WAR – part 1
A/N – Hello everyone! Okay, so another month passed, might as well come up with an update. And it's time to BRING UP THE ACTION! (I'm so fucking excited for this!) Enjoy ;)
Eduard von Bock – Estonia
Raivis Galante – Latvia
Toris Laurinaitis – Lithuania
(in case you didn't know, but I have a strong suspicion you did…)
There was a knot in Berwald's stomach as he sat down in the car and the full gravity of the situation finally descended on him. Damn it, he really wasn't ready for something like this, fighting in a gang war had never, ever been part of the plan! And how the hell was he going to communicate with Adnan now?! He couldn't just take out his phone and type away with all these people around him, it would have been suspicious as fuck!
Next to him, Tino sat slumped with his head in his hands and his face ashen, momentarily unable to get over the fact that his hand had been forced like this. Initially when the detective had thought of it, it had seemed rather impulsive that he'd so quickly rejected the Italians' offer, which might have been indeed some good money, but maybe allowing himself to be pushed around by Lovino Vargas would have been a sign of weakness that would have lead to other trouble. After all, he didn't know what or how much experience Tino had with these things, they'd never talked about it, but there must have been a reason why the Finn preferred to be on his own, without any affiliations, and keep a neutrality policy. Too bad that this time he'd been unable to reinforce it…
"So, this is bad, right? Blowing up their van like that?" the Swede asked rhetorically, risking to sound stupid and meanwhile observing the Russians' expressions. They all looked surprisingly calm given the circumstances.
"We would have blown them up anyway sooner or later," Natalya replied dryly. "But the sooner the better."
"We have a tail," the driver announced suddenly, Berwald noticing him for the first time. He was a smooth-looking guy with straight-cut blond hair and glasses, the teacher or maybe corporate worker type. Definitely not the gang member type. Where the hell was Ivan Braginski recruiting his men?
"Lose him, Eduard," Ivan ordered. He stood from his seat, peering through the rear window. "It's another black van, just like the first one," he announced.
The detective felt the vehicle speeding up and taking a curb and took advantage of the fact that Tino and Natalya were already busy digging into one of the bags they'd brought, Ivan keeping an eye on their pursuers, and whipped out his phone with a trembling hand, finally checking the message he'd gotten earlier. It was a crazy risk, but the Chief Inspector needed to know that he was still on it.
"Report on your status, damn it!" That had been more than half an hour before and in the meantime the police must have been informed about the blast next to Tino's shop. Maybe Adnan even thought he was dead.
"I can't" he typed quickly, with his back turned, pretending to check something in his pockets. Then he put the phone back inside his jacket.
"I can't go any faster, there's too much traffic ahead!" Eduard informed them. "Get ready, they're closing in on us!"
"And it looks like there's two of them now," Ivan added, pulling back from the window. Natalya picked up the grenade launcher, but the boss shook his head. "No, not while they're moving, you could miss and it's a crowded street. We limit civilian casualties, da? Even if it's more work." He leaned over and picked up an AKM from the bag, barely having time to snap a clip in place before the rear window exploded.
A cacophony of screams broke outside from the passers-by on the sidewalk as they ran for cover, scattered by the sudden gunfire. Berwald ducked on reflex, pulling the Finn down with him between the seats as broken glass rained over them and more bullets rapped against the metal of the car, along with Hana's high-pitched, terrified barks. He saw the driver flinching violently and for a moment of absolute horror thought the man had been shot. But it was only a fleeting fit of insecurity before Eduard gripped the wheel firmly and a second later the van jolted slightly as its front brushed past the back of a parked car, shattering the rear lights and making it spin in its spot. Still, they went on without slowing, taking constant fire from behind.
"Suka blyat!" Ivan cursed, straightening his back. "Another man with me, take positions!"
Tino stood without hesitation, weapon in hand, and stepped past the Swede to join Ivan. "Ber, get ready," he told the detective. "If I'm hit, you take my place."
Berwald winced at the gun dealer's cold, mechanic words and inwardly cursed himself – he should have stood first instead of letting his employer do it. Damn it, the gnawing feeling that he'd gone against his superior's orders and fucked up the mission was numbing his instincts and slowing him down! Also, it was quite obvious he didn't have these people's cold blood when it came to killing, or even getting themselves killed. On top of everything else, the phone buzzed inside his jacket.
Mumbling a silent swear, he grabbed the last AKM from the bag and stuck a clip on as Tino and the Russian quickly cleared off the glass remains from the rear window with the muzzles of their weapons and opened fire towards the pursuing vehicles.
"Hold it steady, Eduard," Ivan instructed, sending a hail of bullets into the windshield of the closest black van.
The vehicle's headlights were shattered and the driver pulled the wheel abruptly, trying to evade the line of fire. Not fast enough though, the windshield cracking in several spots and splattering with blood on the passenger's side. Still, there was incoming fire from the people in the back seats and from the other van.
"Come on, come on," Tino grumbled through gritted teeth, trying to aim at the driver. Just then, his own phone vibrated in his back pocket, startling him. "WHAT THE FUCK, I'M BUSY! Berwald, see who it is!"
The Swede reached out and plucked the device, fearing it was Vargas and really not wanting to hear what other shit that bastard might have had to say. "It's Kirkland," he announced with obvious relief.
"Well you answer it!"
"Arthur?"
"Yo mate, we thought we'd stop by and pay you fine lads a quick visit, but, um... the shop doesn't look too well. Where the hell are you?! Is Tino okay?"
Berwald groaned. "We're fine, but the Vargas family moved in on us and we had to flee. We're on the run now."
"What, they made you 'an offer you couldn't refuse'? Fuck mate, you know how they say, Hell is where everything is run by Italians," the Englishman chuckled at the other end of the line, just before someone else there with him added 'and where the chefs are British'.
The detective scowled. "Wait, how do you know that?"
"What?"
"How do you know they made Tino an offer?"
"I figured that much, mate, it's not too hard. See, they made us an offer too, along with everyone who's normally 'neutral'. Except it was more of a threat than an offer and I really didn't appreciate it. Also, Lovino told Alin 'you're Romanian, so that's like half-Italian'. No doubt the fucker meant it as a compliment but it was massive backfire!"
"So I'm guessing you didn't take it..."
"Fuck no. Anyway, stay safe, yeah mate?"
"Sure. You too."
"WHAT DID HE WANT?" Tino yelled over the gunfire and dog barks, not turning, just as the Russian boss finally managed to gun down the driver and the pursuing vehicle swayed out of the road, tyres screeching, eventually crashing into a pole on the sidewalk.
"JUST TO KNOW IF WE'RE OKAY!" the Swede shouted back, seizing the opportunity to check his own phone and read the last message from the Chief Inspector.
"Just activate your GPS."
He did so without delay before stuffing both his and Tino's phone into his jacket pockets. There was still one van left raining bullets on them and by now also some police sirens were heard, not so far away in the distance.
"Oh shit!" Berwald cursed under his breath. Not the police, not the police, fuck! What if, once their opponents disposed of, Tino and Ivan were also going to open fire against the police? He as an officer couldn't just stand by and do nothing, even if it was very little he could do if the others decided to go down that road. Still, Braginski had expressed his wish to limit what he'd called 'civilian casualties', although he wasn't too sure the police qualified as that. Probably not. Also, what if it came to them being arrested? If that happened his whole mission would be blown and he didn't want Tino arrested either. Not that this wasn't going to be a problem either way, one that just now – at the worst moment possible – popped into his mind yet again!
"Hey, Ber, you okay there?"
There was another jolt as the vehicle took another curb at full speed, Tino losing his balance slightly and gripping the detective's shoulder for support before slipping back into his seat. It turned out that Eduard had managed to get an exit through a side street and into a back alley, finally getting rid of the Italians.
"We lost them for now, da," Ivan confirmed, pulling back as well and slumping into a seat in turn, sighing in exhaustion.
Berwald took a deep breath, relieved, then noticed there was a thin trail of blood running across the Finn's cheek, almost from his mouth to his ear. "Tino! You're hurt!"
"Just a scratch, they nearly got me," the gun dealer replied with a wry smile, wiping it quickly with the back of his hand which did very little as tiny crimson droplets resurfaced almost instantly against the flushed skin. "But you don't look that well, Ber. I told you that you could-"
"No, no! I just didn't think they'd be upon us like this, so hell-bent on wiping us out," the Swede explained, licking his lips nervously as he took his employer's phone out of his pocket and returning it. To hide his distress, he picked up the small ball of fluff and soothed her in his arms, making her stop barking and squealing. "Arthur was telling me they even threatened the Magic Club, now I really didn't think they'd go that far."
"My friend, the world is full of crazy motherfuckers, da," Ivan said amused, dropping the AKM back in the bag. "Luckily not all of them have the means to start a riot like that, but there's just about enough of them to give you trouble."
In the meantime Eduard got them through several deserted back streets, until they left the clutter of buildings behind, heading for the outskirts of the city, into an area filled with old warehouses, abandoned plants and various decrepit constructions. They drove for a while, until a medium-walled enclosure suddenly loomed up front, thick rolls of barb wire adorning the top of the brick fences. In the middle it had a solid, metal double gate which slid sideways, allowing the van to pass through into a large, concrete courtyard surrounding what looked like an old office building.
Berwald felt a tad wobbly on his feet as he got off but picked up the weapon bags regardless. Damn it, he'd shown enough weakness until now, if he wanted to protect Tino he had to be up to whatever was thrown his way.
Ivan led them inside the building, the interior looking surprisingly better than the crumbling outside and showed the pair to a shared bedroom of sorts, several bunk beds aligned along the walls. He explained that it was where his men were housed at times like this, when he had to gather all of his forces together. Several bags with personal belongings were scattered on some of the beds, but apparently there were more men to come in until nightfall.
"The Vargas family will come for us with all they've got and they'll try to storm this place, but not right now. Not today I think. Use the time to get some rest," Ivan advised. "We'll have a briefing later on, when everyone's here, to let you know where we stand and what the defense plan is."
"Do you think the Vargas siblings will fight too, alongside their men? I mean if they have bodyguards…" the Swede asked, as Tino lowered Hana on one of the beds and then plopped beside her, running a tired hand through tousled bangs.
"I'm sure they will, it would look bad to their men if they didn't," the gun dealer stated. "Sicilians got this fucked up 'code of honor' they stick to, I heard. Besides, it's not like they have any qualms about drawing their guns, everyone who has ever lead a gang started from the bottom, with very few exceptions."
The detective sighed, biting on his bottom lip. "And do you think that kid – Sebastiano - will fight too?" He really hoped not, the youngest Vargas was just a child, even if he'd showed delinquent potential already. Although how could he not, growing up in such a family?
"I don't know, I mean he did have a gun the other day," Tino mused, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "But maybe he'd stolen it, judging by his brother's reaction…"
"Or maybe they'll think this is a good opportunity for the little one to 'make his bones', like they say, da," Ivan observed.
"But he's just-" …a kid, but they probably don't care that much about that… "I mean he's kind of clueless, apparently bad at following orders too… He could fuck up big time, even turn out to be a liability!" Only that wasn't a bad thing as far as they were concerned and furthermore, no actual reason for Berwald to press this subject.
Ivan sighed and shook his head. "That's why we don't recruit anyone under twenty, da… And I don't want to fight a child either, if that makes it any easier for you. I'd rather not fight anyone actually, but as you know it wasn't me who started this. Now get some rest, you'll need it."
At the first opportunity, the detective snuck away to the bathroom and quickly typed a full update on the situation to the Chief Inspector, taking his time to wait for instructions. Adnan wrote back almost immediately, asking him to let them know at the first sign of the Italian's approaching their location. Maybe this was a good chance to bag the bastards after all and see his mission fulfilled, that if he survived the next day. He'd rather not think about how he was going to keep Tino out of this mess yet.
To be continued
Reviews and comments are LOVE ;)
Suka blyat! = Fucking bitch! (Russian)
