The Hunt for Sviederbach

Disclaimer: I do not own Shake it Up

A/N:

Chapter 26 (Aveline's Growing Irritation)

Aveline's anger required no words, and indeed when she realized what Astor was doing, she forced Martin to use his teleporter to bring her to him. They were just in time, and she wasted no time striking Eric with an arrow to save her little brother from the man's knife. She lowered her bow and glared at Astor, whose arm was protectively around Astrid. He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously as she pushed her bow into her quiver.

"Again I'm missing my westerns for this," Martin muttered. "Anyway, the rule was pretty basic: You two do not separate. It's dangerous to do that, but anyway…seems like everyone's breaking my rules. You, my family, and god knows what else is next." Aveline didn't have time to sit here and listen to Martin complain about his crappy rules, she just wanted to talk to her brother. The vein in her forehead started to pop out as she moved towards him.

"What would have happened if something went wrong, Astor? We're a team for a reason, we need to stick together!" It seemed obvious that taking a rest was a bad idea, especially since it meant him going off because he was angry. "I'm angry too Astor. I know the whole thing with Martin's cousins was just…it was messed up, but you can't just lash out or do things without thinking about them. Like it or not, you're my responsibility until we can get Mom and Dad back, and I don't want to lose you!" She heard Martin say something about his leaving to go back to his shows, but she wasn't through with him yet. She whirled around, facing him and pointing her finger out. "You're staying right there until this is over!" He rolled his eyes and slowly shook his head. Confident that he was going nowhere, she turned back to Astor. "I'm glad you're safe, I am, but don't just vanish like that. You can use all the excuses in the book, but the bottom line is, I'm your big sister and I need to know if you're okay. Mom and Dad would never forgive me if I let something happen to you!"

Astor bowed his head and slowly balled his fists. "I'm sorry. I only did it because I felt weak. I was conscious, barely, when they were attacking you." She froze, her eyebrows shot up and her body grew tense. "I couldn't move, I couldn't stop them, I could only sit there, afraid of what they were going to do…"

"They didn't do anything, Astor…"

"I know that, but the thing is, I should have been able to do something! For the first time, I was powerless. I couldn't help you, and then I was scared. I didn't want something to happen to you. I didn't want to think I was going to hold you back or that I was too weak…" She lowered her arms, slowly absorbing his words. Unfortunately now she felt terrible for being angry at him. Deflated, Aveline crouched in front of him and brought her arms around him to console him. She softened her tone and closed her eyes.

"You're not weak Astor, and being scared is okay. As much as I don't want to admit it…I was terrified back there. I was." The memory continued to haunt her, causing a tiny shake to overtake her body. She shrugged it off and carefully breathed in and out. "I'm not perfect, none of us are. I guess I just forgot a little bit…when we're scared of something, we need to talk about it. I'm sure there are going to be times when one of us needs the other to take the lead…as the oldest, I feel like I have to be strong and take the lead on a continuous basis-"

"You don't have to…" Astor wiped his eyes and took a step back. "I can handle things if I have to, but how am I supposed to do that if you don't tell me?" She nodded her head and quickly ran her hand through his hair.

"I know you can, and you did a good job here with Astrid, so I'm proud of you. You're right though, we need to communicate more as a team, otherwise we're going to run into trouble. So please, next time you're feeling angry about something, scared, or anything…talk to me first, please? I'm your big sister, that's what I'm here for. I know you want to be independent as much as I do, but that won't change the fact that it's still my job to look after you." Astor smiled at her, then looked over to Martin, who was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. Aveline glanced back with a grin and quickly rose to her feet.

"I'll go along with all that, but I'm guessing we don't get to kill Martin right now?" Martin rolled his eyes. This was the deal she made with him, that she'd let him get back home after he helped her reach Astor. "Sorry I took the teleporter. How did you know I left anyway?" She smirked with pride and dusted off her shoulders. Mia and Michael wouldn't say anything, but she knew Kuno had been with them all day, and was raised on an honesty-based policy, so she got him to spill the beans.

"What more can I say? I know my siblings. Now get Astrid back to the house, I still have something I want to discuss with Martin…" Martin raised an eyebrow at her and Astor hurried to do what she said. She folded her arms and waited for him to leave before saying anything. "Turn off the videos for now Martin."

"Why? What are you going to do?" She couldn't say it on the videos, she didn't want his remaining family to hear him communicating with her. After all, they wanted her dead. She wasn't too sure about Martin. "There's something about you I need to figure out, it's not only Astor I'm irritated with. So unless you want the entire world knowing what I now know about you, I suggest turning off the videos. Cuz."

Martin waited a few seconds before turning the corner of his lip up into a smirk. "Hardball, huh? Fine…" She angled her head towards the right, tapping her index finger gently on her arm.

"I believe the term is blackmail." She watched him pull a small remote from his pocket and strike the button, her collar light went off and he re-pocketed the remote. "Very good…" She moved towards him, resisting the urges to tackle him and beat him into a pulp. "You seem like a very difficult man to talk to, or to get to know, and you said something that struck a chord in me…you want freedom, you want to be saved, but the question is, what are you doing to reach that?" He scoffed and folded his arms.

"Really? This is what you want to discuss? No discussion about freeing your family?"

"Spare me the bullshit Martin, if you wanted to kill them, you would have done it by now." He raised an eyebrow. She narrowed her eyes, growling lowly. She could strike him now and be done with this, but he was still considered family, somewhat. The bloodline was very separate at this point. Her arm snapped into the direction of Eric's body and her voice raised an octave higher. "What we just saw was your uncle trying to kill Astrid, which is exactly what someone that wants to claim the throne and kill the royal family is going to do."

"Are you saying that's not what I want to do, Aveline?"

"I'm saying that's what your family wants, now I don't know about you…" She started to circle him like a shark, studying his posture. He was very narrow, his shoulders were broadened and raised, his legs were spaced a foot apart, and his expression was stoic. This was difficult for her to read him, he didn't display any signs of trying to escape, or signs of nervousness. "What of Mala. You said you took out your anger on her, what did your family do to you? To her?" His jaw tightened and his eyes clenched shut. She smirked at the wrinkle appearing between his eyes.

"None of your business."

"I'm past the point of compassion. Whatever is in your past is the reason my family's lives are in danger. You think this is a game, but I'm not playing a game. What it feels more like is I'm playing your fucking hit man…and you need to tell me what all of this is about, because either way I have to go and get my family away from your sick, twisted, and fucked up family! So one avenue is going to severely piss me off more, and the other I may wind up being a little more understanding to." Martin slowly opened his eyes, revealing a touch of sorrow and rage. She put her hands to her hips and held her glare on him. "Now I have my theories, I have my thoughts, and I'm not asking you to work with me, because I know you're not going to. I'm only asking you to at least tell me what the hell is going on, so that maybe, just maybe I can figure out a way to help you."

"I don't need your help…"

"Oh? No, you need help, you need someone's help…and we're not leaving here until you tell me what I want to know, because god help me, I'm ticked off enough as it is and you don't want to see me any angrier than I am now."

He shifted his eyes away from hers, then gradually moved them towards his Uncle's body.

"When it comes to Mala, shortly after we started this crap I tried to break up with her. I told her I was sorry for the shit I've put her through and that I didn't want her to go through it anymore. She's too nice, too innocent to be continually abused by my anger or my family. Well my family decided to force us back together, claiming that I'd be 'severely punished' if I didn't take her back…"

Aveline was astonished by the revelation, as shocking as it was, she needed to calmly absorb it. Inside, she was torn on what to do with him, torn on how to 'save' him. If there was a way to save his soul from going to hell, maybe there would be. Moments before hanging up with Ander and her dad, Ander gave her one last tidbit, stating Martin told him something about her saving the 'prince'. Ander wasn't a Prince, he wasn't even a complete Noble yet. Was Martin referring to himself? "So you set this whole thing up so I could kill you? Is that it?" He rolled his eyes and glanced back at her.

"My father set this whole thing up. This was his fucking plan, not mine. I was forced to lead it, forced to take the blame, so it's my name that's going down in history. The only thing is, he allowed me to give a 'personal spin' to the hostage situation. So I did…"

"And that was?"

"Keep you and your brother alive, going on this big old scavenger hunt, and eventually put the Lamont family into extermination. This is my escape, Aveline. This is my freedom. I told my family to let them stay alive unless you failed to meet the deadline, but even then I wasn't sure that I would let them do anything…I only want them to stop living!" He lowered his arms, puffing his chest in and out. His nostrils flared out while his eyes grew large and angry. "My family has done many things to me, to my brother, and they'll never let me go. Hell, they won't even let Mala go. I can't leave their sight, and if I don't do the things they want, I'm going to either be killed, or worse…"

"What's worse than death?"

"Many things can be worse than death, Aveline…even after all of this, do you think I'm going to be able to last any longer? God's forgotten me, my family hates me, the whole world fucking hates me right now. So no, I'm not going to live after this, it's better that you kill me in the long run!" He moved his teleporter and snapped the button on. Aveline's mouth fell open as he continually pressed the button. "Now I'm done talking, and I'm going back to my shows, because those are the only things that keep me calm. I'm already more upset than I wanted to be, so thank you very much!"

"Martin…" Within seconds he was gone, leaving her alone in the room with a dead body. She bowed her head and exhaled. It would have been better had she not opened her big mouth to begin with. Her body ached and her heart was racing from all the excitement. "I guess I should get back home…it's been a rough day, anyway."

She could relax at least, knowing that Astor wasn't going to go rushing off without her knowing. Of course, knowing a bit more about Martin's status made her a little uncertain of her next move. Even with all of the stress piling up, one thing was certain, she hoped the next clue would point to her mother, because that was someone she was dearly missing, and the one person that Aveline absolutely needed to talk to.

Your thoughts?

watch?v=L49QeN9BxtM&feature=related