As they dragged Ruth out of the bunker and into the now destroyed White House, she hollered the whole way there. No way she was going down without a fight. "Fucking idiot." She cursed as she was pulled up by Kang's man to only be thrown down again. A man came to help her up as she gave him one of the nastiest faces she had ever given. "Your leader is out of his mind." She whispered as she was thrown into the insanity once known as the White House lobby.
"Go." Kang commanded. She was confused by this sudden freedom, but she knew it wasn't much. Kang did have a gun in his hand. "Walk." She turned forward, looking at the vast empty space of the battle zone that it inhabited earlier today. "Move!" Kang's voice boomed through the house, alarming her, but making her walk.
In the Pentagon, they were watching the news feed, suddenly seeing Ruth walking into the line of sight. "McMillan." Lynne whispered in confusion, wondering what they wanted with her. Everyone waited in anticipation to see what was going to happen, the camera not being able to see Kang focusing his gun on her. Kang couldn't see Mike either, focusing his gun on his men.
Shots rang out, alerting everyone, Ruth running, meeting a team who escorted her off the lawn as Mike continued to shoot the men. Kang scattered, but a few men stayed behind, one actually thinking he could sneak up on Mike. Mike grabbed the barrel of his gun before shooting him in the head and taking his gun.
Mike advanced into the lobby, not finding any more people around, trying to figure out how he was going to get to the bunker from there. "Mike?" He heard Trumbull from the other line.
"Hey." Mike answered, fixing the piece in his ear. "He got away. He's back in the bunker."
A pause went over the room before Trumbull spoke again. "You gave it a good shot, Mike. You saved McMillan." Mike sighed, knowing that was a good thing, but that wasn't really the girl he was trying to save.
4:25am
Trumbull sat at the head of the table, taking deep breaths as the thought on how late it was truly set in. He looked to the clock hanging on the wall, taking a deep sigh, knowing what that time would mean for them and Kang. "The hour's up." He almost whispered. They hadn't figured out any other plan meaning the President and his daughter were going to be taken. "Send the helicopter, let's recall the seventh fleet." He took another deep sigh, hating that he was actually uttering these words. "Pull the troops out of the DMZ."
The message was immediately sent, Lynne hanging her head at that. "We just lost South Korea."
In the bunker, the woman who was controlling the computer turned to Kang with a wide smile on her face. "They're recalling the fleet."
"Of course they are." Kang told her with a smile.
April looked around as everyone moved, getting everything ready. She was becoming worried. She wanted to know what exactly they were going to do with that chopper. Exactly what they were going to do to her. A man came up to her and her father as more men moved to release the ones who were still tied up. The man moved forward with a black bag, April moving her head in every which way in hopes not to get it on her head. With the lack of her hands, he succeeded with the bag, cut her restraints and pulled her up.
Everyone else got dressed in the black clothing from head to toe so there would be nothing distinguishing one from the other. "Dad!" April called, not really sure where she was right now, but she knew she was sitting down.
"I'm right here, baby." He called, her head immediately turning to the left where she heard the voice from.
They were able to hear the door to the bunker open, confusing April greatly as the bag came off of her head and Kang was still down there along with a few other men. The doors closed, April's eyebrows furrowing as her father's mask came off too. "What are you doing?" She turned to look at Kang who had a playful smile tugging at his lips. "Why get a chopper if you're not gonna use it?"
Kang's smile got just a little wider at her confused face. "They're going to use it for our advantage."
April turned back to the door, letting what he said sink in before realizing what he was talking about. Those people were going to die. He was going to kill them so he could get away with her and her father. "No!" She yelled, trying to get up, but Kang pulled her right back down. She wasn't going to try to fight with him on this one. It was a waste of energy. They were already gone and there was nothing she would be able to do about it.
"Mike," Trumbull called as Mike continued to walk around the White House. "We have to get Kang, April and the President out in the open and take our best shot."
Mike didn't want to put April in the middle of a battle between him and Kang, but this seemed like the only thing that would be able to take this asshole down. "Copy that, sir."
Mike began to hurry to where he would be able to see the lawn where the helicopter rested as they began their walk to it. Snipers rested in buildings next over, hoping to be able to distinguish who Kang was in the group. As they walked, though, they noticed there was covers on their feet and heads. Their entire bodies were covered, there was no way they could distinguish Ben from Kang.
Once they all piled inside the chopper, the pilots took their place and began to lift it off the ground. It rose just above the White House when the entire helicopter exploded. Everyone around gasped and ducked as personnel tried to figure out what the hell happened.
Mike heard the explosion, his gut falling to his feet. They were like lead as he picked them up to walk to the nearest window, gasping once he saw the sight. Once he saw the flames, he had to hold onto the wall near him to steady himself. April was supposed to be on there. And if there was anything left of her, it was just burning on the lawn of her home. "Mike." Trumbull spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
Mike sucked in a breath as tears collected in his eyes. "What the hell happened?" He knew they would be able to hear the tears in his voice, but right now, he didn't care.
"I'm sorry to report," Trumbull began, hating that he had to tell him this. That he had to tell anyone this. "But the President and April were both on that helicopter."
Mike had to look up, fighting the tears from streaming down his face. Everything they had worked for paid off today and just like that, it had all been taken from him. Her smile. Her compassion. He would never feel her touch again or be able to listen to her talk about absolutely nothing and everything at the same time. The only thing that would make this better would be killing Kang. "And Kang?"
Trumbull could hear the darkness in his voice, wishing he would be able to give him some good news, but with a day like this, it was impossible. "Kang killed himself and all the other hostages."
Mike rubbed his face as he talked, but something resonated in him as he spoke. Mike began to shake his head, hope pushing through his whole body. "Wait." He whispered. "This doesn't make sense."
Trumbull thought Mike would have been way more torn up about that, but there was obviously something else on his mind. "What doesn't make sense?"
"Kang would not go out like that, sir." Mike spoke without a pause. "That's not who he is." Mike let his thoughts run for a moment. He would feel it if April really died. And he just didn't feel it. "I think he's still in the bunker and he has April and the President and he's gonna try to slip away."
Trumbull moved closer to the phone, getting even more serious. "If Kang is still on the premises with the president, you cannot let him leave."
Mike looked to his knife, thinking about April, thinking about all she had been through today. He then thought about how he was gonna shove that knife into Kang's brain and not stop until he was cold. "He won't."
Men pulled Ben and April up as Kang began to set up Cerberus to detonate. "I read your bible, Mr. President."
"Oh fuck off." April complained with an eye roll. She was getting real tired of Kang and she just wished Mike would bust through the door already and kill him. She didn't care if it was a knife in the brain or not.
"It says," Kang spoke loudly, trying to let April know she wasn't getting to him. "'The wages of sin is death.'"
"You better keep that in mind." Ben growled.
In that moment, Kang hit a button and the screen in the room blasted "Cerberus" big and bright. Ben and April looked to each other with panicked faces before looking back to Kang. "What are you doing?" April almost whispered, fear spreading through her whole body.
"Cerberus has been activated." The voice from the computer announced.
"We haven't launched any missiles yet." Ben was beyond distressed as he spoke. His country was falling apart at the seams because of Kang.
"I don't need to launch them." Kang had a sick smile on his face as he spoke. "The explosive force within each hardened silo will detonate the missiles." April let out a terrified breath as Ben just looked to April, scared for her life. "Tens of millions of Americans will perish. Your country will be a cold, dark, nuclear wasteland. Now too, America will know suffering and famine." Ben felt his hands ball into fists and his breathing turned angry. He was going to not only kill his children, but also his country.
"Sir?" Ray Monroe called to Trumbull, catching almost everyone's attention. "Cerberus has been activated." If Monroe didn't catch their attention before, their attention was caught now.
"What?" Clegg spoke in fear, standing up from his seat.
"NORAD confirms." Monroe spoke quietly. He really didn't want to confirm it, but the bombs flashed across the screen in all of their silos.
"How did it come to this?" Lynne demanded as she stood up from her seat in fear for what was to come. "We lost Korea and now our nukes?"
"They couldn't have broken the code." Trumbull whispered.
"That would be impossible." Monroe confirmed. "They'd be on the bunker computer for days to break three codes."
Lynne shook her head, her eyes shutting at everything that was going to happen in the next few hours. "He only needed to break one code."
Clegg's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, their plan not making sense to him. "But we haven't launched any missiles."
They all thought on that for a moment before Trumbull's eyes widened, realizing Kang's plan. "They're gonna detonate them in their silos."
Silence continued to pass over them, scared for what was really going to happen. "How many?"
Monroe looked to the screen as all the locations light up. "All of them."
Trumbull felt like the country was slipping out of his hands. It literally was. "He's just opened the gates of hell."
The timer began counting down from five minutes, both of the Asher's beginning to internally freak out. "Time to go, Mr. President." Kang announced, the man punching the crap out of him, leaving him falling in front of April.
"Dad!" She screamed, distressed at seeing him writhing on the ground.
The man then picked him up by his suit jacket as April was still on her knees, screaming. Another man, came behind her, picking her up by her jean jacket as she continued squirming in his grasp. "Fuck you!" She screamed as she was thrown next to her father.
"You think you're gonna get away with this?" Ben asked, looking Kang dead in the eye.
"The world thinks we're all dead." Kang spoke, his composure not breaking for even a second. "And with you as insurance…" he trailed off as he blew a hole in the bunker, knocking out the lights before pushing them through it.
They hurried into the hallway, Kang turning to the man holding onto April. "Kill her." He commanded.
"NO!" Ben screamed, trying to push out of the grip to get to his daughter.
That chaos was the perfect time for Mike to come in through the elevators, April instantly seeing him and ducking out of the way so he could shoot the man who had a grip of her. Ben then turned around, elbowing the man who was holding onto him as Mike continued to shoot the men around them.
April hurried to one of the stray guns, hearing one of the men running behind her, making sure to drop to the ground before shooting him to get the perfect angle. Ben pushed Kang into a wall, holding him there as Mike and April continued to fight off everyone that came for them. Ben and Kang struggled with a gun before Kang pushed it to his stomach and squeezed the trigger.
April turned around from one of the men she had just killed to see her father gasping from pain. "DAD!"
Ben staggered back as Mike ran for Kang and April hurried to her father as he slid down the wall to sit. April's nursing instincts kicking in, moving for his belt. "Okay," she spoke, trying to keep both her and her father calm. "I'm going to make a tourniquet to stop the blood." She spoke, inspecting the wound before doing so. "It went straight through so the only thing we need to worry about right now is blood loss."
She tightened the belt around his waist as he leaned for her ear, whispering. "What?" She asked, not able to hear him and leaning in to hear better.
"Cerberus." He spoke again.
April looked over to the computer and then over to Mike who was currently punching Kang in the face. She knew in that moment; she was the country's only hope. She sprung up, ready to do the job she had to do. "Mike!" He turned his ear so he could listen as he continued to punch Kang. "Ear piece!"
He pulled it out of his ear, tossing it, April catching it perfectly before hurrying back into the bunker. Kang tried to run for her, but Mike pushed him into a wall, knowing there was no way in hell that man was getting April. Not again.
April immediately shoved the ear piece in her ear when she got to the computer, suddenly becoming overwhelmed with everything sitting in front of her. "Lynne?" She asked, not really knowing who to address.
"April?" She asked, completely dumbfounded with her presence. She thought she was dead.
Kang was getting the upper hand in the fight, kneeing him in the gut while pushing him back into the other wall and pulling out two knives.
"I'm here. So is the President and Mike," She turned around, watching him knocking one knife out of Kang's hand before April turned back to the screen. "He's busy killing Kang." April looked around at everything not having an idea on where to start. "How do I switch this fucking thing off?"
"Hang on." Clegg told her, April bouncing at the fact that she had to wait. "Find a control panel marked 'counterman'."
April looked around for a moment before finding it, pulling the keyboard close to her. "Got it!"
A man moved to Monroe with a brief case, Monroe pulling out the kit with the codes in it and breaking it as Clegg leaned even closer to the phone. "Flip a blue-white switched marked, 'initiate recall'."
April looked around, finding herself shaking as she pulled the switch. "Okay, what's the abort command?!"
"November," Monroe commanded, April repeating after him to make sure she was getting it right. "India, Lima."
"Okay." April whispered, vigorously typing the letters.
"Five, Oscar, Hotel, Backslash." The fighting behind her really wasn't calming her nerves. Neither was thinking about how the whole country depended on her right now. "Niner, Victor, Kilo, Hashtag,"
April looked around for a moment, not actually knowing where the hashtag was on a computer. "Where the fuck is it?!" She screamed out.
"Shift three!" Lynne advised.
"Holy fuck." April whispered as she did as Lynne said. This was way too much pressure.
Everything had gotten very quiet behind her so she turned around in fear. Kang was holding Mike's neck, squeezing tight, taking his breath. She could hear them continue to talk, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Mike. Fear spread through her whole body, and she knew, she had to do something. "Oh, come on, Mike!" She screamed.
And with that, Mike snapped Kang's arm, causing April to gasp from how much pride rushed over her. Then Mike pushed him down, holding his head in between his knees. There was no way Kang was getting out of that, but April had to watch. She had to see Kang dead. Mike leaned for the knife lying on the floor, grabbing it and doing as he always said. He stuck a knife through Kang's brain.
April couldn't fight this smile on her face as she turned back to the computer before saying, "I'm sorry, what was that last part?"
"Echo," Monroe was obviously slightly irritated with her losing her attention on the code, but he was going to let her get this in so she could save all of America. "Sierra, Foxtrot."
April took a moment, waiting for someone to say something else, but no one talked. "Is that it?"
"That's it." Lynne confirmed.
April went ahead and pressed enter, everyone waiting for an intense moment before the computer confirmed it. "Cerberus has been deactivated."
April let out a relaxing breath, feeling all the stress suddenly melt away as she put a hand over her heart. She got a huge smile on her face at the sound of everyone at the Pentagon celebrating before taking the piece out of her ear and turning around to see Mike and her father staring at her. They both looked proud and for the first time all day, April felt completely at peace.
6:14am
April had her arm around her father's waist, keeping him steady, meeting Mike's hand in the middle of his back. Ben's arms draped around their shoulders, finding it a lot harder to walk with a hole now in his stomach.
Once they made it close to the entrance, they decided to stop, seeing the sun was rising. They knew the second they walked out there they were going to be bombarded with paparazzi. There would be no amount of privacy, there would be doctors crowding them, TV reporters and just people in general trying to find out what the hell is going on. It was going to be a tough go about, but honestly, they all had each other back. Truly. How hard could it really be with each of them by their side? "Are you ready, Mr. President?"
Ben looked to each of them before nodding, the three making it out onto the front steps of the White House. April couldn't help but look at the bullets that stained the building, finding it hard to believe that her house was attacked and she survived. It brought a bit of a smile to her face. She survived. Mike survived. Her dad survived. It was like a miracle. Someone was watching over them for this and she believed with her whole heart it was Margret and April Asher.
Mike met April's gaze, smiling at her, thinking the same thing she was thinking. Damn, they were lucky. Mike then turned to look at Ben, knowing that if he didn't have his job back after this, Ben definitely needed to get checked out for a concussion. "I'm sorry about the house, sir."
Ben turned to him with a bright smile. There was no way he was letting Mike go again. "It's okay. I believe it's insured."
The three of them laughed until a team came up to them, different men taking them each. April kept looking behind her to make sure Mike was still there. It was like she was afraid he was going to leave her. She was afraid to be without him again. Even if she was out of that hell hole, she still felt that level of alertness. Something she thought would probably never go away. Something that would definitely increase her hours of therapy.
"Dad!" They all turned to see Conner hurrying to them out of an ambulance. "April!"
"Oh my god." April whispered as Ben got down on his knees to give Conner a hug and April joining them, Ben pulling her in before she was even fully positioned. She almost forgot how worried she was about Conner with everything going on in there.
Mike watched as he was being led to an ambulance away from them. He had a smile on his face. He loved that he could still watch from afar, make sure she was safe, marvel in her beauty. They would never be together every second of every day. That was impossible. And through that, he just loved to watch her be.
April suddenly propped her head out of the hug, looking around for Mike. They weren't able to have a chance to truly reconnect. She could see his back as they helped him out of his bullet proof vest. She had to go to him. She hoped her father would understand. She broke out of the hug completely, the both of them confused for a moment before realizing who she was looking at, instantly getting a smile on their faces. After all this time, those two deserved to be together.
"Mike!" She called out. He turned around even if the paramedics began to inspect him.
Her feet took off the ground before she even knew where they were going, and once she got close enough, she launched herself into his arms. He caught her, her arms holding tight around his neck as he buried his head into her shoulder. April let a few tears slip out, happy that she was out of this mess and that he had turned up okay despite all of the scenarios she had created in her head.
When he pulled out of their embrace, all they saw was each other. Mike leaned forward, April doing the same as his hand came to her chin, stroking it with his fingers. April's lips parted, getting ready to take his tongue in her mouth when they were stopped. "Oh my god!" They both turned to their left, April immediately attacked in a hug by Megan.
"Wow," April commented, her eyes still on Mike as she felt the life being choked out of her. "You must have been really worried about me."
"Hell yeah!" She spoke, breaking away from her friend. "I was worried out of my mind, April!"
She sounded like a disappointed mother April had to gasp to. "Well, I'm sorry the White House got attacked and I was taken hostage!"
"Girls," Mike spoke, looking around to see some cameras trying to snap photos. "Maybe now isn't the best time."
Megan threw her arms around Mike's neck too, hardly able to believe he was alive as well. "Neither of you," Megan spoke as she pulled from Mike to look at the both of them. "Scare me like that again."
"Yes, mom." April joked as Megan rolled her eyes. April's eyes then traveled back to Mike, knowing that Megan had interrupted something very important. "Can we actually get a moment?"
She looked back and forth at the two before rolling her eyes slightly. "Yeah, I was just the worried best friend, but you two go ahead, enjoy each other. Make out. Not like I just got you back too."
April rolled her eyes as Megan began walking away before turning back to Mike. "She'll be fine."
"She needs help." April corrected.
Mike turned back to her with a hearty laugh as April leaned into him again, Mike taking the same position he had before their interruption. April gave him a wide smile as she looked into those grey-blue eyes. The same eyes she saw the second she walked into her new home. The same eyes she glanced into before she kissed. The same eyes she wanted to look into for the rest of her life. "You found me."
Mike moved his face forward so their noses were touching before whispering his response. "I told you I would."
Then, he leaned all the way forward, placing a slow magical kiss on her lips. As expected, cameras flashed around them, but they just didn't care. They could go on with their speculations and wild stories, but when it came down to it, they were just two people in love. And nothing would ever be able to change that. Not any story or fake source that was out there.
Mike's hands moved to her back, lifting her in the air as a smile spread across April's face during the kiss. She cupped his face in both of her hands as her feet dangled in the air, never wanting to come down from this. Mike slowly let her to the ground, April arching her back as he leaned forward some more, his hand going to the back of her head to support it.
"Miss. Asher." That made them break apart instantly, both looking to the man who sheepishly stood near them in a uniform. "We were going to start heading to the hospital if you wanted to ride with your father."
"Oh," April spoke, looking her father's ambulance and then Mike's. Did they really need two ambulances. "Thank you." She nodded as her voice was completely out of breath. "I'll be right there."
He nodded awkwardly before walking off. April then turned on her heels to look back at Mike. She put a finger on his chest, hating that she had to leave him when she just got him back no matter how short of a time. "Remember eight AM sharp."
Mike gave her a smile, thinking the exact same thing she was thinking. "I told you I'd be there." She gave him another big smile before giving him a peck on the lips and hurrying off to her father's ambulance. "Hey, Showers!" She immediately turned around as she was only a few feet away from the truck, Mike smiling at how cute she looked when responding to that name. "I love you."
She smiled at him before walking backwards to the ambulance, not wanting to take her eyes off of Mike. "I looooove you." She threw her head back a tad as she recited the O's before climbing into the ambulance as Mike stayed there for a moment laughing before getting into his own ambulance and hurrying off the hospital.
Igor Blonsky: Oh, I know! Ben would be rolling his eyes from a mile away at their conversation. Haha, they wanted to get that date out as soon as possible after everything they had been through so that's why a breakfast date. And yes, I love the knife through the brain as well.
CoolCat0720: Okay, true. I would definitely be trying to make a date with Mike Banning whether i was being held captive or not.
Mrs. HappyAnarchy: Yay! I'm glad you liked it!
MisfitCarter: You're so very welcome! I'm glad you loved April going just a tad crazy. Thank you so much for your constant reviews!
I'm coming at you guys from a new laptop! I'm so excited, my last one was so bad, but this one is perfect. I've named her Deena. Okay, we have one more chapter left which makes me kind of sad. I hope you guys liked the ending of the movie and I hope you enjoy the last chapter of the story next! Thank you guys so much for continuing to read and review throughout this whole story. Means everything to me! See ya next time!