The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 18 (Saving the Bodyguards)

"We'll both need to shower when we get back," Aveline muttered. She already took her shower before they started on this trek, but it was a small price to pay when one had to get covered in animal blood. She and Astor did their best to clean up with some water at a small creek nearby, but she still had blood mixed into her hair, and she hated it.

"Look at it this way sis, that stuff matches your hair." Astor smirked as she turned a slow glare onto him. They didn't have much longer to find and save Rocky and her kids. Only four hours remained, but fortunately they knew where exactly they were headed. Astor scratched at his hair and sighed. "How come it took you so long to figure out what Martin might be up to?" She shrugged her shoulders and clenched her fists.

"Because he didn't seem dangerous. He only seemed like a jackass that had anger issues in regards to his girlfriend." She wanted to know how Mala was doing, to be honest. She was concerned for that girl's mental and emotional health, but at least, it would all be over soon enough. "I bet if Tabitha were still alive and had found Mala, she would have taken Martin out real fast." Astor laughed, nodding agreeably. From researching, they both knew how determined Tabitha was to get things done, so if she had never passed, she probably would have found Mala. It was a pity she lost her mind after a while, took out her anger on the wrong people.

After some amount of walking, the bitter smell of sulfur stung her nostrils. She waved her hand in front of her face and looked into the distance, gasping when she saw a house on fire. Instantly the fear that they were too late was eating away at her. Astor saw this as well and began running towards the house. "Aveline, are we too late?" No, they couldn't be, they still had more time! She clenched her teeth and ran after him. If they were too late, she was going to be pissed. "Rocky! If you're over there, say something!" She moved her eyes toward the right and upon instinct, stopped running.

"Astor wait! It might be a trap." Astor looked back, stammering slightly. She couldn't risk letting him die. "We need to investigate the surroundings."

"You're right, can't run into the burning building on the off chance that Rocky could be in there…What on earth was I thinking?" Aveline rolled her eyes and stepped next to him, putting her hand to his shoulder and scanning the area.

"We don't know for a fact that any of them are in there. Call the fire department over here and I'll look around the place." It seemed like this place should be where Frankie and Karin would be, not Rocky and her kids. "Martin's getting his kicks off by playing some sort of game here, so he's not going to prematurely kill someone. Rocky was behind the building, so maybe she's on the other side."

"All good points."

"Yeah…" Aveline started to walk around the right side of the building, moving slowly in case she stepped onto any traps. The heat of the fire was practically melting her skin, drying it up. She could hear the ranting of a young girl, likely Karla. Relief swept over her as she carefully poked her head around the corner of the house.

Karla was tied to one of the three crosses, screaming angrily at the man standing before her in a black suit, Steven Lamont! Karla had bruises running along her body and a purple circle around her right eye. Her lip was split at the corner and angry tears were shooting from her eyes. Steven looked gravely annoyed with her, instilling pride in Aveline. She knew Karla would give hell to anyone that took her, she did take after her mother.

Steven slowly looked over and his lip curled into a smirk. Karla turned her head, her face turned to terror and she screamed out. "Aveline! Look out!" A tribal yell rang out and Aveline quickly looked up in time to see Rocky leaping off the burning roof. Her eyes widened as Rocky twisted her body in the air. "He put a mind chip on her!"

"You're kidding-" She ducked to the side just in time to avoid getting slashed by Rocky's upgraded wrist cuff blades. Her heart shot into panic mode when the woman turned her angry glare onto her. Rocky had a small square chip in the middle of her forehead, forcing her to act accordingly. "Shit, and Wilbert?" Karla bowed her head and Steven laughed. Aveline quickly looked over her shoulder and growled. "Nothing better have happened to him!"

"He's in a coma," Steven replied. "I had no choice but to send him to one of Sviederbach's clinics for that reason, he serves no purpose to us. Car accidents, they can cause serious problems."

"Asshole!" Before she could do anything, Rocky was swinging her arm down upon her, with the sharp side of her triangular blade coming down upon her. Aveline yelped and moved her forearms in front of her face, pushing forward to throw Rocky's arm back. "Okay, this isn't right…"

"You're no good," Rocky growled under her breath. "You, your father, your family…I'll tear you all apart." If she didn't know Rocky was under mind control, those words would have damaged her right then and there. Steven folded his arms over and wagged his eyebrows.

"Mind control chips can be placed anywhere on the body, we just left hers on her forehead for you." Steven moved forward and narrowed his eyes as Aveline continued to duck from Rocky's punches. "My mother, my sister, they're dead now…I had to figure some way to take you out, for them. Then I realized, what better way to do it than to have your own bodyguard do the job for me?" Steven snapped his fingers and pointed to the house. "Rocky, be a dear and throw her into the fire."

"Took the words out of my mouth." Rocky laughed and reached out for Aveline. Aveline jumped back and stared with wide eyes at the woman, how the hell could she fight her? "Come on Aveline, you're only prolonging your demise." Rocky lifted her leg and leaned back, sweeping a roundhouse kick her way. Aveline jumped back once more and whined. Her eyes fell on the chip, she had to get it off, but there was no way for her to do so.

"Aveline!" Karla called out to her, struggling against the ropes on her wrist. "Shoot at me." She snapped her head towards Karla, raising an eyebrow while jumping back from yet another near-bloody slash.

"What?!"

"Just do it!"

"Fine." Aveline put an arrow to her bow and began running in an arc, with Rocky tailing behind her. Sweat ran down the side of her forehead as she aimed the arrow towards the back of Karla's cross marker. "Mr. Bransford, forgive me for defecating your relative's grave…" She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and released the string, letting the arrow strike just above Karla's hands. Steven's face twisted in terror as Karla jerked her wrists through the arrow, cutting through the rope.

"Finally!" She pulled her arms out and looked to Steven with a deadly smirk. She fell onto her hands, lifting her legs up through the air, twisted them around, and kicked them into Steven's chest. He screamed out and crashed against the wall of the house. "That's for the car and my brother." Karla then jumped up to her feet and narrowed her eyes. "Sorry for this, Momma…but I have to protect the family, even if it is against you…"

Aveline watched as Karla charged for her, then leapt forward. She swept her legs out beneath her and kicked into Rocky's back. The woman fell towards the ground and Karla landed a couple feet away, crouching and touching her right palm against the ground while watching Rocky rise to her feet. Rocky turned to her and scowled. "You'd strike down your own mother?"'

"I need to get that chip off you somehow, Mommy. Can't let you hurt Aveline. You raised me to protect them at all costs, so…"

"So be it." Rocky charged towards the girl and Karla sprang forward. She slid between Rocky's legs and hopped up, kicking out at Rocky's left leg.

Aveline took this opportunity to move towards Steven, who was sitting against the wall of the house, eyeing her nervously. "I would rather avoid having to take your life, Rocky will do that anyway most likely. So what's it going to be?" Aveline pulled another arrow from her quiver and aimed it at Steven's head. "Merciful kill, which you don't deserve, or Rocky's way? Let me give you a tip, Rocky's way might consist of severe live dismemberment. I am in no mood to stop her."

Steven had his hand inside his suit, and a smirk on his face. She raised an eyebrow and looked over as Astor started running around the building, his sword drawn and ready. A shot rang out and a burning sensation dug into her side. She clenched her teeth and put her hand to the burning sensation, releasing the arrow into Steven's chest. "Sister!" Astor screamed out and threw his sword back, unintentionally tossing it into Steven's neck.

Aveline started to fall back, her eyes went skyward and her vision started to fade. She felt someone's arms catch her. Rocky's voice came over her, calling for her to remain with her. So Karla finally won out, she was proud of the girl, strong enough to actually defeat her own mother. That girl was going to be one powerful force when she aged. She let out a soft moan and closed her eyes, feeling the warm blood cloaking her hands.

"Damn it. The cheap asshole got me…" The last thing she heard before slipping into unconsciousness was her brother crying out for her. "Can't die here…I'm needed…"

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of someone's living room, with voices all around her. She waited for her vision to adjust, then was able to make note of Estelle's home. She started to sit up, but winced as a searing pain ran through her side. "Aveline!" Estelle ran over to her and put one hand on her back, and another on her abdomen. Aveline looked over at her, sweat was pouring from her body like rain. "Aveline you can't get up right now, you need to watch the wound. We cleaned it up and bandaged it for you."

"Your doctor?" René had a doctor who made house visits on occasion. Estelle nodded and put a hand to her forehead. "Where the hell am I?" She looked down and saw that she was laying upon a yellow blanket covering the dining table. "Are you serious, Estelle?"

"It wasn't such a bad wound, but you have to be careful. Too much and it'll open again."

"I don't care. I need to get my family."

"You just sit right there," Rocky said. Aveline looked over to see Rocky leaning up against a wall, her arms crossed. Karla was standing beside her, and Astor had run over to her side. Rocky pushed herself from the wall and lowered her arms. "Sorry about earlier…"

"It wasn't your fault Rocky, they had you on mind control."

"I know. It's pathetic." The woman scoffed and turned her eyes downwards. A deep sorrow had stretched over her. "Rolf was killed. I should have done something, I should have insisted-"

"There wasn't anything you could do." Aveline started to move off the table, ignoring Estelle's protests. She couldn't stand not moving, even if she needed to be on bed rest. "Did Estelle explain everything to you guys?"

"Yeah. Sucks I can't join you, otherwise we risk losing everyone else…" Aveline nodded her head and let her eyes fall towards the collar around Rocky's neck. Rocky smirked slightly and tapped the side of the collar. "Dealt with."

"Good. How long have I been out? We may not have much time left!"

"Oh you have time. It's still my job to protect you, even if that means protecting you from yourself." Rocky grabbed her shirt and began dragging her towards one of the bedrooms. Astor and Estelle followed after. She groaned as the woman led her into the room and set her down on the bed. "I'll give you an update. After you passed out there, Astor pulled out that teleportation device and got us here. You were operated on and have been out for five hours. The clue to the next person gives you a mandatory rest of a full day, so you have until noon tomorrow before you can even look."

"Oh come on!"

"It's a good thing anyway, because I don't want that wound breaking open. If you're the only one that can get your family back here safe, then that means you need to pay attention to your own damn wounds! Do not overdo it!" Aveline slowly nodded her head and Astor quickly hugged her. She put one arm around him and smiled, she never felt so happy to have him there with her, and to be alive.

"Okay…so what's the clue?" Rocky handed her a slip of paper and Aveline held it tentatively between her fingers, reading slowly. "Our scene was here where we hung, inside and out. My first job, and also the fifty dollars that led to my first date that would jumpstart my family." She raised an eyebrow and slowly shook her head. "I don't get this one, but maybe that's just cause I'm not fully awake yet."

"It's my brother." Rocky folded her arms over and Aveline's mouth fell open. Rocky pointed to the paper and sighed. "Ty, Cece, Gunther, Tinka, Dina, all of us hung out at Crusty's, where Deuce's uncle worked. He owned the shop. It was also right outside of our apartment complex. Ty got his first job there, Gunther also asked Ty to date Tinka there."

"Oh…so Ty, Tinka, and August might be there?"

"Yeah. Now get your rest." Rocky turned around and left the room, sighing heavily. Aveline fell back onto the bed and groaned as her pain stabbed her in the side once more. Rest she could use, she wouldn't enjoy it, but it was for the best. Tomorrow, she would be getting Ty and his family. Under no circumstances could she fail.

Although, if it was Crusty's, chances were she wouldn't have to be the one saving Ty. If the Lamont family wasn't careful, they'd be running into a certain Mafia family that would do the job for her, and Martin couldn't do a damn thing about it.

An intense chapter, and for those of you wondering about Deuce, I promise you're about to see him soon. What are your observations of this chapter though?