Gavin didn't have the heart to tell the others that he couldn't use the fingerprints on the gun or the handwriting on the note to track down Dave. Or, rather, An Inconvenience, as he was apparently calling himself. Gavin had to admit, the name fit him, what with all the bullshit work he was putting in to find the guy.
Hours and hours of security cam footage, sped up to 10x speed, flickered on four monitors in front of Gavin. He'd managed to trace the first ten minutes of Dave's journey into hiding, but as security cameras only covered so much of the city, Gavin was forced to branch out from the nearest cameras to ones on the other side of the city, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the man as he made his escape. Another monitor held a word document, listing the nearby cities and towns Gavin planned to search next.
He really was only doing it to keep busy. Gavin had become quite discouraged that anyone would ever locate Dave a few hours ago. And the mystery man Michael and Ryan discovered was proving to be even more elusive. The camera monitoring the front of the ice cream shop had been disabled a few minutes prior to their arrival, as had all other cameras in the vicinity.
A second word document listed Gavin's hypotheses for how the man managed to not only know exactly when and where Michael and Ryan were going, but how he managed to kill every single camera in a ten block radius at exactly the same time. The list began with the basic, predictable methods; they'd been bugged, someone was snitching; to more outlandish explanations; magic, time travel. All of them bothered Gavin an equal amount, because all options were difficult to fight. Gavin gave his room and computer a once over and found nothing, but it didn't do anything to convince him that the rest of the penthouse wasn't tapped.
An obnoxious bird-call snapped Gavin out of his depressive mood, if only for a moment. He glanced down, and saw a text from an unknown number. 'Meet us outside The Doorbell to Hell in 15 minutes. We have an offer you simply can't refuse. COME ALONE.'
Gavin frowned. Either someone in the Crew got a new burner phone, and was messing with him rather distastefully, given the circumstances, or he was receiving a real request by someone to walk into an unknown situation alone. In any case, it was certainly something Gavin wasn't going to do. He'd been pranked far too many times by the Crew, and no matter how stupid this mystery texter thought, Gavin was not one to err from caution.
Thus, Gavin decided to take backup, namely the rest of the Main Crew, along with him. "I got this text, telling me to go alone to The Doorbell to Hell, right?" He pitched, holding up his phone and ignoring the faces of skepticism from the Crew. "Who wants to go with me and check it out?"
The Crew was silent for a moment, exchanging looks. "Gavin," Jack said, "I don't think that's a good idea. It could be a trap, and-"
"I know it could be a trap, that's why I want you to come along with me," Gavin interjected.
"I put two knives in a guy and he didn't even slow down," Ryan pointed out. "If someone like that is waiting for you, it could be bad. Real bad."
"This person also got your number. This isn't just some wannabe Crew member, it's someone who cracked layers of security to find out how to reach you," Jack added. Jack thought of the other ways someone could get Gavin's number, and his mind lingered on a snitch. He tried to shove the thought from his mind to no avail.
Gavin huffed. "This could be the only lead we have on Dave or Bag Man, and you just want to ignore it?"
"Do you want to end up like Geoff?" Jack snapped. He stood up violently and leaned into Gavin's face. Gavin looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to cry. Jack softened, and took Gavin by the shoulder. "I'm sorry," He said, "I didn't mean-I just don't want anyone else-"
There was an awkward silence, the only sounds were Jack patting Gavin's back in an attempt of comfort. "Well, now that that's over," Michael said, standing from his lean on the wall, "I'm gonna go mug a guy. Gavin, if you're tired of staring at a screen alone in the dark, feel free to come with." Michael grabbed his keys and headed to the penthouse door.
"I have a few things I need to look over the footage for," Gavin responded, pulling away from Jack and heading back to his room.
"You have no life. C'mon! It'll be fun," Michael insisted, slung his assault rifle around his shoulder and stuck his pistols into their holsters. He winked at Gavin, hoping the other man would pick up on his intentions.
"Oh. OH," Gavin said, and Michael wondered if he could make it any more obvious. "Sure, why not boii? It's been too long since Nice Dynamite had an outing together." He skipped through the door and Michael closed it behind them.
"So they're going to Doorbell to Hell, right?" Jeremy asked.
"Oh yeah, no doubt," Ryan responded, and began to stock his weapons bag.
"I'm following them too, Ryan," Jack said. "Is my sniper still on the fridge, or did you move it?"
Gavin anxiously checked the time as they neared The Doorbell to Hell. It was one of the seediest bars in Achievement City, with a reputation for selling the strongest drugs in town, freshly imported from crooked sailors at the nearby docks. It was far enough on the edge of the city that the cops couldn't be bothered to go out there to even attempt to crack down on the place. As one of the few places in town the Crew didn't control, Michael had wanted to take the Fake AH Mobile to assert dominance, but Gavin convinced him that taking his own purple car would prove that he had in fact come alone.
The Doorbell to Hell was run by the aptly named Dog Squad, who used trained dogs to ascertain that none of their own product was being taken out of the bar, or their reputation would be tarnished by amateurs selling common street drugs inside. The few times Geoff had tried to negotiate with them had ended in failure, mostly because the Dog Squad Dogs had a rather keen interest in Ray, and would attack him on sight.
Michael parked the car a few blocks away from the bar, and handed Gavin a pistol and a flash bang, just in case things "go to shit." Michael climbed a rusted fire escape to a roof with a clear view of The Doorbell to Hell, in all its dilapidated glory. He watched as Gavin strode down the street, somehow feigning confidence even though the man stepped around every used needle, broken beer bottle, and pool of vomit in the unkempt parking lot with the exact opposite of elegance.
Gavin walked up to the door, checked the time (exactly 17 minutes from when he received the text), and rang the titular doorbell. An eye slot on the door slipped open inches above Gavin's height, and two dark eyes stared him down. "We ain't open yet. Y'all'll have to wait for your fix," The man behind the door said, and began to shut the slot.
"Actually," Gavin said, sticking his finger in the slot, keeping it from closing fully, "I received a text, telling me to meet someone here. If this is about an alliance between the Dogs and the Crew, I'd be more than happy to-"
"You from the Crew?"
"Erm, yes?"
"You the British twat?"
Gavin decided he didn't have time to be annoyed. "Yes."
"Aw, shit. Wait there. Don't move." The man retreated from the door, and Gavin could hear a short conversation inside.
The door suddenly flew open, nearly hitting Gavin in the face. "Ah! Gavino!" A man wearing a paper bag on his head greeted Gavin with an overly tight hug. Gavin immediately wondered if this was the same guy Michael and Ryan had encountered earlier. He then wondered if there was anything under the towel the man was wearing. "So nice to see you!" The man didn't release his hug.
"Who the hell are you?" Gavin asked.
"Oh, I'm no one, really. I just wanted to return Vagabond's knives to him."
"Then hand them over," Gavin said, trying to pull away from the hug.
"Now there's where the problem comes in," the man said gravely. "See, I wanted to just hand these to you and send you on your way, but then you had to go and bring others. He's up there, on that roof," the man pointed square at Michael, "Waiting to shoot me as soon as he gets a clear shot. Thanks for being my shield, I really appreciate it."
Gavin attempted to reach his pistol, but his arms were squeezed tight to his sides.
"Sorry about this, but since you chose to bring along a pal, Ryan is getting his knives back from your corpse." The man loosened his grip slightly to maneuver the throwing knives from under his watches, nicking his skin in the process. He held one in each hand, pressing them gently against Gavin's abdomen. "Nothing personal, but I guess it's better to kill you now. Shame, really, I was gonna let you join our little group." The man shoved the knives in as far as they would go and twisted them, trying to do as much damage as possible. He pushed Gavin to the ground and slipped into the bar.
Ryan and Jack heard the screams even though they were still three blocks away. Jack floored it, trying to get them to The Doorbell to Hell faster than was humanly possible.
Michael was forced to climb down the fire escape on the far side of the building to Gavin. He dropped his rifle on the roof, trying to make it to Gavin as quickly as he could. Sprinting around the building, he ripped off his jacket, and used it to staunch the blood that was running generously from Gavin's stomach. "Fuck! Gavin, Gavin, I'm sorry! This is my fault!" Michael said, kneeling beside his friend.
Ryan and Jack pulled up in the Fake AH Mobile and ran out to their Crewmates. "What happened?" Jack yelled, helping Michael put pressure on the wounds.
"He got fucking stabbed by that dick in the bag!" Michael replied.
"We need to get him to the hospital," Ryan said.
"The hospital, Ryan? We're criminals! We can't just walk into a place where we're responsible for half the people in there!" Michael retorted.
"Can we even move him?" Jack asked.
Ryan crouched down. "I don't like it any more than you, but right now we're on enemy turf with relatively little firepower, and Gavin's bleeding out. It's our best bet," He said, trying to pick Gavin up as gently as possible.
"It's not the first time one of us has gotten stabbed, Ryan," Jack said. "If we take him back to the penthouse, we can-"
"Do you see how deep these stab wounds are?" Ryan said. "They're almost to the hilt. Wanna guess how many organs that bitch hit?" Ryan opened the car door with his foot, and slid Gavin inside. He crawled onto the floor in front of the seat and resumed pushing on the wounds. "So get in this car and drive his ass to the hospital!"
Jack hesitated for a few precious seconds before deciding to jump in the car and speed to the nearest hospital. The car had barely stopped moving when Ryan jumped out carrying Gavin, Michael following close behind yelling for a doctor.
"Wait, wait, calm down!" The receptionist called. "Tell me what's happened and I can get you in with a doctor as soon as possible."
"He's fuckin' got two knives in him!" Michael told her.
The receptionist frowned. "We don't take gunshots or stab wounds here. We don't have the resources to treat all of them. I'm sorry. The Achievement City Trauma Center across town can take care of your friend."
"He didn't get stabbed, he fell on the knives," Ryan lied. He knew that it wasn't very convincing, especially with his mask on. The receptionist narrowed her eyes. "He's very clumsy."
"We can't take him. Try the Trauma Center." She returned to tapping at her computer.
Michael released a string of cuss words at the receptionist, who didn't react in any way. Ryan was hurrying back to the car to try and make it to the Trauma Center as quickly as possible. He was just pushing out the door when a doctor stopped him.
"Hey! You, with the bleeding kid," A bearded doctor called from the emergency doors. "I'll treat this." The receptionist turned and opened her mouth to protest, but Ryan was already being herded through the doors. "Put him on here," the doctor pushed over an emergency stretcher, and Ryan carefully placed Gavin down. "Sir, you'll have to leave. Someone will update you as soon as we can."
Ryan nodded and backed into the waiting area, watching the doctor push the stretcher down the hall. Ryan pulled Michael away from the receptionist, who was still on the receiving end of every curse Michael had ever learned. Before long, Jack ran in and quickly found out the situation from Ryan and Michael. Jeremy was updated on their conditions through text, and they all waited impatiently for a doctor to run out telling them that Gavin would be fine in a few days.
Barely ten minutes had passed before the bearded doctor came back through the doors. "The procedure was a success," he said, and the three men sighed with relief. "Would you like to see him?" At their nods, the doctor led them through the halls to an out of the way operating room. "He's right through there. He's feeling the effects, so don't expect much animation out of him."
The three pushed into the room. "Hey, boii," Michael said. He noticed that they had shaved Gavin's chest, which was bare for everyone to see, for the procedure. And he was still bleeding. And not bandaged. And not hooked up to any machines at all. Michael ran up and felt his knees weaken at the sight.
Got ya!
-Beardo
Words were carved into Gavin's chest, his lifeless chest that wasn't responding to anything, no matter how hard Michael hit him or how loud he screamed. Ryan had run out of the operating room in search of the 'doctor' that had done this, while Jack tried to restrain Michael, ignoring the tears running down his own face.
When the hospital security came to drag them out and stop the commotion they were making, Michael pulled free of Jack's grasp, and quickly dispatched them with a head shot each from his pistol. "Michael, we can't stay here," Jack said, using his most calming voice.
Michael refused to respond, choosing instead to collapse on the ground and sob.