showing up now, working with K-unit, it was obvious Yassen did care about him and his well-being. Something Alex knows Sasha is going to use against Yassen.
'Oh never a doubt in my mind, especially after that charming call with my dear Alexander' If Alex didn't know any better, he'd say the man's tone was that of a proud parent, and that when Sasha moved him to stand directing in front of him, it was something like showing off their kid. Alex did know better, and the tone of the conservation was quickly moving into a dangerous dead-man's land.
And when Sasha moved him to stand directly in front of him it wasn't just so that he could have a hold on both of Alex's shoulder, no it was an action of control. Sasha knew he wasn't going to fight back, he wouldn't struggle against him being used as a human shield, because he knew that Ben was still a hostage downstairs. And Yassen knew it too, Alex was a just a trophy that Sasha was waving in front of Yassen's face.
Sasha caught Yassen's glance down at him, a thousand silent questions that Alex couldn't answer.
'Of course, you're worried about my Alexander, tell him how your stay with me his been dear' The script, Sasha had drilled into him the words and tone to use if he was asked how he had been, how his stay was going. A long line of responses he was supposed to use to answer any question aimed at him. He met Yassen's ice blue eyes, silently apologising.
'Sasha's the best' He continued to spew praises of Sasha's house and his non-existent room, how he wished this was a normal kidnapping, that his captor didn't have one of his friends a hostage, just so he could mouth off a little, give his usage wits and sarcastic tone. If only this was just a normal kidnapping.
Snake often viewed himself as the calmest and most collected member of K-unit, so when Snake complained about something taking too long- that something was in fact taking too long. They had a plan, a plan that everyone was praying would for once just fall into place and work itself out. That, so far wasn't happening.
/First and second floor clean/ He sent the text quickly to K-unit, being as the house was only two stories, he imagined that this wouldn't be terribly difficult. He was quickly proven wrong was he returned to the first floor/main floor where the party was being held only to have not found Fox.
A small vibration alerted him to a response.
/Blueprints show an area under the house, basement?/ Of course, Yassen had muttered about Alex and Fox's captor, mentioning everything from a concerning interest in young kids, to his apparently ludicrously laid houses. So far Snake hadn't found any proof of that, but if there was a basement- maybe he'd just prove Yassen correct- what a world, K-unit for the SAS working with an assassin formally working for SCORPIA.
/Entrance?/
/North wall in a hallway/ He politely weaved his way through the crowd in the large sitting room, mentally swearing as he went. He'd walked through that hallway twice, and had seen the door and in his right mind he may have noticed that it wasn't a door to a linen closet or powder room. But unfortunately, he wasn't in his right mind, he was on constant alert of the so-called waiters circling the sitting room looking out for people just like him. And of course, there was an additional stress and overwhelming worry, he'd seen Alex- the boy lightly pale and clearly hiding a wound on his stomach, then there was Ben- which they had no idea how he was doing, they'd assumed he was still alive, still kicking and fighting. But he imagined that as he'd seen Sasha showing off Alex, he feared Fox may have gotten all the torture because of that.
He quickly spotted the door on the north wall of the hallway, and ducked inside without a password or any type of security being set off. A sigh of relief gave way before he cautiously made his way down the stairs. In and out, quick like a bunny- as Eagle said.
The conversation had grown from tense and a clear display of power Sasha had over Alex, to uncomfortably worst. Both men were politely throwing insults that were hidden in well meaning words, Alex would call it a fight between toddlers if the toddlers had weapons and a strong will to kill each other- and the items of which to do it.
Though just as quickly as it had spun out of control, did Sasha suddenly stop his boasting and send Alex a mildly interested glare. A strange smile graced his lips before Sasha turned back to Yassen and spoke.
'Did you bring any company Yassen?' Alex couldn't stop the flinch and Sasha felt it, and of course Yassen saw it.
'Oh, I see, you brought some of Alexander's friends- someone he trusts, someone he thinks will lead to his… release' Alex's mind went into imagining everyway this unknown plan of K-unit and Yassen's had suddenly doomed he and Ben. He imagined that Snake had been captured, that Sasha had found out that Yassen was stalling, that Alex was on more edge than usual. The fear was quickly setting in, Sasha knew what Yassen had tried, and no doubt if they'd captured Snake then they no longer needed Ben, Sasha had a new hostage he trusted Alex knew.
'Unfortunately, Alexander won't be leaving with you tonight- something has suddenly come up' Alex knew that something was Ben's death, he knew that whatever had happened had caused Ben's death. Panic mixed with his fear, he felt a white-stress run over his face, he had to save Ben.
'Sir, I apologise for whatever has happened, you know I won't go against you. Please don't hurt Ben' He knew how desperate he'd made his voice sound, and he added the effect through his eyes, blown wide and pleading with Sasha. Alex didn't have a plan, nothing at all, and with K-unit and Yassen here he was worried that anything he'd do would put their own plan in danger. But he needed to protect Ben, if Sasha could understand that he had had nothing to do with what was or had happened, maybe Sasha would spare Ben.
Sasha growled down at him, his eyes fixed on Alex- but clearly, he was looking around them. Alex figured out pretty quickly why, he didn't want his other normal guests knowing what was going on, and when Alex had blatantly- borderline begged for Ben's life, Sasha was instantly on high alert, worried his guests had heard.
Alex thought Sasha would snap then and there, the murderous expression on his face and how his eyes whipped through the guests, however, he was surprised when the hands on his shoulders dug into his skin before he was pushed towards one of the doorways that lead out of the room. And promptly to more private place.
He couldn't turn with the increased pressure on his shoulders, but he was certain Yassen would be following- he imagined the man would be beating himself and K-unit's plan up if he didn't follow Alex and Sasha. He didn't have much time to think further when they made it to the hallway before Sasha pushed Alex into another room- only this time he didn't follow.
From the forced of the push and with the sudden disappearance of the pressure on his shoulders, Alex tripped into the room, landing on his uncovered knees and only managing to chance a small view of Sasha's enraged expression before the door was shut and effectively locked.
Confusion filled him as he crawled back to his feet, the room was pitch black- and based on what he'd seen before the door was closed, it was nothing more than a linen closet. It was large for a linen closet, but small enough that Alex was certain he wasn't sharing the space with anyone else.
Stinging on his knees had him blindly reaching down and lightly placing a finger on one of his knees, no blood as he felt- but there was definitely some sort of friction burn on both knees. A minor injury, but damn was it burning. He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably and double blindly checked his brand before turning to look at the door.
Sasha had locked it, though he could hear a faint struggle outside in the hallway as well as Sasha's voice further away. Whatever was going on, if he didn't get out, he was either going to ruin K-unit and Yassen's plan or get left behind. The last one would certainly end with his death in the near future, no matter if Sasha kept him alive till the end of the month like he had planned or if he just killed him now.
'You keep pointing that gun at me and blabbering on about how much you've been wanting to kill me, I'm beginning to doubt your commitment' Ben muttered, sure he was still unrestrained and there was in fact Ninio's gun casually being pointed at him, but it had been nearly an hour of nothing but silence or Ninio complaining that he hadn't been allowed to kill him yet. The situation had grown old within the first half-hour.
'Trust me, it won't be long' Ben felt the groan in his throat, trust him, the very guard that was hoping to kill him, the man clearly didn't understand irony. Though his words did concern him, Ninio seemed to strongly believe that Ben would be dead by the end of the night. He spoke of killing him as if it was planned down to the minute, something that didn't seem right.
Sasha's rules for Alex weren't terrible, Alex wasn't being forced to kill someone- let alone ever hurt anyone. He couldn't see why the teen-spy wouldn't be able to manage, surely his issues with authority could be put aside for the night.
Ben sat in silent thought for another roughly ten minutes before it was broken by Sasha's voice coming through on the walkie.
'Start slowly Ninio, turns out someone broke the rules for Alexander' A wicked smile graced Ninio's lips, the safety on the gun was flicked off before Ninio spoke through the walkie.
'Of course, sir' He raised the gun again and carefully aimed at Ben, and while Ben was unrestrained, he knew even with himself 'free' and with mildly painful wounds he wouldn't be able to dodge the bullet.
'Oh, and Ninio' Ninio gave out a silent groan, the annoyance was evident on his face enough though for Ben to read him.
'Expect company, I believe Yassen brought friends' Ninio accepted the advice, however, turned away from Ben once the walkie was off and went towards the door. Ben heard him exchange a few words with the single guard outside the cell and let his mind wonder over Sasha's words.
Yassen, who he only knew one was Yassen Gregorovich- who was dead. Killed, and yet just as Alex had told him, the assassin was alive and coming for Alex. What an odd turn of events. Though his concern became apparent when he went over Sasha's words once more. 'Yassen brought friends' Someone, potentially a team, was here with Yassen to rescue Alex. He briefly wondered who could ever get the assassin to willingly work with other people as more than a job, and of course, it was Alex who could do just that.
'Any preferences?' The voice rang through and Ben looked up to meet Ninio's cold eyes, the man crouching close to him, his gun in hand to pointing casually to his limbs.
'Right arm?' He posed, Ben didn't want another wound nearest to his brand and be shooting an arm and not a leg he still had a chance to run. His right arm was his best hope. Ninio considered his response, clearly a little surprised the man would even offer a suggestion before climbing in his feet again and looking down at Ben.
'I mean not like you'll get the chance, but won't that make writing a little difficult- don't like I've ever had anyone suggest their right arm' Ninio mindlessly checked his gun as he spoke before lining up his shot with Ben's right arm- aiming at just below his shoulder.
'Ambidextrous, comes in handy I guess' He responded, readying himself for the bullet that would soon be lodged in his arm or hit the wall after going right through him, the later would probably be what Ninio was hoping to do, it would after all cause more blood loss. Ninio hummed at his response, before the shot rang loudly through the cell, Ben's cry not long after.
'How about your left legs next?' suggested Ninio as he watched Ben's body shake at the first shot, one that had travelled straight through the man's right bicep and was now bleeding profusely. Ben watched the wound for a second before going to cover it with his left hand. Ninio quickly objected.
'None of that Daniels, unless you want me to shot your right wrist and your chest at the same time' With the new threat Ben reluctantly lowered his hand, his right arm falling back to his side while his left screamed in pain. Only then did Ben notice his increased and unsteady breathing.
'So next preference?' Ben couldn't respond, the illusion that he'd be fine was quickly fading and the pain was taking up every bit of his focus. Ninio seemed upset with his lack of response, but he could care less, when he got out of here- he'd be hospitalising Ninio if he got his way.