AN: Hey people, so...I don't really have anything to say. Enjoy the chapter.
"And I, I hope for your life. You can forget about mine." -Keaton Henson
Chapter Eleven
Feeling her breath hitch in her throat Hadeel quickened her pace, forcing herself not to look behind her and see if they were close she pushed her friend to go faster. In all the rush of running she had little time to realize how very terrified she was at what was currently happening. Barsad was here and he was chasing her so the obvious thing was that Bane wanted her back already, she'd barely been gone two days.
Slamming her feet onto the ground harshly Hadeel twisted suddenly around the corner, remembering that there were sets of offices hidden in the wall along one side of the building. Only a student that went to the college knew that the offices were there, mostly because the building was rather new and they had been exploring it since it opened. Quickly Hadeel glanced behind them to see that the other man was not far behind while Barsad was staring directly at Hadeel with a stern look on his face. A look that made Hadeel shiver slightly, it made her feel like there really was no escape, that she wasn't going to get away.
Swallowing that thought as if it was bile she thrust her friend quickly into one of the offices before sliding the door closed and retreating into another of the offices behind it. There was joy that came with the discovery that all the offices were connected and they could retreat farther into the secret rooms until they could no longer hear someone coming for them.
"Hadeel?" Her friend asked in a soft gasp. They were both breathing heavily from the sudden sprint, and now the fear had settled into their stomachs, making the both of them shake as they cowered against the wall.
"Shh," she hushed her friend shakily.
After a few seconds of silence they heard the harsh sound of heavy footsteps rush past, even as far in as they were Hadeel could still hear them coming after her, though they had passed her the painful beating of her heart persisted. She wasn't safe, not yet.
"I've lost sight of her," a voice shouted loud enough for them to hear. Hadeel stiffened, catching the gaze of her friend who looked like she'd seen someone get murdered, Hadeel knew that expression well.
A second thundering of footsteps could be heard as Hadeel had to guess that Barsad was now running past the hidden offices, she could almost hear the frustration in his voice when he spoke.
"What do you mean you lost her?" His voice was angry.
Suddenly a scream echoed throughout the building, making both Hadeel and her friend jump and gasp at the sound, that scream was followed by another scream before a gunshot could be heard. No more screams after that, Hadeel almost assumed that the screamer was dead, but didn't want to picture it.
"Did they kill her?" Her friend asked starting to lose it.
"It was a warning shot to be quiet," Hadeel explained frantically.
But she could already see the dead body of a girl lying limply on the floor just like the employees at the stock exchange had been. The blood, it surrounded her like a blanket, leaking from a hole in her head or in her chest, Hadeel choked on her breath and felt tears sting her eyes. The cold look of the dead girl on the ground stared lifeless into Hadeel as she could already see people running and staring horrified at the girl on the ground.
"She's not dead," Hadeel whispered to herself reassuringly.
Torn from her thoughts they heard gunshots again before Barsad's voice followed the mess of screams and yells.
"Everybody out!" He shouted firing his gun a few more times. "Get out or I'll shoot you and splatter your blood all over the floor," he threatened darkly. His voice was farther away than before, and they could barely understand the muffled voice through the walls of the offices. But at his latter comment Hadeel felt her friend shiver next to her, taking short quivering breaths she looked at Hadeel with tears shining in her eyes as well.
"They're here for me," Hadeel whispered watching her friend's expression change rapidly. She said nothing to Hadeel, merely opened her mouth before closing it again unable to think of anything to say. "Last week, the stock exchange incident, I was there," she continued recalling the event with a choked voice.
"Hadeel-," her friend started to say something but Hadeel cut her off.
"I was kidnapped, he took me with him and kept me, this," she stopped and motioned towards the bandages and injuries on her person. "Happened when I tried to run away," she explained glancing around the room worriedly. Would they find them in here?
Her friend's expression changed into one of disbelief, a frown etching onto the girls face Hadeel felt like crying when she saw the distrust in the eyes that stared at her.
"Don't-," Hadeel cut her off again.
"I'm telling the truth," her voice cracked fearfully when she spoke in a harsh whisper. "You have no idea how scared I was," she trembled just thinking about the sewers. She couldn't go back, not after getting home and getting used to things again.
She'd gotten used to being home and being ignored, to being forgotten and being alone, after all she'd been through with Bane she'd even gotten better at smiling when she felt like crying. When she remembered what had happened in the sewers or at the stock exchange she'd choke back her emotions and pretend nothing was wrong until the memory left her mind. No one even noticed her jumpy breaths or the shake of her breathing; did that mean she was really good at hiding it? Or did it just mean that no one cared?
"It's just a little farfetched," her friend said with a gulp. "But since this whole situation is weird and surreal I think I believe you," she whispered trying to listen for any other sounds. "Can we still escape?" She asked letting her fear show blatantly on her face.
"These men that are after me won't fall for any small tricks, they're just trained differently," Hadeel explained remembering how Bane had taken out the workers. Even when Hadeel had tried to get away from Barsad she could do nothing against him, he was far faster than she was, and he knew what she was going to do. Merely shrugging her away was enough; surely these other men were more of the same.
"What do we do then?" She whispered feeling miserable.
"Just, stay together, work together," Hadeel tried her best to answer. Deep down she knew that they would catch her, but that didn't mean she couldn't fight back and try to run. "We can run to the stairs and try to get away through the back entrance. If we can make it to my car, we can get away," she muttered thinking though the plan.
The staircase she was talking about was about a minute's walk away from where they were hiding, and that was if they walked slow and stared at everything for a few seconds. If they ran, they could make it in about twenty seconds, but that didn't mean no one would see them.
"Let's go before they find us," Hadeel muttered standing up shakily before stopping short. The sound of footsteps grazed by their hiding place, the footsteps stopped right in front of the offices. Hadeel and her friend were far enough back that if whoever it was opened the door they would still be invisible, but it would make it harder to escape.
Hadeel looked over at her friend to see that she was holding her breath and staring terrified towards the direction of the sound, her eyes wide and unblinking Hadeel could only imagine that she looked the same. Finally the footsteps moved on, the sound they made disappearing beyond the corner and continuing father away from them. Letting her breath come out shakily she walked slowly towards the door, through the other offices as quietly as she could. Her friend got up behind her shakily; trying her best to be strong she wondered how Hadeel could even think in such a situation as this, she still barely believed that what Hadeel said was true. Why would anyone want her anyway?
"Ready?" Hadeel asked holding the sliding door in a numbing grip. Her hand ached from its wound but Hadeel paid it no attention, this wasn't a time to care about petty little injuries, not when she and her friend were about to be captured. Later, when they got away, she would complain about how her palms had started bleeding again, but not now.
Her friend nodded shortly before Hadeel pulled the door open slowly; peeking out slowly to make sure there was no one around before she pushed her friend out first. With her bum leg she couldn't run nearly as fast as she wished she could right now, so at least if they were to be seen her friend would make it and get out of here. Glancing around Hadeel stiffened when she saw the familiar back of Barsad, he was walking away from her, turning back around Hadeel almost wanted to cry out in joy when they safely made it to the staircase.
In a short glance Hadeel turned back around to see if Barsad had noticed anything that perhaps he had heard something and was now running after them, but she was met with a much more frightening sight. Even from down the hallway, the long ways away that she was she saw the door open to get inside the building, in front of her Hadeel's friend opened the door quickly but quietly, pulling at Hadeel's arm hurriedly. Feeling her breath hitch up in her throat Hadeel almost gasped when she saw the familiar monster of a man that was Bane walk through the doors, he was here to get her already!
"Go!" She whispered shortly at her friend before they disappeared through the door.
The staircase was dam feeling, with concrete walls all around them and concrete stairs leading up and down Hadeel was immediately reminded of the sewers almost giving her a mini panic attack. Looking down the stairs Hadeel and her friend froze when they saw that there was a man walking up the stairs briskly. He had not yet seen them and so her friend pressed back against Hadeel as if to get away from him, but there was nowhere to go, if they went back to the offices someone would see them. If they did make it then they would just be waiting for someone to find them, this was their last chance to get away.
"Hey!" A voice pulled both of them from their thoughts as the man in question finally noticed the two of them above him. Racing up the stairs he got his gun ready making Hadeel flinch slightly, if anything she had to at least make it so her friend could escape, there were people waiting for her to get home, people that worried about her. When the man was about half way up the staircase to them Hadeel bit back her fear and jumped at him powerfully, planning on grabbing him and dragging him back down the stairs.
In reality she was only successful at grabbing onto his arm and dragging him down a few steps before the man ripped his arm away from her and pushed her down the stairs. Hadeel stumbled before turning to lunge at him again; he stared at her with malice in his eyes, a look that made Hadeel shiver beneath her angry mask of emotions. Since the man was staring at Hadeel her friend took the chance to attack the man's back, grabbing onto him just as Hadeel had tried to do she started to fruitlessly pound her fists against his back. With this new irritation attached to him the man turned towards her and was about to tear her off when Hadeel kicked the back of his legs harshly.
His legs bent quickly and she plummeted down the stairs quickly before catching his footing at the bottom step, he grabbed onto Hadeel harshly wrenching her towards him and trapping her body against his. Hadeel didn't even think twice before she sank her teeth into his exposed arm, biting down harshly until the man shouted and threw her away from him.
"Hadeel!" Her friend shouted at her fearfully as she watched her body hit the concrete wall.
Hadeel couldn't even think to stop herself before she bashed against the wall, making her vision blurry she blinked away the pain and tears before trying to get up shakily.
The man's eyes trained on Hadeel as soon as her friend shouted out her name, a smirk flooded across his features before he started walking towards her powerfully. Even with Hadeel's friend beating against his back he merely hit her in the face with his elbow which made her let go quickly and hold her face painfully.
"So you're Hadeel?" He questioned her with a smile. Hadeel scooted away from him as best she could, trying to get to the next staircase she was right in front of it when he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her behind him. "The one that the boss had locked up, the Songbird," he whispered the last part to her.
Hadeel stared fearfully at the man as he lifted her off the ground easily; she flailed her arms around before bringing her hands to his own as he held her by her shirt. Her vision was still a little fuzzy after she'd hit the wall, aching powerfully from her old wound she blinked past the pain and glared at him.
"After that first night we all wondered what you looked like, why you sang? Who was the Songbird that the boss kept all for himself in a cage? Now I know," he whispered to her eerily. His grip on her tightened bringing his face closer to hers he smirked again making Hadeel shiver. "Won't you sing for me?" He questioned her, shaking her body lightly.
Hadeel watched carefully as her friend got back up silently while the man spoke to her, rearing back against the wall for power her friend pushed herself off the wall powerfully before knocking into the man. Perhaps what she hadn't thought about was that Hadeel was in the man's grip and that if she were to push him down the stairs Hadeel would fall as well, although she had. For as the man look surprised and released his hands from Hadeel her friend reached out and grabbed a hold of her arm as the man fell down the stairs.
She still fell down a couple stairs but nothing compared to the man who struggled to grab onto something until his head smashed into one of the concrete stairs with a sickening sound. When he hit the bottom Hadeel and her friend were silent for a few moments before they raced down the stairs to go past him. Her fried let a cry of surprise leave her mouth when the man grabbed onto her leg tightly, his eyes were angry and burned holes into their bodies. Her friend started to kick at his hand before Hadeel joined in and started to kick at his arm, hoping to God that he would just let go and leave them alone so they could escape.
The second he released his grip on her leg the door above them opened and Hadeel locked shaky eyes with Barsad before Bane appeared behind him. In the next moment Hadeel had turned and opened the door, making sure her friend was in front of her as they fled the building. Breathing harshly they rushed past the last bits of the building and booked it for the parking lot with everything they had. Quick glances at each other showed overwhelming joy on their faces, just as a smile tugged at their lips a gun shot rang out into the air.
Next to her Hadeel watched as her friend slumped into the ground, holding her shoulder as it began to soak her clothes in crimson. Hadeel watched her for a second before her voice ripped out of her throat harshly.
"Alyssa!" She screamed running over to her form. Her friend's body was soon on the ground, laying on her back the ground beneath her began to change color as her shoulder bled from the bullet.
"Hadeel," Alyssa said her name weakly. Shock was evident in her eyes as she could not yet believe what had happened to her the two of them had never imagine two months ago that this would be happening right now. Two months ago they were worrying about school and not doing homework while smiling at each other like they did every day. Yet here they were, one of them bleeding while the other looked on tearfully.
"You're fine," Hadeel said patting the side of her cheek gently. She was starting to get hysterical, but she did her best to keep it off her face as Alyssa bled beneath her.
"I haven't even touched my homework yet, but I'm so sleepy," she said her eyes fading with every word.
"Stay with me, don't talk anymore," Hadeel begged of her friend.
"Hadeel," her voice was faint.
"Stay with me!" She shouted frantically.
Suddenly an arm grabbed her from behind and yanked her off her feet, immediately Hadeel knew that the arm belonged to Bane, it was familiar and strong and screamed power.
"It's alright little Songbird," Bane whispered soothingly into her ear.
"No," Hadeel screamed trying to break away from his hold on her. She beat her hands against him furiously doing all she could to get away from him and out of his arms, to get back to her friend. "Alyssa, keep your eyes open," she shouted at her friend. "Let go of me!" She shouted twisting around in his arms. "I hate you," she screeched pulling away from his voice.
Bane tightened his grip on her, though it was hard with her thrashing around so much, eventually he just sat down with her on the ground and held her in his lap. Holding her legs down with one of his arms while the other restricted her arms they watched as another man picked up her friend and began to walk away.
"Don't touch her!" Hadeel screamed letting her tears flow freely from her eyes.
"Hadeel, shhh," Bane shushed her softly.
"ALYSSA!" Hadeel shouted even louder. Bane was a little surprised that she could get that loud, but his shock was soon wiped away because of the current situation.
Hadeel was doing her best to get away from Bane, she didn't care that he was holding her down that he was trying to get her to calm down, all she wanted to do was hold her friend and make sure she was okay. Bane shifted his hand onto her mouth to muffle her shouts and cries for her friend. Enraged Hadeel bit down on his hand, but he didn't move. Even as she tightened her jaw and felt it break through the skin he made no move to take his hand away from her. Instead there was a sudden pressure that began to build up on her head as her lungs screamed out for air she struggled weakly as her vision went black.
030
Bane had been irritated when he'd first gotten into the building, was it really that hard to find one girl? When he'd heard a shout his body reacted quickly, rushing towards the sound, Barsad was just ahead of him. Immediately his thoughts went to seeing Hadeel lying on the floor injured, he recalled how she had looked after he'd dragged her out of the sewer river. This time he wouldn't let her go back home, not when the people she called her family didn't care when she was gone or when she didn't come home.
Thrusting the door open to the stairs Bane locked eyes with Hadeel as soon as he could see her, her eyes were full of dread. Then she was gone, out the door and away from him, she still hadn't learned that no matter what she could not get away from him, he would fine her.
Quickly rushing down the stairs Bane watched as the man on the ground got up raggedly, pulling out his gun and pulling himself out tut the door Bane glared venomously at his retreating back. If he shot Hadeel Bane would break his neck, Barsad was in front of him for a second before he pushed past him roughly. Getting outside just as the man was about to pull the trigger Bane reacted quickly when he saw that it was pointed at Hadeel.
Just in time he'd hit the man, making him fire his gun at an odd angle the both of them watched two figure in front of them running away. Bane easily picked Hadeel out and watched her stop as her friend crumbled into the ground holding her shoulder, he was only slightly shocked when Hadeel called out her friends name harshly.
Barsad pulled out his gun quickly and shot the man in the head, a look of anger and bitterness flashed across his face, perhaps the man cared for Hadeel as much as Bane did. Perhaps not as much, but there was something there, an ach in his chest when he saw the man point his gun at the limping form of the girl.
He took his time, walking over to Hadeel while she held onto her friend desperately, saying empty words that she knew weren't true no matter how much she wished that they would be. Bane could care less for the girl bleeding on the ground, it was the same friend that had made Hadeel hurt in the first place. But he couldn't stand to see his little Songbird hunched over and crying out to her friend in such a pained and frantic voice.
Grabbing her from behind her lifted her away from the bleeding girl, watching as the wounded girls eyes locked onto Banes and stared at him with tired malice, as if she would get up and kill him for wanting Hadeel in the first place. Tearing himself away from such a gaze Bane took a few steps before he had had enough of Hadeel flailing around and screaming in his ear. He could understand that she was upset about her friend getting shot but it wasn't the end of the world, she was back in his arms, and that was something calming right?
But Bane knew better than to think like that, Hadeel had done her best to fit back into her daily routine, even though she had only been moving around for a day it seemed as if she had never been with him at all. Minus the scraps and wounds of course, those alone were proof enough that everything that had happened was real.
In those scarce days that she was gone and injured Bane had missed her, he had missed her voice the sound of her song as she tried to sing away her pain. He missed digging into her brain and tearing up her boundaries while she quivered and shook beneath him, the way she looked when she knew that he had made her say something she had wanted to keep hidden. He missed her defiance and how angry it made him. All at once this one little girl had become so vital to him, and he had to have her back no matter what.
Even as she fought against him he sat down and restrained her movements, whispering to her ever so softly, trying to calm her down though he knew it was near impossible right now.
He felt her breathe in deeply before she let her voice rip through the air and into the sky as she shouted her friends name again, he'd never heard her voice that loudly before, it was so loud it'd made his ears ring. For a moment he imagine a time when she would shout at him like that, perhaps out of anger or sadness, and he would simply watch her as her walls crumbled around her.
One sentence almost made Bane laugh, she hated him, and what did she hate him for? Did she hate him for showing her the truth, that no one had actually cared that she was gone. Did she hate him for what he had made her say to him, for the nightmares she had gotten because of him? Did she hate him because he made her realize that she was smiling for people that didn't deserve? No. She hated him because he made her realize how alone she really was.
For now he'd had enough of her screaming for this friend that only ever hurt her, she certainly didn't deserve Hadeel calling out to her.
Covering her mouth abruptly Bane could feel the cool wetness of her tears as they streaked down her cheeks, he wanted nothing more than to watch her face as it twisted and contorted into all the emotions she was feeling but first he had to calm her down.
Even as she bit down on him he made no move to get away, this pain was nothing compared to what he had felt in the past, and he didn't want to give her any false hope that she could get away, because she couldn't. He wouldn't let her.
030
Waking up with a shaky breath Hadeel quickly looked left and right, searching for something that she knew wouldn't be there. Her head still throbbed with old pain that Hadeel didn't even care to think about, it was nothing compared to the pain she was feeling in her heart.
She wasn't in the sewers anymore, instead it looked like a regular room, she was lying on the bed with soft sheets covering her aching form. There were two doors in the room, one she guessed was the door out into the hallway or something, and the other was the bathroom? It didn't matter to her though; she didn't want to be here no matter how nice it was compared to the sewers. She wanted be with her friend, to stay by her side until she woke up from her injury, to see her smile when she saw that Hadeel had waited for her to wake.
She remembered the pale look in the eyes of her friend as she stared up at her with her shoulder bleeding freely; it was her fault that she had gotten shot, if she had just left her in the offices they would have left her alone. Why was she so selfish? Why didn't she get shot instead?
Now she was dead. Alyssa, the girl she'd met her first term of college was no longer in this world, no longer breathing, no longer smiling or talking about her new foster siblings. Her parents would wait for her to get home, waiting for the door to open so they could welcome her home and tell her how worried they were. But she would never come home.
Hadeel remembered when they had first sat at the same table and they had laughed together, it wasn't a deep friendship, what with sharing secrets and all that, Hadeel didn't have any deep friendships. But she had still been a great friend, someone to talk to, and someone who cared about her at least a little. She'd just barely apologized and God or whoever was up there had ripped her away from Hadeel's wanting arms, why had this happened right now?
"Hadeel?" She heard Barsad's voice from behind the door.
The sound made Hadeel jump slightly before she sat up and bared her teeth towards the door bitterly.
"Go away," she shouted ruthlessly. "Don't you dare come in here," she threatened feeling tears prick at her eyes.
She heard no further sounds until she saw the doorknob begin to turn, grabbing at one of the pillows she made ready to throw it at him when he came in. As soon as she saw him open the door Hadeel threw the pillow right at his face, watching as it hit him he simply let it fall to the ground after it'd hit him.
"What do you want?" Hadeel asked trying to sniff and hideaway her tears. She reached for another pillow and gripped it close to her body.
Barsad sighed and glanced at the pillow on the floor before looking back at Hadeel, he didn't even flinch as it'd hit him in the face, it was just a pillow anyway. But he didn't exactly know what to do with the girl; he wasn't good at dealing with crying people especially if it was someone he knew, what was he supposed to say?
"Your hands are bloody and so are your clothes," he said watching as Hadeel looked down at her hands suddenly.
The girl gasped at the sight of her hands before she remembered that she'd pressed them against her friends wound as she'd tried to stop the bleeding, it hadn't even registered to her that her hands had been bloody from that. She didn't care, all she wanted was her friend back, it didn't matter that she was dirty and covered in blood.
A whimper found its way out of Hadeel's mouth before she brought her hands to her chest and closed her eyes tightly; hiding her face away from Barsad he could see her shoulders shake ever so slightly as she cried.
Barsad took a few more steps into the room, pulling a back of clothes and toiletries out from behind his back he set them carefully on the bed before looking to see if Hadeel would respond.
"Hadeel," he whispered her name softly. What was he to say?
"Just go away, please," she whispered pathetically.
Barsad nodded his head glumly before turning away from the girl for a second before looking back to watch her. He saw her pull her hands out from beneath her shirt and stare at them for a few moments, her face twisted and scrunched up until a few tears fell from her eyes and onto the blankets beneath her. Even with the bandaged on her hand from her last injuring the dried blood coated her fingers like a second skin, and her head had started bleeding after she'd smashed her head into the concrete wall.
"Make sure to wash up," he said before getting up quickly. This was something Bane should be dealing with, he would be the one who would want to see it, Barsad had no idea what to say.
Once again a pillow assaulted his back, hitting the floor with a dull thud. Barsad didn't even turn around, how would he react to it anyway, harshly? That would just make things worse; throw the pillow back at her, that would teach her! No, that wouldn't solve anything.
"I'll come back in a little while to change your bandages," he said walking out the door and closing it behind him. Waiting outside the door for a little while Barsad waited until he heard some water running before he walked away, Bane was out letting prisoners escape and reading a letter he had found on the police commissioner or whatever. He had instructed the man to take care of Hadeel until he got back, to make sure that sure was okay even after what she had been through.
Hadeel had turned on the shower inside the bathroom; even though her head ached and did not wish to be soaked she didn't care, she was covered in it, covered in blood, it was Alyssa's blood. Closing the door to the bathroom Hadeel looked at herself in the mirror, letting a pitiful smile play on her lips she let her legs lead her into the shower. She didn't even bother to take her clothing off; she just didn't care at the moment, the cold water hitting her skin made Hadeel realize that she hadn't even turned to water on a hotter temperature. But she still didn't care, the freezing liquid felt nice against her skin.
Watching as the red on her hands melded with the water Hadeel didn't even bother to close the door to the shower, it was one of those walk in ones. Hadeel let her body slump against the wall before sliding down onto the floor, watching the bloody water rush down the drain she finally let her head sink into her arms. Pulling her legs up against her chest Hadeel let a sob escape her lips raggedly.
If she'd just told her friend to stay put, that she could lure them away then she'd be okay, she'd still be breathing and laughing with her foster siblings and helping her parents keep their minds together. It was all Hadeel's fault.
030
Barsad opened the door into Hadeel's room slowly and quietly, it had already been about forty five minutes, he figured that enough time had passed and she would be done cleaning herself. But when he opened the door and walked into her room he could still hear the steady rhythm of the water beating against the ground. There was also the small tremor of a voice that echoed through the room incredibly softly.
Going over to the door of the bathroom Barsad listened intently to what Hadeel might be saying.
"I'm bullet proof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away. Ricochet you take your aim, fire away fire away," her voice was soft when she sang this. Barsad couldn't but notice how very wrong the lyrics to the song were according to her current predicament. If anything Hadeel was very much full of holes and scars, she didn't have a solid defense when it came to Bane pulling everything apart and messing with her head.
He almost wanted to chuckle as he gave the words further thought, she was probably doing her best to get through this, perhaps singing the song somehow helped her to calm her nerves. Save that she had to know that there was nothing about the situation that would make her calm or feel safe, not after what had happened.
"You shoot me down, but I won't fall. I am titanium," her voice rose to a higher note. A tone so high Barsad wasn't sure if it had faded off or if she had stopped singing. Again she sang the same line, letting her voice fade off at the end Barsad began to walk away when he could hear her let a sob escape her lips. He could come back in thirty minutes when she was out of the shower.
Walking back into the room after about thirty four minutes Barsad felt a little anxious when he could still hear the water running from inside the bathroom. The same sound of the shower that he had heard thirty minutes, an hour ago, and perhaps even an hour and a half ago, the point was, she'd been in there a very long time.
"Hadeel?" Barsad called out to her. He knocked lightly on the door as he said her name, just to let her know that he was already in the bedroom and was waiting for her to come out.
There was no answer from the other side of the door, just the irritating sound of the water as it hit the floor, he waited for a few more moments before knocking on the door again. If he opened the door and she was dead in there he would be in a lot of trouble with Bane.
"Hadeel?" He said her name louder this time.
Still there was nothing from the other side of the door and Barsad began to grow even more impatient, quickly he reached for the doorknob and gave it a twist. Locked.
"If you don't open the door, I'll break it down," he threatened her through the door. He hadn't been expecting an answer so when and he didn't get one, though it made his heart ache to think about what had happened to her in there.
Backing up slightly Barsad kicked at the door a couple times before putting all the force he could into his leg as he kicked out the door. If the lock had been stronger or sturdier he might've considered using his shoulder but just his leg was enough.
Upon flinging the door open Barsad looked around the small bathroom frantically before catching sight of the poor girl curled up on the ground. Sitting against the wall she made no move to look at him even as he stood in front of her powerfully. Water beat down on her small form; she still had all her clothes on which Barsad was thankful for, else it would've been a little bit awkward.
"What's happened?" He asked in a somber voice.
She didn't respond at first, he merely watched the water from the shower pelt her body and listened to the sound it made when it came into contact with her clothing. It wasn't even warm water rushing down upon her, the mirror wasn't fogged, and the air didn't feel the least bit warm and hard to breathe, which meant that the water beating down on her was probably freezing.
"My fault," she whispered so softly it was hard to hear over the water. It took Barsad a moment to understand that she was talking about her friend, people died all the time in front of him, it was no biggie.
"Would you have rather been shot instead?" He asked her while walking over to turn off the water. If her friend hadn't taken the bullet instead, and the man aiming at Hadeel hadn't missed she probably would've gotten shot in the head.
"Yes," she said raising her head sadly. "She has a family waiting for her, she has people that look up to her and wonder where she is when she's gone," she began to get hysterical again and had to stop herself short. Barsad turned the water off quickly before reaching for a towel and walking over to Hadeel.
"And you don't?" He asked bending his knees until he was closer to her level on the ground. Hadeel didn't answer the question for a little while, so Barsad sighed gently before wrapping her in the towel and picking her up carefully. She looked away from his face, not wanting to show him that she was a total wreck at the moment, even though it was obvious that everything had gone wrong.
Barsad carried her back into the bedroom and placed her on the bed again; he grabbed another towel and draped it around her shoulders before making sure that she was okay. Her body shivered terribly, he could see her shoulder shaking visibly even as she did her best to keep it hidden, but it looked like she had just fallen into a frozen lake.
He still didn't know what to say to her, his job was to kill people and not show any kind of emotion that could be used against him, and yet here he was, trying to comfort a miserable girl he somewhat cared for. Yet there was nothing nice he could say about her family, because they hadn't missed her, one little lie was all it took for them to dismiss her all together. It hadn't even been a good lie!
"Change into your other clothing, or Bane will do it while you're sleeping," he said trying to scare her.
Immediately her head jerked up and she looked at the bag on the floor, making a silly sort of shocked expression she let it show on her face before she gave him a small glare.
"Can you leave for a couple minutes then," she mumbled fiddling around with the towel embarrassed.
Without any further words Barsad walked out of the room and closed the door, waiting patiently for her to get done his thoughts went back to when he'd kicked down the door and saw her sitting in the shower. She'd looked so pathetic it made him want to put her out of her misery, but Bane wouldn't have liked that at all. He'd had the urge to smile when she suddenly changed her expression into a familiar silly one, like the ones she'd always worn when they first met or when she'd asked him his name. She was a little different now.
"Barsad," a little knock on the door and her voice brought him from his thoughts. "You can come back in," she whispered opening the door a little.
Once he was back in the room he made her sit back down on the bed while he pulled up another chair to sit in front of her and change her soaking bandages. First he changed the one on her head, trying his best to be gentle when she frowned at him for pulling it off too roughly.
"You suck at this," she growled glaring up at him darkly.
It made Barsad smirk at her before he quickly wiped that expression off his face, there were still parts of the old Hadeel that shone through the misery and sorrow of her current self. Next he changed the bandages on her palms, though he didn't have to pull them off because they were already gone and Hadeel muttered that they had been bugging her and taken them off a little while ago. So he made a point to put a lot of medical tape all over her hand and arm just to make it harder to get off.
"What the heck?" She grumbled at him. "What if it starts bleeding like a waterfall?" She questioned testing the stickiness of the tape.
"Not my problem," he said simply. "Leg," he said pointing at the one he knew was injured.
"Yes, that is what that appendage is called," Hadeel said sarcastically before she got a little quieter and stopped smiling so much.
"Barsad," Bane voice spoke from behind him. In one movement he got up and turned away from Hadeel, Bane gave him a wary, tired look before turning away from him and looking at Hadeel. The girl turned away from his gaze and pulled her leg away from him slowly. "Close the door," Bane commanded, dismissing Barsad without further words.
Hadeel stiffened and turned into the girl that he had picked up out of the shower before he closed the door and separated himself from such a person as her. Someone who made him smile and brought out his emotions, it wasn't what he needed right now, not when everything big had just started. Was it because Hadeel saw him as a friend in such a place as this? He wasn't her friend though, and he probably wouldn't ever be her friend.
"Forget about mine." -Keaton Henson
AN: Collect Coats! I don't know, some weird add on youtube. Anyway, what did you think, Keaton Henson Small Hands, good song, kind of sad.
Do you like the small friendship between Barsad and Hadeel? Hrmm? Hrmm?
Anyway, have a great day, thanks for reading. Don't be shy, leave me a review.