A/N: So, this is it! The last main chapter! Thank you all for your support and sweet PM's, you've all been so amazing. S/O to NebulaZee for beta'ing this story, and making it readable. I'm so sorry for putting you through my typos.
While the main story is complete, I do intend to make a bonus chapter. Thanks again, have a great day/night and enjoy~!
Shoot it or Boot it:
In the chaos of Lovino and Feliciano bursting into the room, armed and ready to shoot, no one noticed how Vash had stepped back to pull out a semi-automatic from a nearby cabinet.
Alfred and I froze and let down our guards as Lovino and Feliciano flanked by our sides. Their burning side glares communicated everything. The room was silent enough to hear a pin drop, save for the heavy breathing and beads of sweat splashing against the floor. Glances were exchanged, and time slowed.
Then came the bullets.
In a wide arc, Vash shot at us.
"GET DOWN!" Ludwig bellowed. He tackled me to the ground and Gilbert did the same for Alfred. Natalia, Antonio, Francis, Lovino, and Feliciano dove behind the kitchen island, swearing and shouting incoherently.
Lars's eyes widened. His quick reaction was what had saved us all from being shot dead right on the spot. In a swift motion, he had grabbed Vash's arm and tilted it so that the bullets sprayed across the wall to our left.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Lars bellowed. "You're only supposed to kill if necessary!"
"They saw our faces!" Vash shrieked back. "They need to be eliminated! I can't… I can't have my whole life, my sister's life, be thrown into jeopardy. I'm not going down without a fight. It was your idea to trust those bastards, might I remind you!"
With this distraction, Alfred, Ludwig, Gilbert, and I crawled over to the others. They were using the island as cover. I kept my head bowed to avoid looking at Lovino. The Italian scowled and casually spit on the ground, as if this were a mere game rather than a competition for survival.
"I don't give a damn!" Lars snapped. "The last thing we need right now is other charges pending! None of us will have a life if you keep acting so recklessly! I expected more from you. What's done is done, but shooting at them isn't going to do a thing. Call in Matthias's reinforcements. Bella, Vash, I want those guns trained on them at all times if they decide to do anything hasty. I'll start gathering everything, and then… we bolt."
"G-got it," Bella nodded. All the confidence and smugness before had been drained from her face. She looked more like a spooked rat with the way she was trembling. She had lost control over the situation and didn't know what to do.
Bella softened slightly as she glanced at Matthias's slumped over figure. "What about Matthias?" she asked.
"Leave him," Lars said, coldly. "We don't look after dead weight. And Vash?"
"So we're just going to use his friends as cannon fodder?" Bella whispered to herself, trying to contain her horror. If Lars heard this, he didn't acknowledge it. "The cops I get, they're disgusting entitled pigs, but…those people…they're my friends too," she continued meekly.
Again, this went unacknowledged.
"Yes?" Vash ground out. His shaking fingers hovered dangerously close to the trigger as he pointed it at the counter.
"Get your godamned priorities straight or so help me God I'll–"
Lars stepped forward, but was immediately forced to duck behind the line of couches in the living room as Gilbert bravely popped his head over the counter and shot at the Dutchman.
"Oh no you fucking don't. Lud and I didn't spend a year and a half in that hormonal hellfire, only for those drugs to be stolen right under our noses. Try again, asshole!"
Gilbert cussed and ducked as Vash shot back at him. The bullet went straight through a wooden cabinet above our heads, sending splinters and dust everywhere.
"LARS!" Bella panicked.
"Vash, cover her!" For a brief second, Lars's composure fell. His stern mask lifted, revealing genuine fear and worry. Vash shot at the kitchen cabinets in warning as he and Bella also took cover behind the couches beside Lars.
"WAIT! NO!" Bella shrieked as Vash dragged her back. "Matthias! Get Matthias! He's right out in the open! Lars! Please! We can't just leave him there!"
When Lars didn't respond, Bella leapt forward. She was quickly dragged back into hiding.
Bella screamed, cried, and threw punches at Lars's arm. He didn't budge at all, stoically pursing his lips. "Your safety comes first," he bluntly told her.
"He was your friend too!" Bella retorted.
"Was," Lars corrected. "Turns out he was a fool just like the rest of them."
"How can you say that?!"
"SHUT UP!" Vash cut in. "FUCK, I'll get him if it gets you two to shut up. I can't concentrate with all this bickering!"
Vash stuck up a thin, gloved hand above the couch. "Hey, jackasses in uniform?! I'm dragging an unconscious boy to safety. If you shoot at us, you'll only make asses out of yourselves, just saying!" There was a notable shakiness to his tone despite how his fingers were still eagerly curled around the trigger of his gun.
"Spineless cowards!" Lovino hissed to himself, albeit not protesting to this. "And here I thought I'd get a decent takedown. Che, what bullshit! Shouldn't have expected more from a bunch of brats."
"Lovi, ah, sir!" Antonio corrected, a notable squeak in his voice. "We're no better than they are. We're going to have to come out from hiding eventually."
"Shut it!" Lovino cut in sharply. "I need a minute to think before dealing with you incompetents."
"You made fratello really mad," Feliciano warned, glancing around at all of us. "You're just lucky he has someone else to use as target practice."
"Like you're the one to fucking talk, Feli," Lovino retorted. Feliciano immediately fell silent, much to the confusion of everyone but Ludwig and Gilbert.
As Vash towed an unconscious Matthias to safety, with a disgusted expression sour enough to think that he had just wrapped intestines around his neck, Gilbert kept his gun firmly pointed on the Swiss.
We were at a draw. Now, it was a matter of who was brave enough to pop up first. Sure, us cops outnumbered them, but we didn't want to do anything reckless that would result in any of us losing our lives. We were also waiting for Lovino's orders, but the Captain still appeared to be assessing the situation, gloved hands furled into tight fists, brows furrowed, and teeth grinding against each other in impatient agitation.
"Brother, you shouldn't be so reckless!" Ludwig barked as Gilbert popped his head above the counter again. Vash had provoked him with a German insult. Gilbert held his ground calmly and firmly like a proper soldier, but shot back nonetheless to warn the brash teen not to push his buttons any further. Principal Fritz's short temper seemed more like an act than anything else. The real Gilbert's anger was revealed in his eyes, burning crimson pools that promised an imminent revenge and justice.
Gilbert unstiffened briefly and rolled his eyes sarcastically. "I'll keep them busy. I'm sure Lovino wants some explanations before we decide on anything. Pity, instead of getting fired, looks like the newbies will die getting fired at, isn't that right Elizabitch?"
Gilbert waggled his pale eyebrows at Elizabeta, who indeed looked like she was considering shooting Gilbert and switching sides in the shoot-out.
Elizabeta smiled sweetly and menacingly, if even possible. Before she could react, Natalia placed a hand over Elizabeta's forearm and shook her head as if to say, "Now's not the time."
On cue, Lovino cleared his throat. "Gilbert, keep them busy. I want to count the heads of everyone I'm personally going to murder once we're done with this."
"Gotcha," Gilbert smirked and resumed training his eye on the couch the four dealers were seeking refuge behind.
"Explain, now," Lovino growled.
Everyone who wasn't supposed to be on this operation erupted and spoke all at once.
"AH!" Lovino snapped a finger. "I said explain, not pander and beg for your jobs like a bunch of whiny children."
Ludwig snorted. "I think we've already had our fair share of that," he then paused to look around, making sure to establish eye contact with us less-experienced jump streeters. Alfred wasn't paying attention, as he was too busy watching Gilbert's back, hands cocked on his own gun. I tapped his forearm, only to receive a noncommittal grunt.
"Your reckless actions tonight just ruined a year and a half investigation," Ludwig said. "Do you have anything to say for yourselves? Anything that will make what you've done any less shameful?"
Lovino's eyes burned into Ludwig's. "I'm the Captain, Sergeant," he spat, placing a heavy emphasis on that last word. "I'll ask the questions here."
"By all means, go ahead, sir," Ludwig replied, a slight sarcasm detected in the word sir. "Except, you do realize that we're running out of options. We don't have time for you to yell at them. We need to conduct ourselves and come up with a plan, and unfortunately, that includes incorporating these dummkophs in it."
"Yes, I know," Lovino curled his lip. "I still can't stand your nasty-ass potato face, but you're right. Okay, one of you explain to me how the hell this happened. Scratch that. Whose moronic idea was it to go behind our backs?"
Slowly, I raised my hand. "It was mine, sir."
"And mine!" Alfred piped in.
I nodded my head in silent acknowledgement. We were to shoulder all the blame and protect our comrades at all costs.
"We knew that if we handed the operation to Antonio and Francis, it'd take them longer to solve the case. We have contacts and have already infiltrated their social group. Even if we were breaking the law, we knew that this was the only way to bring a quicker end to the operation. I promise you, we only had the best of intentions in preventing more kids from dying. We honestly had no idea that you had two other officers already stationed at the school, which was brilliant by the way, kudos. Aha," I laughed nervously.
Lovino wasn't fishing for compliments. This was a life or death situation and information was all he needed. I swallowed and continued. "We've already lost our jobs, and if it comes down to it, we'll give up our lives if need be. It's only fair, considering how much danger we've just put you all in," I finished.
"That's not true!" Antonio spluttered. "We agreed to it too. Actually, we were the ones who asked for their help."
"Oui, he's telling the truth," Francis admitted, reluctantly.
"It's not the ladies' fault, though!" Alfred added. "Artie and I asked them to help."
"We'll take responsibilities for our own actions, thank you very much," Elizabeta huffed, blowing a stray piece of her ponytail out of her face. Her olive eyes were wild and carnal, disturbingly so. She seemed in her element here. Then again, she was a rather aggressive person who took joy in wrestling anyone who was willing to.
"Agreed," Natalia said coldly. "We didn't have to help these idiots, but we did…which I guess makes us idiots too. Even if I do hate them, we still work for the same cause, and I can't have them dying on us. It'd be too much trouble to grieve over them; a waste of time and resources if you ask me."
Alfred's lips parted open. "Ah, Nat. That's the nicest thing you've ever said about me," he cooed.
"Don't get me wrong. I'll still use you as a shield if I have to," Natalia scowled.
"She's lying," Elizabeta smiled fondly. "Her brother raised her better than that. She'd sacrifice herself for any of us here. Poor little Nat is too stubborn to admit that she sees us as her family now."
"My brother's behind bars," Natalia snapped, and then glared at Lovino accusingly.
"Lady, don't look at me. We had a deal that if you cleaned up your act, I wouldn't arrest you," Lovino visibly shuddered. It was the first time I had ever seen him show weakness.
"We don't punish people for the crimes committed by their kin," Feliciano stated. The way he phrased it made it sound more like a motto he had long memorized. Turns out, this assumption was correct.
"That's right," Lovino agreed. "Nonno's a perfect example of that."
"Speaking of whom, do you want to explain to me why you still haven't called any back up yet?" Ludwig lectured, speaking directly to Lovino.
Lovino clenched his jaw. "I told you, we're doing this on our own. Now, stop being an asshat, and let's get this shit done already before Gilbert runs out of bullets to stall them with."
"Looks like we're not the only ones going behind people's backs," I whispered discreetly, under my breath. Too bad Lovino had ears like a sonar detector.
"What was that, eyebrows?"
"Oh nothing."
Lovino curled his lip again, reclaiming his assertive position, and then began with his own explanation.
"While I am disappointed in how stupid this mission of yours was," He paused to look at Alfred and I, "I do admire the loyalty of it all. You've all displayed enough courage and bravery to make me proud to call you my officers, fired or not. With that said, I know what it's like to be new in this field, and am still pretty hot-headed myself, even if I don't like to admit it. But fuck it, if we're to fail in this mission, I want to go down with style.
"Many of you know about my time spent as Romano. But, what you don't know is that this mission is very personal to me. Two years ago, Feliciano blew my cover when I was working on this very same drug operation, back when it was still in its early phase."
"I'm sorry!" Feliciano whined.
"I know you are, moron," Lovino smiled, which was more like a faint quirk of the lips. "Anyways, as I was saying, I know what it's like to be inexperienced and stupid, to want to do everything for yourself and earn a good reputation. That arrogance is ultimately what costed me my position, my stake in the game. Yes, Feliciano played a part in it, but they were already suspicious. I was reckless and chose not to rely on others. This mission, selfish as it is, is my way of redeeming myself. That's what this branch is to me, and I know full fucking well that it means the same to you. We're all idiots that lost our status among the force…"
"Eh," Lovino scratched his head. "I really suck at these motivational speeches, and all that other sappy shit. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I get where you're coming from. Now, let's get down to business. I'd rather risk failing in this mission than failing you guys by having one of you killed. But, and this is a big fucking but, I think it'd be fucking awesome if we came out of this mission successful, yeah? Those cocky pricks need a good ass-kicking!"
"Hell yeah!" We chorused in a low whisper.
"We're the law, damn it! Let's show those snarky, donut-eating higher ups what we outcasts are truly made of! This isn't just my redemption! It's our redemption!"
"Aw, he's learning not to be selfish anymore," Feliciano cooed to no one in particular.
"YEAH!"
"Shut the fuck up, and keep your inspirational echoes to a low. Chigi! Do you want us all to die?!"
"Yeah! Uh…no…"
Everyone exchanged nervous glances, while some giggled anxiously.
"So, what now?" Ludwig asked. "We're all sitting ducks. Either we get up, charge, and risk having some of our officers be shot at, or they risk making a bolt for it and we shoot at them. It doesn't seem like anyone's willing to make the first move. Both scenarios don't seem like much of a possibility."
Lovino furrowed his brows. "It would have been nice to have had some reconnaissance, but most of the other officers were busy with their own missions. They were unreachable."
Silence. We all ignored his jab at us going behind his back. It was cheap and beyond necessary at this point, petty just like him.
"Actually," I chimed in. "We have our own reconnaissance standing by."
I took out my earpiece. Eduard, Kiku, and Yong Soo hadn't said a word since Lovino's arrival. I honestly didn't blame them, they especially weren't supposed to be here.
"Is this true?" Lovino asked, incredulous.
Natalia, Alfred, Antonio, Francis, Elizabeta and I all nodded our heads and gave them another quick rundown.
Gilbert and Ludwig tsked under their breaths and Feliciano nervously wrung his hands. Meanwhile, Lovino was on the onset of having an aneurism. He exploded with a stream of foul Italian curses, occasionally slipping into English enough for us to understand him.
"HOW – FUCKING DUMB – IDIOTS – PUT – THEM ON – SO HELP ME GOD I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU ALL!" Lovino whispered harshly, straining to compose himself.
I took off my earpiece and handed it to Lovino. "Great, just great. Now I have minors to fucking rely on," he grumbled to himself.
"Be gentle with them," Alfred chided, a newly acclimatized mother hen. "They're only trying to help."
"THEY SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HELPING!" Lovino hissed.
WHOMP! WHACK!
Likewise to before, Ludwig and Gilbert took their turns taking care of Alfred and I. I got whacked on the head by Ludwig, and Alfred, Gilbert.
"WHY US?!" Alfred and I both deadpanned.
Gilbert and Ludwig were quick to give their reprisal. "You both instigated this mess, now toughen up or–"
BANG!
Vash took advantage of the split-second Gilbert dropped his guard and shot at us.
Gilbert snarled. "That was a dirty move, you pesky little asshole. I'll get you for that!"
"I'd like to see you try! Speaking of which, aren't most of you dirty or corrupted anyway? Let us escape, and we'll leave a large sum of money behind. I guarantee it'll be worth your while."
"FAT CHANCE AT THAT!" Gilbert shrieked. Ludwig nodded in approval, as Lovino was preoccupied with giving the nerds instructions.
"I said stay right the fuck where you are! And you tell that boob-obsessed hypermaniac that if he doesn't behave, that I'll send him to juvie!"
"You sneaky little shits, fine! I'll pay for your new Xbox…and a new surround system…" Lovino ground his teeth. "What the hell do you want with a katana sword? Fucking hell, yes, I'll hire you, but only if we get out of this and you stay put!"
Lovino wiped his brow after he was finished negotiating and handed me back my earpiece. "Remind me to never have kids."
"You know," Alfred chuckled. "I'd already made a deal with them before. You, my good Mafioso, have just been punked."
"Keep it up, and you'll be punched into another dimension, blondey," Lovino growled. "Is there anything else I need to know before shit hits the fan?"
"Well, about that," I bit my lip. "Matthias's friends, I don't know where they fall in all this, but they were supposed to act as his backup. He was going to give them a signal through text to either let them know if they were needed or if things worked out. They must be wondering where he–"
"Uh guys?!" Gilbert shouted. "What's happening?!"
We all followed Gilbert's gaze to see Emil, Tino, Berwald, and Lukas burst into the room, all brandishing guns. They were pointed at Vash and Lars, but surprisingly not Bella.
"Lu, you shouldn't have come!" Matthias croaked. He must have roused to consciousness without us noticing.
"HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" Lovino and Ludwig stood up, using this distraction to position themselves better. Everyone else followed suit, and trailed the older officers out into the open, flanking at their sides. We didn't have to worry about being shot at; there was a completely different altercation going on.
"HELLO?!" Gilbert bellowed, only to go ignored again. "DOES THE EFFING POLICE NOT RING ANY BELLS TO YOU?!"
Lars was holding Matthias at gunpoint. "Whose side are you on?" Lars growled at Lukas.
"Obviously not yours," Lukas shot back. "Some friend you are to him. Let him go, or I'll shoot."
"Lu, don't!" Matthias pleaded.
"I'M NOT LEAVING YOU, IDIOT!" Lukas yelled.
"Neither are we!" Tino said. His round face was set into a dead look of concentration. He was prepared to shoot and kill at a moment's notice. "You dragged us into this. It's clear by now that you had no intention in treating us as equals either. We want no part anymore, so if we can just have our friend back, that'd be great."
Bella looked back and forth between the two groups, conflicted. "What are you guys doing?!" she shrieked. "This isn't what we agreed on." Lukas deliberately trained his gun on her.
"We never agreed to anything," Berwald said, stony-eyed.
Emil continued where he left off. "You pressured Matthias into doing this, and we caved too because that's just how selfish you are. You whine and cry until you're given exactly what you want. You're a spoiled brat. You're no friend to us, Bella, you never were. When you set your sights on Matthias, we saw right through your manipulation. We're not just going to let you guys throw his life away as if it didn't matter. You took advantage of him, and quite frankly, it's disgusting," Emil leered.
"I…I didn't take advantage of him. I just…I needed the money to make something out of myself…to help you guys get into good colleges too," Bella sheepishly added, likely as an afterthought.
"Oh really?" Lukas scoffed. "Because your brother holding Matthias at gunpoint, ready to ditch him in a last desperate effort to save his sorry ass isn't looking too good for you right now. Just admit it, you never cared about him or us. Even now, you're still trying to put up this act that you care. I bet you anything there's some leverage you're waiting to use. Just leave Matthias out of this and get out, get out of our lives and don't come back. We won't stop you."
"Nice speech, kid, but I have a little something to say about that." Lovino, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Feliciano stood forward and cocked their guns in perfect synchronization. The rest of us flanked behind, guns at the ready.
"No one's leaving here until half of you are in handcuffs."
"Big talk for an irrelevant cockroach like you!" Vash smirked coldly. "I'm disappointed in you, Romano, or should I say, Lovino? You've lost your touch, probably because you're getting old. What are you 23 now? Tsk. Tsk. So many mistakes. Never rely on others to have your back. Human beings are shitty; we're animals at heart and will do anything to survive."
"23 isn't old," Antonio and Francis pouted to themselves, both of whom were 25 and 26 respectively..
"Funny you say that because right now you're outnumbered," Feliciano smiled. His copper eyes bore a murderous glint in them, long fingers delicately wrapped around the gun he held. His voice was melodic and calm, but the words were more than enough to convey the soundness of his threat.
Bella wiped at her reddened face and set her lips. Her expression hardened until there was nothing but pure coldness emanating from her. "Fine, you're right. I used Matthias, and all of you guys too, but it doesn't matter now. You won't believe me even if I said that I genuinely did care. I won't waste another breath in saying this, seeing as how you conveniently have no problem in forgetting all that I've done for you," she faltered, letting the air still before ruthlessly ripping right into it. "Go fuck yourselves."
Lars tapped Matthias's temple with the gun before pausing to look at us cops. "Make one wrong move, and I'll blow his brains out. Now, this is how things are going to go. We're going to leave, untouched, and you're not going to follow."
At the wrong moment, I made eye contact with Matthias. My chest constricted until I couldn't bear it anymore and turned to Lovino. "Captain, please. It's not worth it."
He was still a kid, delinquent or not.
Lovino's posture loosened, but he didn't lower his gun. "Fine!" he barked. "But I don't want another hair harmed on that boy's head or the deal's off."
Lars smiled cryptically. "Of course. I'm a business man, and will take any bargain I can get, especially one to my own benefit."
Lovino boiled from head to toe. Elizabeta cracked her neck and kept her gaze on the Nordic teens, unsure as to whose side they were on. It became obvious when they kept their guns pointed on Lars and Vash as the former dragged Matthias towards the door and the latter grabbed the duffel bag of cash and drugs.
"You heard him. Not one move, fuckers," Vash warned.
"Go on, Bella," Lars nodded Bella forward. "I'll meet you in the car."
"You're better than this, Bella!" I blurted out. "Don't ruin your life anymore than you have to."
Bella avoided my gaze. "Get off your high horse, Ollie. You of all people have no right to tell me that. You're a stubborn perverted loser with nothing good going for him. I'm doing what I have to do to survive."
I gaped.
"Sorry, not sorry. Just being honest~!" And with that, Bella swept out of the room, not giving me the chance at a rebuttal.
Francis let out an airless whistle.
I inhaled deeply. "Oh, she's going to regret saying that."
"Arthur?" Alfred questioned.
"Not now, Alfred."
"…"
Elizabeta gasped. Horrified, I shifted my attention.
"Wanna let go of me, buddy, old pal? I think they get the point," Matthias squirmed.
"Shut your mouth," Lars threatened.
"No," Matthias smirked.
"You idiot! All you had to do was stay quiet!" Lukas cried out in alarm when Matthias struggled and fought his way out of Lars's grip. A soft thud echoed across the room as Matthias punched Lars square in the jaw, followed by the muffled, erratic screams of Vash just down the hallway.
"Oh man, did that ever feel good!" Matthias grunted.
Before Lars could retaliate, Ludwig shot at the Dutchman without any hesitation, clipping him in the left shoulder.
"Ah-gah!" Lars fell back, holding in grunts of pain as he ran out of the room, smart enough not to face the line of guns pointed in his direction. The last we saw of him was the trail of his blue and white scarf. The tips of it were splattered with his blood.
Lovino didn't even have to open his mouth for orders, as Ludwig and Gilbert both took after the Dutchman, thighs pumping, nostrils flared, and muscles rippling like bloodhounds.
Panting and out of breath, Matthias hunched forward and wiped at the blood trickling out of his mouth. "I couldn't let you do all the work, Lu," he chuckled, and then turned to the rest of his friends. "Ber, Tino, Emmy, thank you. I know I'm an idiot, and I'm sorry. And you guys," Matthias turned to face us cops. We all stiffened and refused to lower our guns.
"I'm sorry too. I know things don't look good right now, but we're willing to co-operate. You can trust, us, promise." Sheepishly, Matthias gave us a toothy, desperate grin.
"It's not as simple as that, kid," Lovino growled. "All of you, put down your weapons; hands behind your heads."
The teens did as instructed. "Can we trust them?" Lovino asked.
"Yes," I spoke up. "I think it's evident by now that they got wrapped up in something they had no intentions of joining. Stupid as it is, petty dealing is their worst crime. You can even argue that they were pressured into doing it."
"It's true! Bella managed almost everything until that last deal!" Matthias added.
"Bah, fine. We'll get to that later," Lovino said. "You listening, punks? Work with us, and we'll reduce your charges. If any of you do anything I don't approve of, you best expect that you'll be behind bars for the rest of your life."
"Yes sir, we understand," Matthias said, sadly. Lukas didn't seem to agree with being spoken for, nor did the others, but Matthias cut them off. "Really, I know you might think badly of us now, but please don't blame them, blame me. I was bored and was looking for something to do. I never imagined that dealing pot of all things would lead me down this psychotic rabbit hole. Bella just has a way of convincing you to do things. I feel like I don't even know her now. I, um, never expected that anyone would die from this. Leon…" he swallowed, heavily.
"Leon should have knocked it into my fat skull that things needed to be stopped, but I was just so determined to feel…wanted…"
Lukas rolled his eyes. "No, you were too stubborn to listen to us. We've been telling you all along that we never liked her. Lars, your 'buddy'," he put in sarcastically, "said it best. You were looking for praise. Maybe if you got your obnoxious head out of your ass, you would have realized that we've been here all along."
Tears welled in Matthias's eyes. "Oh Lu, you really cared, after all! Like, wow! You guys look so badass! Tino, you sly bastard! You taught them how to shoot, didn't you?"
Tino smiled to himself wryly, full dimples out.
"Well, someone had to look after you. Your parents sure haven't," Lukas sighed. "How many times have I called you an idiot tonight? We would have never kept you around if you weren't wanted."
"OI! I said hands behind your head!"
Matthias pulled Lukas into a tight hug anyways, squeezing the Norwegian and then latching himself onto his friends until soon they couldn't breathe either.
"God, look at you," Lukas fretted. He reached into his pocket to pull out a tissue. "Don't wear yourself out. Hey…why aren't your eyes focusing? Ugh, don't tell me your dumbass got a concussion."
"Well, heheh, I was knocked out for some time…"
"Idiot."
"Lu!" Matthias whined. "Enough, okay? I get it, I fucked up, like, really, really badly. I'm more interested in talking about how stoic you looked when you led the charge in here. It was so brave! I wouldn't expect anything less from my bestfriend!" he gushed.
Lukas placed a hand on Matthias's forehead, preventing the latter from getting any closer. One hug was more than enough for him.
Lovino pinched the bridge of his nose in defeat, and spoke into his earpiece. "Potato brothers, what's going on downstairs? Have you found them? Keep searching, then. They can't get to the parking lot without going through the dancefloor. There's chaperones at the front exits, and knowing those sneaky douchebags, they'll be going for the back ones. We'll circle back outside and trap them."
Lovino then turned to point at Alfred and myself. "You two!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Bring them to the safe room, where you're keeping the other teens. I want them stripped of all weapons and locked in!"
"Yes, sir!"
"And the rest of you. Let's roll!"
"Yes, sir!"
…
Strobe lights blinded Gilbert and Ludwig as they barrelled through swarms of intoxicated squirming bodies, eyes alert for any signs of a blue and white scarf or a red hair ribbon. Most were too elated to pay attention to their so-called Principal and Gym teacher running with guns in their hands, but those who did dismissed it as a mere fog illusion.
"Out of the way!" Gilbert grunted, and pushed past another group of students.
"THERE!" Ludwig bellowed as he pointed towards the righthand side of the dancefloor. Bella and Lars were making their way past the refreshments, heads bowed low. Vash was nowhere to be seen. Ludwig swore under his breath upon realizing that his bullet from before had merely skimmed Lars, doing nothing to slow him down.
The ground shook and Ludwig and Gilbert surged forward, creating enough of a scene for the culprits to realize they were being pursued.
"STOP!" Gilbert screamed, unaware that he was in sync with the song playing in the background.
The room quieted for a millisecond, before the students laughed at their Principal's attempt to be relatable.
"Wait a minute! Fill my cup, put some liquor in it!"
"NO! NO! NO! Can't you see that we're cops?! Move, you pimply gremlins. I SAID STOP DAMN IT!"
Across the room, Gilbert met Lars's smug gaze. He memorized the abhorring image, and swore that he would be the one to wipe it off…with his fist.
...
Joints popped and creaked as Alfred and I thundered through the front lobby to approach the back exit from a different angle. When we got there, we immediately flinched at the sound of gunshots.
Feliciano and Lovino were shooting at a SUV, presumably the dealers' get-away car. Two cars followed right afterwards, speeding in pursuit of the SUV. I immediately picked up on Francis's and Natalia's reckless driving, and given their partner's absence, Antonio and Elizabeta were likely with them.
Gilbert and Ludwig arrived two seconds later.
"Fucking hell!" Lovino hissed. "Their tires were bullet proof."
"It's okay, Lovi. The others will get them. I just know it."
BAM!
Alfred tackled me to the ground as a car two blocks ahead exploded.
"What in the…" Lovino's face paled. "Antonio! Antonio!" he barked into his earpiece. "Are you guys okay? What was that?"
Silence.
Feliciano let out an involuntary whimper, avoiding eye contact. I balled my fist and closed my eyes, preparing myself for the bad news.
"Antonio, now's not the time to play games!" Lovino's voice quaked. "Answer me! Natalia? Elizabeta? Francis? Why are none of them answering?!"
"We're okay," Antonio groaned into our earpieces. "No thanks to Nat. Just a little fazed, that's all. Crazy girl crashed into our car when she realized they'd switched vehicles up ahead and had lit the old one on fire. If she hadn't done that…I don't think we would have made it."
"Does anyone need medical attention? Are any of you hurt?"
"Non, perhaps a bit rattled up, but we'll all be fine. We're driving over now."
"Oh…" Lovino breathed out. The relief washing over his face phrased his emotions more eloquently. "Good. I'm glad to hear that. Only I'm supposed to murder you guys, and that's after we succeed in this mission."
…
"Why did you call for Antonio first, fratello?"
"None of your damn business."
…
You know the dance music is too loud when the explosion of a car outside goes unnoticed. Thankfully, this worked to our benefit, as we all met in the front lobby. True to his word, Antonio and the others seemed perfectly fine, brazen in their will to prove themselves just as much as the rest of us. I had actually gained a lot of respect for the Frog in particular, considering that he had a shallow cut on his beautiful "porcelain" cheek. He didn't seem to be too worried about it.
Lovino was interrogating Matthias on possible places Bella and Lars could be. Meanwhile, Feliciano was looking Ludwig up and down, fretting over him.
"Luddy, oh my gosh! I missed you so much! Are you okay? Did you eat enough while you were gone? Did those mean kids bully you?" Feliciano drilled into the much taller German, bouncing and antsy, and just plain fidgety.
Ludwig's face flushed a faint pink. "I'm fine, Feli. You made sure of that by calling me everyday, no matter how many times I told you not to. We'll catch up later, ja?"
"Okay! But you have to promise me as your bestie!"
"I promise…" Feliciano pouted and Ludwig relented. "As your bestie."
The touching scene was interrupted as Alfred began to raise his voice. He was lecturing Yong Soo, Kiku, and Eduard, who were squared off in a separate section of the lounge. They had come out of hiding without permission, insisting on helping with further reconnaissance once we rolled out again.
Yong Soo was the most vocal of them all. "You promised us bitches, not that we would be your bitches!" he scoffed. "You don't get to tell us what to do, got it, oldie Mc Goldie? If we said we're helping, then let us help!"
"For once, I agree with Yong Soo," Kiku added. "This is the type of action in my life that I would much prefer anyway."
"You need someone to help with the equipment, remember?" Eduard reminded.
Alfred pulled at his hair. "22 is not old!" he protested. "I promised Yao that I would get you guys home safely. Now, get your things. I'm taking you sass monsters home. And yes, I'm aware! We'll call for backup or something."
"You don't have any backup!"
"Well, we'll make it work!"
"Take them," Lovino cocked his head over his shoulder, instructing Alfred and once again proving that he had ears like a hawk. "They won't step a foot outside the van, but they're safer with us than they are in the hotel room. On top of that, we need their skills."
Alfred's face reddened, like a mother hen who had just been told that yes, it's okay to give your children candy every once in a while. "Fine man, whatever. I just care about them, ya know? You hear that, peeps? If you get hurt, that means we can't have Chipotle or play Legend of Zelda together."
"What he's trying to say is that he's developed a strange maternal instinct for you guys, and would hate to see any of you get hurt. I feel the same way, well, at least for that last part," I added.
"I can speak for myself, Art!" Alfred pouted. "But, yeah. What he said."
While Gilbert and Ludwig left to get their van out of hiding, the rest of us waited at the front of the hotel. Matthias had told Lovino of a possible hide-out that Bella, Lars, and Vash might be heading to, so of course that was our first destination.
Turns out all the chaperones had gotten drunk off their minds and were nowhere to be seen. I honestly wouldn't have expected more from public school teachers. I stared blankly at the darkening sky, still trying to comprehend Bella's betrayal. I knew that I should have been angrier, but if anything, I was just disappointed. I had had such high expectations for her.
"Agh! Lady! I said geroff me!" Alfred sighed, and escorted a very drunk Ms. Mei back into the venue.
"C-call – hiccup – me!"
"I'll call you a cab home, that's what I'll do!"
"Hey," Matthias stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Look, man, I'm so–"
"I don't want to hear it," I said bluntly. "At least, not right now."
"I wasn't going to apologize for what I did. Bella's bothering you, isn't she? It bothers me too, but if I had any faith in her, it's gone now. She's chosen her side, Arthur. There's no point ruminating over it."
"I taught you that word," I remarked. "And yes, I guess you're right. Thanks for that."
Matthias chuckled. "You sure did, Ollie. Any time."
"Oh, dear. Please, just call me Arthur for God's sake. Lukas was right, you have a habit of making every social situation uncomfortable."
Matthias sighed, and awkwardly placed his hands in his pockets. The van was here. Everyone started piling into it, more like fighting, to get good seats. It was a rather large van too. I could hear Lovino and Alfred's motherly barks and Lukas's annoyed scoffs and off-handed remarks.
"We should probably go," I said. "Don't ask me how they let you wonder off on your own, unchaperoned."
"I'm not a bad guy, you know!" Matthias blurted out. "I'm already a disappointment to my parents…" he whispered, and then cleared his throat. "I thought of you like a best friend."
I turned and raised a brow at him. "You stopped being a disappointment to me the moment you crossed sides. You're not a bad kid, Matthias. You've just made some really bad choices."
Matthias's eyes widened in gratitude. "You…you understand."
"Of course, I do," I sighed, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. My pride shot down a little as he was several inches taller than me. "It's my job not only to help people, but to understand them too. What better way to protect someone than to protect them from themselves? You need to have more faith in yourself.
"If it's any consolation, I really did enjoy some of the time we spent together. I wasn't lying, contrary to what Alfred said. I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to help you out and will gladly testify on your behalf. We might even be able to nab you a good plea bargain, one that doesn't deal with any jail time."
Next thing I knew, Matthias was squeezing the life out of me.
"All right! All right! I get it! Now get in the car, and show us where that warehouse is!"
"Yes, sir!"
I couldn't help but smile and feel saddened all the same. Matthias was exactly where I could have been had I not been so resilient and stubborn. Encouragement and praise really could do wonders for a person.
…
"Are you sure this is the place, kid?" Lovino asked brusquely, sending crackles into our earpieces.
"Yep," Matthias replied. "This is the only warehouse I can think of unless Lars decided to get spontaneous on us and hide out in a dumpster."
"A simple yes would have sufficed," Ludwig said, and I could practically see his eyeroll.
Lovino ignored the two, and went back to shooting out orders. "Antonio, Francis, Elizabeta, Natalia, Tino," he snapped out their names, "Are you all ready and in position?"
"Yes, sir!" Those called had climbed up into the trees surrounding the supposedly 'abandoned' warehouse and were acting as snipers.
"Hmmph," Matthias grumbled. "Now of all times Tino decides to shoot."
"It's because it's necessary," Lukas retorted without missing a beat. "He's trying to help himself out of the mess you created."
"All right, all right, geez," Matthias whined. "I get it. I already told you that I'd be taking as much heat as possible. Ruin my last few hours of freedom, why don't you?"
"Everyone, shut your yaps. I need to hear the others," Lovino cleared his throat raucously, enough to make you think that he had been replaced with a sixty-year old chain-smoker.
"Alfred, Arthur? Are things clear?" Lovino continued, silence in the background this time.
Alfred looked over the dumpster we were hiding behind and peered at the empty entrance of the warehouse. The lights were on, our only indication that people were in there.
"All clear, boss," Alfred answered.
"Good. Feliciano, are you in yet?"
Feliciano, after bickering back and forth with both Lovino and Ludwig, had finally been designated as our first infiltrator. He was acting as our sniper and lookout within the warehouse. It was his job to protect us from above as we led the takedown.
"Si!" Feliciano chirped. "It's them, all right. There's about 30 wooden crates that are most likely holding the drugs, but there's not much else. There's one office on the second floor; I think I can hear them arguing."
"Excellent," Lovino commended, a discreet and pleased smile curling at his lips. "I like our odds in this. Oi, buffoon duo?"
"Yes, Captain?" I sighed.
"Let's get this show on the road."
"Yes, Captain," Alfred and I repeated in harmony.
We drew up our hoods, and approached the looming warehouse, hands latched onto the guns at our waist belts. It was old. The air was musty and reeked of rotten fish. The area had used to be a fishing port.
"This is it, Art," Alfred whispered. "Whatever happens, I've got your back man."
"Same to you, my dude," I teased, surprisingly not feeling awkward by the use of slang. Matthias and his nefarious memeing had finally gotten to me.
"And Arthur?"
"Yes, Alfred."
"Thank you for being such a good friend to me."
I blinked twice, trying not to let Alfred's unexpected moment of sweetness break my composure. "Don't thank me. I've hardly been one to you lately."
"Yeah, well, that's debatable."
"Stop giving each other verbal handies, and focus on the mission at hand, Gotten Himmel!" Gilbert deadpanned. "This idiocy is exactly why I said that it should have been Luddy and me out there, but nein, you just had to let those brats get the main role in all of this!"
"Oi!" Lovino said. "You're leading the ambush, so quit your whining."
Alfred and I exchanged knowing looks. A new and burning wave of determination unfurled in the pits of our stomachs, moving up to our chests, and finally resting in the way we tilted our chins high and proud, eyes locked ahead and dead-set on succeeding. Gilbert's derision had acted as a new type of fuel, one that helped us face the scary reality of walking into this situation unarmed. Our feet crunched against the gravel, perhaps a bit recklessly, as we marched straight into battle.
We walked up to the back doors of the warehouse, which was more like a garage. Alfred hesitantly raised a gloved hand, and looked to me for confirmation. "Do I just…open it?"
"I mean…I guess so."
"That's not very polite, you're supposed to knock," A soft voice spoke from behind us.
"AH!"
Alfred and I both jumped and squealed several octaves higher than what we would have liked to admit.
A little girl in a beige Girl Guide's uniform peered up at us, short blond braids swinging in the light evening wind. She had unnervingly saucer-like green eyes that glowed in the moonlight. She didn't look any older than twelve.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! Where did she come from?!" Lovino snapped. Panic erupted among our earpieces. It was like everything Alfred and I did was doomed to fail.
"Ah, uh, UM!" Alfred stammered. "What are ya doin, here, little miss? Isn't it past your bedtime?" he moved to hide his face from view, trying to pretend that we weren't just about to conduct a break-in, cops or not.
"What's your name?" I asked her. "More importantly, where's your mother? Girls your age shouldn't be out this late at night."
"I could ask you the same thing," the girl huffed. "I don't have to tell you anything, Mr. Burglars. Hmmph!"
Sweat beaded on my forehead. "W-we're not burglars!"
"What he said!"
"Okay," the girl agreed. "So, if I call the cops, nothing will happen…right?"
"BRIBE HER!" Lovino ordered. "KIDS LIKE MONEY, DON'T THEY?!"
"NO! NO! NOTHING AT ALL!" I panicked. "Say, how much are you charging for those cookies?"
The little girl smiled, notably with a greedy glint of teeth. "Buy my whole wagon, and I won't tell anyone about what you're doing here. Do we have a deal Mr. Burglars?"
"Yes, we have a deal!"
"Do you take debit?" Alfred asked with a groan.
"I do!" The girl chirped and reached into her wagon to pull out said machine.
While Alfred reluctantly paid for the cookies, eating some all the while, he turned to the little girl. "You're lucky you're cute. It makes it easier for me to fall for your sugary fiscal manipulation."
The girl smiled sweetly, too sweetly, and ripped out Alfred's receipt. She handed it to him with a toothy grin. "Thank you for your business. It's greatly appreciated."
Alfred sighed, and bent over to grab the handle of the wagon.
"…"
CLICK!
Alfred froze when a gun was suddenly pressed to his back. "What the–"
The garage door creaked open, blinding us all for a moment. Vash stepped outside, placing a walkie-talkie into the front pocket of his cargo pants. He clapped slowly and smugly, small hands bound in leather gloves.
"Way to go Lilli," Vash sneered. "Turns out it wasn't rats, but a couple of pigs who just don't know when to give up. You did good."
Lilli beamed. "Thank you, big brother! I'm so happy that I made you proud."
"Can someone please explain to me why this munchkin has a gun pointed on me?" Alfred whined. He must have moved too much for Lilli's liking, as she jabbed the butt of her gun further into Alfred's side, procuring a sharp yelp from him.
I could hardly piece together any of Lovino's instructions over the shouting. I was on my own, and right now, my partner was in danger.
I pulled out my gun and pointed it at Vash. "Drop your weapons."
"You're in no position to be giving me orders. You drop your weapon, or I'll shoot," Vash said calmly. He knew he had the advantage.
"But, big brother, I can–"
"No, Lilli. I already told you, you're only to help. I won't let you get your hands dirty."
Lilli pouted, but didn't offer anymore protest. "Fine."
"What was that?"
"Yes, sir," Lilli mumbled.
"Are you dense or something?" Vash snarled at me. "I said drop your weapon or your partner gets it."
"And how do I know that you don't intend to shoot us afterwards?" I inquired.
"Like I said, pigs like you aren't worth the bullet. It's more practical to get information out of you first."
"Change of plan, the idiots got captured…" was the last thing I heard of Lovino.
Alfred gulped, and I sighed as I placed my gun on the ground and handed over my earpiece.
"Kick it out of reach," Vash ordered. Reluctantly, I complied. As Vash patted me down, aggressively shoving me whenever he felt like it, Alfred did something reckless, and by reckless I mean impulsive, and by impulsive I mean that he was being Alfred, stupid bloody idiot and all.
"Let go! My heart refuses to believe that a cutie like you is evil!"
WHAM!
I blinked in disbelief as Alfred fell on all fours. Lilli had just kicked him in the crotch.
"N-not cute…" Alfred grunted. "SO not cute. First with the pick pocketing, and now this?!"
Even though I was technically a hostage, I slipped up and began laughing.
"ARTHUR?!" Alfred gave me a look of pure betrayal.
"What?" I snickered, wincing as Vash cuffed my hands and tightened them. Lilli cuffed Alfred as well and began ordering him forward with her gun. "PFT! You have to admit, it's kind of funny. I'd rather die with a sense of humour than none at all… pft! Hahaha!"
WHAM!
I wholeheartedly take that statement back.
…
Bound and strapped to old rusted chairs, Alfred and I awaited our doomed fates. The warehouse was damp and cold. I had been purposefully positioned under this one particular leak and likely smelled of mold myself.
Bella, Lars, and Vash were upstairs discussing what to do with us. I couldn't understand a word. All I heard was shrieks and foreign swearing. I wasn't too worried, though. We did have our snipers, and Lovino was likely figuring out a way how to get us out of this. We greatly outnumbered them.
Lilli was keeping guard of us fifteen feet away. She had drawn hopscotch on the cracked cement and was currently playing it.
"Aren't ya in the ninth grade?" Alfred asked her. "You're a bit old to be playing that."
"Says you," Lilli huffed. "At least I didn't try to re-live my golden years by dressing up in skinny jeans."
"Okay ouch, dudette. I know you're easing into the criminal lifestyle, but there's no need to be so rude."
Lilli went back to ignoring him after that.
"Was that really necessary?" I growled at him. I had half the mind to tip over my chair and send us both tumbling.
"Yeah," Alfred said lowly, discreetly looking left and right at both peripherals before speaking through his teeth again. "I needed to distract her."
"Oh…"
"Listen, when Bella comes out, try to get through to her. You and I both saw it. She might still care about her friends. Guilt trip her. Promise that we'll reduce her jailtime. Heck, I don't know. But, that's the only leverage we've got."
I nodded my head. "I'll try my best, but no guarantees. I…don't trust her anymore."
Above us, someone cleared their throat in offence. When we looked up, however, we were only met with an empty staircase and the metal platform connected to it.
Chills rose up my spine when that same voice continued to hum, creepily. It was a sweet tune, but given the situation, it came off as eerie. Lilli, on the other hand, seemed to be fixated by it. Like a puppet drawn by strings, she stood up and followed the voice as it began to fade away.
"Wait!" Lilli called out. "Don't go, Mr. Ghostie! You have such a lovely voice!"
"Come along, sweetie!" The voice cooed. Feliciano! It was Feliciano! That's right, he was in here too! How could we have forgotten?
"Let's play a game. Follow me!"
"Okay!"
Lilli eagerly skipped out of the room. When her giggles were safely out of hearing range, Alfred whistled in relief. "Geez, why didn't he come sooner?"
"Who knows, it doesn't matter. All we can do is wait."
And wait, we did.
Feliciano came by two minutes later, languidly leaning over the second-floor railing. He looked like a triumphant cat who had just snagged his daily mouse, or rather, prey. "Hello, boys!" he teased. "Need some help, ve?"
"Keep your voice down!" I hissed. "They might hear you or start wondering where Lilli went. Where is she by the way?"
"I locked her in a random room. She's disarmed, but put up quite a fight for a wee little bella," Feliciano remarked, still not lowering his voice. "I was quite impressed, ve!"
"Good work, Feli. Wanna free us now?"
"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm afraid that's not going to happen."
Lars, Bella, and Vash emerged from hiding and stepped out in front of us.
"Where's Lilli?" Vash asked. "Lilli? LILLI?" His voice became panicked. "WHERE'S MY SISTER? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?"
"She's safe, but you guys sure won't be," Feliciano warned. His amber eyes hardened until I didn't recognize him anymore. This wasn't Feliciano. This was the son of an ex-Mafioso, someone who was prepared to kill at any moment if it meant saving his allies.
"POLICE, HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"
On cue, Lovino, Ludwig, and Gilbert burst through the back entrance. Glass panels shattered and rained down in the warehouse as Natalia, Antonio, Francis, and Elizabeta broke in from their positions in the surrounding trees outside. Tino stayed back, for obvious reasons.
While the other snipers joined Feliciano at his side, Vash lost all reason. He went berserk and thundered forward. The room stilled as he attempted to pull Ludwig, the person closest to him, at gunpoint.
It never got there.
BANG!
"Don't. Touch. My. Luddy. You. Asshole," Feliciano growled.
"Lud, you all right?" Gilbert asked. His tone was sharp and thick as an ax, furious, and yet heavily concentrated.
Ludwig dazedly nodded his head, looking down at the wrinkles Vash had left in the front of his jacket.
Bella gasped and slightly shifted so that she was standing closer to Lars, but never dropped her gun, despite how violently she was shaking.
Vash had collapsed to the ground, spluttering as he grabbed at his now bleeding collarbone. The sound of the gun must have been the final trigger for Lilli, as there was the thud of a door being kicked open. Heavy footsteps soon followed.
"Brother! Brother!" Lilli called. "What's happening?! I got caught, but I'm okay now! Where are you…?"
"VASH!" Lilli cried out. "VASH! VASH!"
Natalia stepped forward and held the screaming and sobbing girl back. It was absolutely pitiful to listen to. I'm almost certain it brought tears to Alfred's eyes. There was nothing he hated more than an upset child, let alone a grieving one. "There's no use now. He's as good as dead. That's what he gets for being –"
Elizabeta shook her head at Natalia, silencing her. Sighing, Natalia took to comforting Lilli by letting her cry into her chest. Lilli didn't want to be comforted and kept struggling until Natalia gave up and knocked the former unconscious through a pressure point in her neck. It was best not to talk about the ethics of that, or this whole mission for that matter…
"Ahem," Lovino said calmly. "Unless anyone else wants to die, I suggest that you two surrender. Now."
"Bella, get out here," Lars ordered, wincing as he moved his shoulder the wrong way. "You know what to do. Leave the country. If…I don't make it, use the contacts I gave you. They'll take care of things from there and help you start over."
"And what, let you become like Vash?" Bella protested. "I'm not going to leave you!"
Lars's frown deepened, bending his scar. "Yes, you are. Now go!"
"But…"
"YOU HEARD ME!" Lars exploded. "I got you into this, and I'm taking responsibility for it. You have your whole life ahead of you, I don't with my record. Finish your schooling and work hard. I'm doing this because I love you, so don't let it be in vain. Leave while you still have the chance."
"Lars…" Bella swallowed, holding back tears. "I love you too. That's why I can't leave you."
Lars smiled faintly. "I thought you would say that." He pointed his gun up at the ceiling.
"WATCH OUT!" Antonio called out. "He's aiming for the -!"
BANG!
Dust clouded the room as fluorescent panels came crashing down onto the ground, just missing Lovino, Ludwig, and Gilbert. Bella took advantage of this and took off for the exit while Lars gave up on shooting and surprised everyone by putting his hands behind his head.
"Get me! I'm the one running the operation!" Lars called out.
Gilbert and Ludwig took after Bella, while Antonio and the others came rushing down to free Alfred and I from our bounds. Natalia rolled her eyes, and I experienced a sense of deja-vu as she handed us back our guns. Elizabeta had placed Lilli in a remote corner, and then went over to check on Vash's pulse. He was too still to be alive, so I didn't bother to look as Elizabeta began performing CPR on him.
I was wrong.
"There's still a pulse! The wound's shallow, nothing a few stitches can't fix. I think he just fainted from the sight of his own blood," Elizabeta informed Natalia.
"Take him out of here, I'll watch the girl until you come back," Natalia replied.
"It's not safe with that other girl roaming free. It's better to stay here," Elizabeta said.
"You're right. Put them together then. The boys have already called an ambulance."
Natalia then helped Elizabeta tow Vash into a far corner of the room, thankfully unnoticed.
Lovino circled Lars, a film of white dust matting his auburn hair. "You picked the wrong motherfucker to piss off," he said, and then clicked his gun threateningly. "You'll be paying for my hairdresser out of your own pocket."
Lars snorted. He stubbornly refused to lower his gun, and judging by the homicidal arrogance in his tone, he intended to take down as many of us as he could before he went down himself. "Corrupted, just like I thought."
"Never said I was a saint," Lovino retorted. "Takes an asshole to catch one."
"Precisely," Lars remarked. He smirked and threw something up in the air.
"GRENADE!" Feliciano called out before all hell broke loose.
We all scrambled to get away from the blast zone. The windows shook, and parts of the ceiling beams unhinged, swinging down on a tether. Tears welled in my eyes, and I choked as I breathed in acrid, toxic ash. A fire had started, and was quickly spreading to the crates that bore all the drugs.
"Fuck – COUGH – " Lovino gagged. "Is everyone all right?"
Lovino received exactly enough groans to know that everyone was okay. Lars had only wanted to create a distraction, and throwing a grenade in the air, psychotic as it was, had definitely succeeded in that plan.
"That lunatic's destroying everything!" Lovino cussed. "Everyone out! The building's unstable! I'm not taking any risks! Fuck! Tino, you all right out there? … Good, glad to hear that… Everyone pull back. I REPEAT pull back."
"Nat, get the girl, I have Vash!" Elizabeta coughed, violently.
"Allow us to help," Francis offered, also gagging.
Alfred wiped at his brow, leaning against the wall next to me. The visibility in the room was poor as the smoke had yet to clear, but I was still able to see the firm press of his lips; that and the defiant glare in his cerulean eyes. I would know because I felt the very same way.
"No," we both said at the same time.
"It doesn't end here," I growled. I stood up and helped Alfred to his feet.
"You're sure as hell right that it doesn't. Let's go."
Alfred and I took off, ignoring Lovino's shouts in the background. He couldn't see where we were going, but the sound of us running in the opposite direction was a pretty good clue. Lars had gone deeper into the warehouse. Fire licked at the walls, threatening to spread further and send the roof down at any moment, along with the inevitable explosion of the drug crates. The building was old and consisted mostly of wood. Despite these odds, we still pressed forward.
"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" Alfred commanded. Lars's scarf flicked into view briefly before he hid behind a set of empty crates.
Lars moved to shoot at us, but cussed as his gun got jammed.
"HA!" I cried out. "Just give up now, you're outnumbered."
Lars didn't spare a moment's hesitation and took off running again. I could tell that he was weakened, as he kept reaching out to place pressure on his bandaged shoulder, wincing in pain.
"ARTIE, LOOK OUT!" An enflamed wooden beam crashed right where we had been standing just moments ago, separating us.
"Alfred!"
"It's fine, there's still room for me to get out, it'll just take some time to walk around. Go after him!"
I faltered. "Al, I can't just leave you. The fire… I…"
"I'll be fine!" Alfred snapped, and began lifting the unsinged part of the wooden beam. "Go, show em what we're made of! I'll meet up with you in a sec; don't you dare let him get away! We didn't go through hell and back only to turn up empty handed!"
"Damn, right, I will!" I thundered, adrenaline pumping. "And don't you bloody die on me!" I warned.
Alfred rolled his eyes, and waved me forward. He had already begun to lift the beam, proving once again how unnatural his strength was. Well, lift wouldn't be totally correct, but he was shifting it into a position where he would be able to crawl underneath it.
Alfred winked as I gave him one last nod and resumed my chase. I kept my gun pressed to my chest as I swiftly moved from crate to crate and corner to corner. Lars clearly hadn't thought any of this through, as the back of the warehouse was blocked off with several more crates. Unlike with his meticulous drug operation, he didn't have the luxury of time on his side.
I cautiously held in my breath, carefully analyzing my surroundings for any threats. This caution ended up saving my life as a blur to my right prompted me to duck and avoid having my head cut off with an ax.
"Drop your weapon!" I demanded firmly, ignoring how much my knees shook or how fast my heart beat in my chest. "I said drop it!"
"You don't have the balls to shoot me," Lars scoffed. "Go on, do it."
"…"
"That's what I thought."
Lars raised his ax, holding back a wince.
"Oh no you don't!" Alfred surged forward, seemingly from nowhere and tackled Lars to the ground. Lars dropped the ax and it fell with a hollow metallic thud. "Give it up, your life is done, buddy! Quit being so stubborn! Oof!"
Lars threw a punch at Alfred's jaw, and used this to his own benefit. He flipped positions and began strangling Alfred. My ears rang. I had never felt so focused or sure of myself as I shot my gun at someone for the first time in my life.
BANG!
Lars howled with pain and fell face first onto the cement. I had only shot his wrist, but the trauma of the fall must have knocked him out. Alfred squirmed out from underneath the Dutchman, eyes wide.
"Artie, you saved me…"
"Save the thanks for later, cuff him and let's get out of here."
Alfred sighed in agreement. "Can I at least teabag him first?"
"NO YOU CANNOT TEABAG HIM."
"Fine, but one last thing…" Alfred sheepishly bit his lip.
"What?"
"Gimme a high five."
"If this building doesn't kill us, I will."
I still gave the idiot a high five anyway. I was too proud not to. You should have seen the look on everyone's faces as we pranced out of the building with Lars's body strung over Alfred's shoulders, only for the warehouse to explode and collapse just two seconds later after we had reached an appropriate distance from it.
I had acquired permanent hearing loss by the time Lovino was done with us. There was also the fact that Alfred remembered to read Lars his Miranda rights once he had risen to consciousness; that was a miracle in itself.
…
"You saved me," Alfred repeated obnoxiously for what must have been the fiftieth time. We were sitting on the hood of a police car, waiting for Lovino's orders. The rest of the first responders had arrived at the scene and were putting out the fire.
I ignored his waggling eyebrows and sighed. "Yes, I did. Now, can we please move on?"
"Just saying, it was pretty bad ass. You don't have to be embarrassed for saving your best bro."
"I'm not embarrassed. Quite the contrary, I'm proud of us Alfred. We did it, we really truly did it. Nearly three months spent in that crappy institution and yet it was all worth it in the end, ah! Lovino even promised to give us our jobs back," I laughed, sucking the euphoria of it all in. "I heard that the Chief's here too. We might even get a promotion for what we did, reckless or not."
"That doesn't matter to me. I'm just glad that we'll finally be treated as real cops now," Alfred said. "Besides, the mission isn't done yet. Bella's still out there, and I don't think Lars is going to be talking anytime soon once he's released from the hospital."
"I know, I just…what if they don't catch her at the airport? Part of me wants her to get caught, and yet the other…"
"Wants her to start anew?" Alfred suggested.
"Is that so awful of me to wish for?"
I thought of Vash and Lilli, and what would happen to them now that Vash would likely be serving jailtime. Their records said that they had been orphaned for almost two years now. Vash may have survived, but their family was about to be torn apart. Of course, this was only a repercussion of their actions, but it still made me really angry that a girl as young as Lilli had been dragged into something like this.
"Nah," Alfred waved his hand. "I suppose not. You have a big heart, Arthur. Even I'm not that forgiving. If I had it my way, justice would have been served to her," he paused to better contemplate his words. "Ya know, maybe I'll just keep my opinion to myself on that."
"Mhhmm. Hey, what happened to Kiku and the others?"
"Yao just picked them up," Alfred answered. Poor little guys were tuckered out waiting in the van and fell asleep. They play so much COD that they're used to the sound of gunshots," he ended with a chuckle.
"Ah." Wait, what about…
"Oi," Lovino called out. He walked over to us, hands tucked into his jacket. "Keep this on the downlow, but Matthias is taking the wrap for his friends. They've already agreed to it, and it's my way of paying them back for their help. I said I'd do my best to minimize his sentence, although it seems like Eyebrows already told him that – without my permission."
I sheepishly avoided the Captain's gaze.
Alfred whistled. "Damn, that's extremely generous of him."
My eyes bugged out. "That's a pretty hefty sacrifice. Does he even know what he's getting into?"
"Who knows if he does, but the kid's too prideful to change his mind," Lovino shrugged, only to fall forward as his grandfather, Chief Vargas, slumped a casual arm over his shoulders.
"Tsk! Tsk! The mafia blood runs strong with this one. Naughty boy, Lovino, making deals that you have no business doing."
"Shut up, you old fart," Lovino snarled and harshly shoved his grandfather away from him. "You're no better, so get off your high horse. Must be nice sitting on your fat ass all day while I do all the dirty work for you."
Chief Vargas gasped and then looked at Alfred and I as Lovino sourly stormed off, shoulders balled like a spooked cat who had just had their tail pulled. "Can you believe him?"
Alfred and I had nothing to say to that and settled with noncommittal hums.
"Phew, kids these days are harsh," Chief Vargas said before leaving.
"You're telling me," I whispered, prompting Alfred to laugh.
"He didn't even remember us," Alfred remarked.
"Yeah, well, it's not like we were relevant then. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't want to be remembered for watching you dry hump a civilian. Not to mention that we both got fired for it, which I still think was ridiculously absurd."
"Good point." Alfred's laugh was contagious and I soon caved by joining him.
"Hey, you kiddos want a beer?" Gilbert called out. "Sorry not sorry for being an asshole to you two before, that tends to happen if you get in the way of me proving my awesomeness. You're just lucky that you didn't fuck up the investigation," he chuckled, and waved a shaky index finger at us. "Then we would have had some real beef. Eh, whatever, let's just turn it up, ja?"
Ludwig shook his head and pretended to ignore his older brother. "Imbecile."
Another person also seemed to share this opinion. "You fool! Honestly, could you be any less professional?"
I felt like I'd seen this stranger somewhere before…
"Shut it, Roderich," Gilbert growled. "You didn't have to endure nearly any of the crap that I had to."
"Really? Because serving as that brat's butler really did a number on my sanity. I had to iron and press his joint papers…joint papers! My dignity is in absolute shatters at this point."
Oh, of course. He had been Matthias's butler, silly me.
From across the yard, Matthias screamed in disbelief.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! EVEN MY BUTLER WAS UNDERCOVER?! THAT'S SO EXTRA."
Gilbert snickered. "Well, I mean, he's not wrong. You are pretty extra, Roddy."
No one said anything when Roderich took Gilbert's beer and poured it over the cackling German's head.
…
"I said tip-toe, not heel-toe!" I hissed at Alfred and gestured for him to stop making a ruckus. Both of us were still a bit tipsy from Gilbert's celebration back at the church (#ironic). We had needed a good unwinding after spending close to six hours at headquarters answering questions and filling out paperwork. I also had a hearing regarding whether or not I had used reasonable force when shooting Lars to worry about, but that's another matter altogether.
"I'm s-sorry!" Alfred slurred. "Gilbert, man. That dude knows how to par-taay."
It was a good thing I had drank a few bottles of water hours before we had left. Otherwise, neither of us would have been in a state sober enough to give the cab driver directions.
Right now, we were more worried about sneaking past Alistair. It was nearly 6:00 AM, and I suppose he must have accidently fallen asleep waiting for us in the front lounge. Deep down, he was a true worry-wart. The thought of us risking our lives had petrified him.
"Shhh. Easy does it," I urged a shirtless Alfred forward.
CREAK!
Alfred and I both paused and waited to see if Alistair would wake up. He did.
Slowly, Alistair opened his eyes. Half-asleep, he trudged over to us in his pink bathrobe.
"I'm glad ye two made it home safe." I smelled alcohol on his breath and sighed.
Alistair bent down to kiss Alfred's forehead. "Jesus, Artie. Are ye having another growth spurt on me?"
Alfred gulped, but decided to just roll with it.
"G'night, I'll kill ye two knuckleheads when I get up. Expect a good whomping for not even bothering to call me. Could have been dead for all I knew."
Alistair then trudged upstairs, eyes lidded heavily from sleep.
"Ahem."
Sheepishly, Alfred and I looked up to meet William's stern gaze. He was still wearing his day clothes, which wasn't odd given that he was an eccentric night owl type, but it was the way he looked at us that made me feel like a child again.
Instead of scolding us, William smiled.
"Welcome home, boys."
…
"Ay, I don't know," Antonio bit his lip, unsure of himself. "This seems dangerous." All of us jump streeters were huddled low at the Chapel, glaring up evilly at Lovino's office. It was practically begging to be pranked at this point.
"Come on, it'll be funny!" Feliciano giggled. "I can't do it, because Lovi knows when I'm lying. It has to be you."
"I agree with the pretty Italien. Lovino won't suspect anything from you, cher," Francis smirked.
Ludwig and Roderich, who had wanted no part in this, were sitting on benches far away from us. "I still think this is a bad idea," Ludwig called out.
"Shh! Learn to live a little, you two!" Elizabeta chided. "Especially you, Rod. You're so uptight all the time."
"Better uptight and alive, than strung up and left for dead."
"I wish you the best of luck and hope you all make it out safely. If any of you had any sense, you'd agree," Ludwig said promptly before burying his head into the new workplace guidelines head office had sent out.
"Don't mind, Luddy," Feliciano sighed. "He wants to see Lovi have it handed to him just as much as anybody else. Fratello's never liked him for whatever reason."
"Your brother's just an asshat," Gilbert smirked. "So, are you guys going to let me do it or what?"
"FOR THE LAST TIME NO!" Everyone shouted at once. "You always fuck things up!"
"Okay geez, tough crowd," Gilbert pouted. "At least I'm not on the receiving end this time," he muttered to himself.
Alfred patted Gilbert's back with a malicious smirk on his face, but didn't spill the beans about how he had pranked Gilbert in a similar manner back at the school. "It's all right dude. I got the same treatment before you came."
"Well, one of us has to do it and quick," I said. "He's going to open his blinds to check on us at some point, and if we're not working, he'll get suspicious."
Antonio abruptly stood up and grabbed the 2L bottle of Pepsi and specially-crafted highly explosive mentos the nerds had made for the occasion. "Fine, I'll do it." He succumbed to peer-pressure easily, being the people pleaser that he was.
"I guess seeing his grumpy little face won't be a bad last memory," Antonio whimpered. His shoulders slumped as we whispered small encouragements and cheers.
Antonio trudged up the staircase leading up to Lovino's office like a soldier on march to a battle he would inevitably lose. Meanwhile, the rest of us took cover behind Pasta Jesus. Feliciano had somehow managed to convince Ludwig to hide with us, but Roderich had gone elsewhere.
"Shhh! Shhh!" Elizabeta hushed.
"That means shut up!" Natalia warned, and waggled around her pocket knife. That sure shut everyone up quick. Alfred was breathing heavily in my ear, which prompted me to give him a good shove in the rib-cage.
"OW!"
"Be quiet!"
"Ow," Alfred repeated, this time in a whisper.
Lovino's office door creaked open, having been knocked on just before.
"Hey, Lovi. I was thinking. Would you like to have lunch with me?"
"What's that you're hiding behind your back?"
"Que?"
"What are you hiding, Antonio. Cut the bullshit. You're up to something."
"Ay! Can't a guy have a nice lunch with his boss?"
Lovino grunted, likely due to the puppy dog eyes Antonio without a doubt would be sporting. "Fine, I'll get the plates and napkins. Jesus, how many times do I have to tell you to stop bringing me these homecooked lunches? It makes me look like an asshole when I can't return the favor. I've also gained five pounds since you started doing this! Five!"
"I'll just set down the drinks and come back with the rest, okay?"
"You sure are a fucking weirdo, you know that?"
Antonio wordlessly left the office, nearly tripping on his way out. Lovino had never seen him act so skittish, nor had he seen the Spaniard's usual tan complexion appear so pale.
"Pepsi," Lovino mumbled to himself. "He knows full fucking well that I hate – "
BOOM!
Antonio came running out of Lovino's office, eyes wide as if the devil was on his tail. And indeed He was. Lovino came screeching out of his office, like a phoenix resurrected by the need to slaughter us all.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!"
WHOMP!
Lovino slipped and fell straight on his ass.
Laughing, we all came out of hiding. Meanwhile, Antonio went straight for Pasta Jesus, and immediately began praying. "I'm sorry, please forgive me for hurting mi tomatito. It was just a joke. No, I'm not gay. We're friends. Si, friends."
Without a shred of dignity, Lovino stood up, shakily, and impatiently straightened his now soda-stained suit. He then walked over to the railing and pointed a sharp index finger at us all. He looked like a soaked cat, trembling with the poison of his own anger. "I'm about to jump kick you all out of this church. Any last words?"
"Huh," Alfred mused. "That has a nice ring to it, don't ya think? We should name this place Jump Kick Street, instead of ya know," he finished and brought a hand up to his mouth, lips curled to one side to leave the statement open-ended.
"Good idea!"
"Wait. Why don't we shorten it and just call it Jump Street?"
"I like that too!"
Lovino turned beet red. "Oh, OH?! So we're just going to ignore me now? Playing clever word games, che? Fine, have your last laugh. Enjoy it. Savor it. Because I will end you all the moment you let your guards down. And that goes double for you, Feli. Antonio, you can already consider yourself dead to me."
Antonio buried his head in his hands and sobbed, they were quite ugly sobs too. "He turns into Romano when he's a-a-angry! I can't go through that again, please!"
"Jump street it is!" Feliciano grinned.
"Wait…" I paused. "Why does that sound so familiar?"
-The end
A/N: Stay tuned for the omake 😊