Chapter Eleven

Cain skidded to a halt, breathless from his long sprint. He snatched a large chunk of debris off the ground just as he heard the tremendous bang of Nico's pistol. He lifted the sheet of metal in front of him, kneeling down so it blocked his body; it shook in his hands as the bullet slammed into it and ricochet off, bouncing away into the mess. He waited for another, but it didn't come; no doubt Nico was being more careful with his limited bullets this time. After a moment, he stood, still holding the makeshift shield in front of him, though he lowered it to show his face and clear his view so he could see the sight unfolding in front of him. Abel writing in Nico's grasp made his stomach churn, but he kept his face devoid of panic.

"Nico!" Cain yelled, extending his arm to reveal what he had brought. "I have what you want." Clutched tightly in his hand was the shell of Jackie's gun, the only possession left that had belonged to the dead man. "Let him go."

Nico looked at it dumbly for a moment, not loosening his grip on Abel. When he finally lifted his beady black eyes from the gun to look at the holder, the disturbing grin on his face sent chills down Cain's spine. "You really think that's the reason I'm doing this?"

Cain's breath caught in his throat, and for a moment he couldn't speak. "I… I thought…" He glanced desperately at Abel, who was still struggling to breathe while locked in Nico's hold. He'd expected Nico to drop the other once he saw the gun, but the raven-haired man seemed to be unfazed by the sight of it. His beady eyes seemed to be mocking Cain.

The taller man's grin only widened—it was dark and without humor. The feeling of his captive wriggling in his grasp was annoying, and he tightened his grip enough to make Abel gasp out in pain. "You idiot," he sneered at Cain. "I don't want that. I want Jackie."

"Jackie's dead." Cain's tone was cold and flat. He was still trying to figure out why Nico seemed so uncaring about the late man's last possession; it was all he could think of that the other could possibly want. Before he could decipher why, Nico spoke again, giving him the answer to his unspoken question.

"I was his favorite, the only one he trusted, until you came along. He took you in, sheltered you, gave you attention that he once had only given me. I hated you. All that time, I hated you for taking him from me." Nico's bone-chilling voice was quiet, but the way his hand shook as he pressed the wobbling barrel of the gun against Abel's forehead proved that he was just barely holding himself together. "You stole him from me!" Nico repeated, raising his voice to a yell. "You killed him! He trusted you, and you killed him!"

"Your brother was a murderer!" Anger flashed across Cain's face. He took a step towards Nico, but stopped when he saw the hand steadying that held the gun, and he forced himself to control his voice; another outburst might make Nico lose it. He had to keep the raven-haired man talking, until he could think of something, anything, to get Abel free.

"Jackie was everything to me." Nico's voice was starting to shake. "I'm not doing this over some useless scrap metal he left behind. I… I wanted to rip away your happiness the way you took mine." His beady eyes flashed towards the helpless prisoner he held in an unyielding grip. "So I waited… and waited… until you had something valuable that I could take from you. Something… or someone that could break you."

"He's not part of this," Cain said heatedly, holding so tightly onto the piece of the gun he held that his knuckles were white. "Kill me if you want, but he's done nothing to you. Let him go."

The humorless laugh that came from Nico was a surprise, and Cain felt his heart sink. "I don't care about him." As he spat the last word, he his arm tighter around Abel's neck. A pained expression showed on the green-haired man's face, though he had no air left in his lungs to gasp. "I want you to pay for what you did—I want you to suffer. I want you to feel the same pain I did when you took Jackie away from me. It seems a fair trade, doesn't it?" His gravelly voice had calmed, and he took his dark eyes off of Cain to look at his prey. He was finished talking; he was ready to make Cain pay. "A life for a life."

Nico's readjusted his grip on the gun, lowering it from where he had it pointed at Cain, and changed his target. The cold, black barrel of the gun settled against Abel's temple. If the green-haired man could have made a noise, it would have only been one of defiance; even in his last moments, he tried to fight off his assailant, his bright green eyes full of desperation as he stared at Cain's panicked face.

Nico wasn't impressed by his captive's squirming, and he started to lift his dark gaze back towards Cain—he wanted to see the look on the other's face while he took Abel's life. He turned his head just in time to be met square in the face with the shell of the gun the redhead had just hurled towards him while he'd looked away; a disgusting crack sounded loudly as his nose broke from the impact. Nico yelled in pain and surprise, and his weapon clattered to the ground as he staggered a step backwards.

Abel didn't waste a second, immediately attempting to wrench away while Nico's grip was loosened. The raven-haired man didn't try to hold on—rather, the opposite. He shoved Abel away from him, holding on to his bleeding nose with his other hand. The force of the shove caused Abel to lose his balance, and the excitement of his newfound freedom was short-lived. He fell backwards, tripping over the clutter of metal and wires. The landing wasn't soft; the pile of shattered concrete he'd fallen into was home to hidden pieces of broken metal sheets. A pointed piece of shrapnel buried itself into Abel's left shoulder blade, and he cried out from the sudden pain. Still dazed from his previous lack of air and the pain from the fall, he watched with blurry vision as Nico blundered towards him, screaming threats and obscenities. His vision of his attacker was blocked, however, by Cain stepping in front of him, dividing the distance between the two.

"Stay away from him," Cain threatened, his auburn gaze narrowing as he glared at Nico. He only had his fists for a weapon, and he raised them, preparing to lash out if Nico got any closer. The raven-haired man was bleeding from his nose and forehead from the impact, and he'd dropped his own weapon; it'd gotten lost along the clutter on the ground. This didn't stop him from lurching forward towards Cain, his arms outstretched to grab the other.

Cain didn't wait for Nico to get any closer; he lifted his powerful leg and rammed his heel into his attacker's gut, causing the raven-haired man to lose his breath for a moment. A moment was all Cain needed, and he threw his right arm out in a punch; he could feel his knuckles cracking as they collided with Nico's jaw. Nico staggered and lost his balance, falling forward on all fours. He coughed twice, and then spat out a hunk of blood and a yellowed tooth onto the ground.

Cain started to take a step backwards, avoiding the mess, but Nico's large hand reached out and seized his ankle; the raven-haired man yanked forward harshly, pulling the redhead's foot out from under him. He lost his balance, his arms waving as he tried in vain to steady himself; he fell backwards and landed hard. Before he could stand, Nico had his knee pressed into his chest, pinning him to the ground.

The hand that had grabbed him was soon wrapped around his neck, squeezing tightly; Cain clawed at Nico's arms, but he couldn't pry the other off. While he struggled mightily, he saw something shimmer in his peripheral. He'd been knocked dangerously close to a pile of scrap metal—he was lucky enough to have avoided landing on it. He reached for the shimmering object, yanking the piece of metal out of the pile. It cut his hand when he grabbed it, but he didn't feel it. He thrust his arm upwards at an angle, slicing the sharp blade deep through Nico's cheek, missing his beady eye by a mere inch.

Nico howled in pain, letting go of his victim and throwing himself backwards to scramble away, staggering to his feet. He pressed a hand to the side of his face; blood poured over his fingers from the wound. The dried blood from his mangled nose was like a crust on his face, and a loud whistling nose could be heard every time he heaved out a breath.

Cain was on feet within seconds, and he stepped towards Nico; he thrust the metal forward, attempting to connect the end of the sharp blade with Nico's skin while the other was distracted, but the raven-haired man saw it coming despite his previous wound. He narrowly dodged, and reached out, his meaty fingers wrapping around Cain's wrist. He squeezed hard, tight enough for Cain to cry out in pain and drop his weapon.

With his free hand, Cain lashed out, connecting his fist with Nico's jaw; his assailant grunted and his grip loosened, allowing Cain to yank his wrist free. He took a few steps backwards but managed to regain his balance without falling. Nico did the same, steadying himself by holding his arm out and bracing himself against a sturdy stack of concrete slabs.

Cain took advantage of the momentary pause to glance over his shoulder, checking where Abel was. The green-haired man was twisting on the ground, like he was trying to free himself from something; it was then that Cain noticed the piece of shrapnel that jutted out of Abel's shoulder. His fists clenched in anger, and he turned back towards his enemy—but it was too late. He'd made the mistake of looking away, and Nico had lumbered towards him; the raven-haired man's arm lashed out, and in his clutches was a rusted hollow pipe. He swung it mercilessly towards Cain's head, grunting loudly with effort.

The redhead hadn't seen Nico grab the pipe, and his eyes widened in surprise when he saw it coming fast towards him. He wasn't quick enough to dodge it, and the thick piece of metal collided with the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the ground with a pained cry. His vision went blurry, and he could feel blood starting to drip down his face from the direct hit.

Stunned immobile, Cain raised a hand to his head, feeling the sticky wetness covering his fingers from the wound. His head throbbed painfully and he couldn't think straight—he couldn't move as Nico pinned him down with a knee to his chest. With blurry vision, he could see the other's wide sneer, and a glint of something silver—something sharp. A long, ridged screw was gripped tightly in the raven-haired man's hand, raised high and poised to strike.

Cain couldn't breathe. He was going to lose against Nico again, and this time, the other was going to kill him. His auburn eyes went wide as his chest flared with panic, and he struggled with what strength he could muster, but Nico's weight was crushing him, and he couldn't free himself. He couldn't move, the raven-haired man was grinning down at him and he couldn't move, he couldn't save himself and he couldn't save Abel, he couldn't move, and he was going to die and then Abel was going to die and he was so scared and he couldn't move and this terrifying feeling was so familiar but this time he—

Bang!

The sudden, thunderous sound made Cain's heart stop. As he struggled to breathe, he opened his eyes again; through reddened vision, he could still see Nico, but the sneer had been replaced with a surprise, the raven-haired man's mouth hanging open. The screw dropped from his hand, falling onto the ground next to Cain and bouncing away. "U-uh…" Nico made a noise like a groan. He started to tilt, falling to the side off of Cain. He hit the ground with a thud, spilling a puddle of blood around him from the fresh hole in his chest. The redhead's chest rose and fell sporadically, and he managed to make himself sit up once the weight on him was freed. He'd watched as Nico fell, lying forever motionless on the ground, but now he looked towards the source of the noise, and his own mouth fell open in shock.

At the end of Abel's outstretched arm was the gun Nico had dropped; smoke trickled out of the barrel and into the air from the sudden firing. Blood stained his clothes from where it seeped out of his shoulder; he'd ripped the shrapnel out to free himself. The hand holding the gun had been steady, but now it trembled as Abel's stoic face began to waver. He dropped the weapon, letting it clatter onto the floor away from him. He barely managed to make it to Cain's side before he dropped to his knees, all of his emotions coming forth at once; his fear, his panic, his pain, all expelled themselves in the tears that ran down his cheeks, making streaks in the dirt and blood that covered his face. He threw his arms around Cain, holding the stunned redhead close.

Slowly, Cain raised his own arms, embracing Abel with the strength he could muster. He couldn't see Nico with his face buried in Abel's shoulder, but he knew the other was just behind him—dead, gone, a bullet buried deep in his heart. When he'd raised the screw, the opening had been clear, and Abel had taken it. His shoulders began to shake, and he buried his face in Abel's unwounded shoulder, being careful not to disturb the other one.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours. Cain was reluctant to part from his partner, but the shock from his wounds was starting to wear off, and his head throbbed terribly from the swollen and bloody spot. Abel helped him to his feet, but even the green-haired man was clutching at the gash in his shoulder, his face in a pained grimace. Neither of them had gotten out unscathed, but they'd survived… that was more than could be said for their attacker.

Cain looked down at the huge, unmoving body. He still couldn't believe it—part of him expected to see the dead man's cold hands reach for him. He couldn't shake the unnerving feeling, and he couldn't tear his gaze away from the corpse, certain that Nico would start moving again if he looked away. He jumped in surprise as Abel touched his arm; the green-haired man's touch seemed to have broken his entranced spell, and he breathed out a sigh, nodding his head in agreement to Abel's whispered wish for them to leave.

There was nothing more for them here. Nico couldn't hurt them again.