Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
The cargo hold of a freighter outside San Francisco harbor after nightfall.
Don't ask why they're on a freighter on open water. Just don't ask.
It had sounded like a great plan.
"Sounded" being the operative word here.
"Emma drops word that they've found out where you're hiding and are going to arrest you. The Crane will try to strike before she hauls you off into custody. That's when we'll get him." Word for word, Baptiste repeated what Chance had told him only a couple of hours ago.
Since they were currently under fire, caught in a Chinese ship's giant cargo hold, with no contact whatsoever to Emma or the others, you can probably imagine the acid tone in which he said it.
"Worked like a charm, mate."
"Would you stop being so petty?" Chance ducked. "Granted, things are not going quite according to plan…" A light bulb exploded right above their heads. "… but generally speaking we're still heading in the right direction."
"Right direction?" Baptiste threw himself to the floor.
"Well, the Crane is here, isn't he?" Chance dragged Baptiste into a slightly better protected corner.
One could say so. The Crane was standing on a loading platform, providing him with a perfect overview of the whole hold.
"I should have known this would end in another chaotic detour! Just like the last few jobs before you left… Avoiding the easy way, playing it safe not an option anymore…"
"If by "playing it safe" you mean blowing up complete airplanes to kill one person on board…"
"It's effective! It's clean! It's elegant! The target looks like just another victim – complete protection of the client."
"It's unnecessary overkill. I never taught you that."
The Crane was driving them deeper and deeper into the cargo hold. With a trick he had led Emma and her agents to the other end of the city. Contact to Winston and Guerrero had broken off. Somewhere in the back of his mind Chance was deeply worried about that, but at the moment he needed to concentrate on the problem at hand: They were on their own here.
And damn, had that been a hand grenade?
Hand grenade or not, Baptiste couldn't resist talking back to Chance: "The Old Man appreciated it, though."
"Yeah, that's why he bailed you out of Russian prison…"
… … …
A small ship outside San Francisco harbor after nightfall, in proximity of the freighter.
"Hang on a sec, you're going to do WHAT?" Emma's voice via earpiece.
"According to ultrasound scan there's a shootout in the freighter's cargo hold. Judging from the readings Chance and Baptiste are trapped there. We need to get them out, fast." Winston kept his eyes firmly on the scanner's data while Ames helped Guerrero strapping on his equipment.
"That's a CHINESE freighter. What you're planning will cause an international incident!"
"Just don't call in the coast guard."
… … …
The cargo hold.
"Don't remind me again that it only took him three weeks to get you out of…"
Another explosion, very close by, cut Baptiste off.
"Bit touchy today, aren't we?" Chance crouched next to him, ripped off a piece of his shirt and used it to stop the bleeding on Baptiste's arm.
"I've done EVERYTHING right – never questioned your position as his favorite, listened to all his rants about what a hothead you are, did my best to keep things ticking over and still… still… " Baptiste pushed Chance's hands away the second the bandage was in place.
Chance pushed back.
Another hail of bullets from the Crane brought their attention back to the problem at hand.
"…still he didn't bother helping you after you got arrested by Emma in Washington." Chance finished Baptiste's sentence.
"Am I getting on your nerves? Sorry, mate."
"Well, now that you're asking, you are a bit heavy on the whining side…" A vague thought was forming in the back of Chance's mind, a very vague thought, an alternative explanation why Baptiste hadn't heard from the Old Man since Washington…
A series of faint knocks from the outside of the ship's hull, however, made it disappear again even before it was fully formed.
"Dash – dot – dot – dash… " Baptiste repeated, then his eyes widened. He grabbed Chance's arm and together they jumped into safety, seconds before part of the hull exploded thanks to the payload Guerrero had attached to it.
… … …
The cargo hold from the Crane's position.
The Crane was impressed. He'd taken a lot into consideration, but not that they would actually blow a hole into the ship's hull to escape. Not bad.
He briefly considered going after them, but the ship was already tilting.
Well, there would always be a next time.
… … …
The cargo hold from the boys' position.
Icy cold seawater came pouring in through the ragged metal. The ship started tipping slightly. Without the rope Guerrero was holding from the outside they'd have never made it through the explosion hole, the current would have been too strong. The second they were free and had reached a stable position, he passed them by like a dark shark on the hunt, floating into the cargo hold with the incoming stream.
Chance and Baptiste understood immediately. A Barracuda surprise. Been a while since they tried that…
… … …
The cargo hold from the Crane's position.
A flash grenade exploded right underneath the platform from where the Crane had attacked Chance and Baptiste.
A flash grenade? Where the hell was that coming from? Hadn't they just escaped through the…?
Another grenade caused him to postpone the analysis part of the situation and run upstairs, in the direction of the deck.
… … …
The freighter's deck.
Baptiste arrived on the freighter's deck first. Climbing up a rope ladder attached to a sinking ship is no easy task, especially not during the night. Fleeing would probably have been easier, but that would have meant seeking another confrontation with the Crane later and now that he knew he was dealing with more than one person… better to end this now, forever.
In more than one regard…
Baptiste grabbed Chance's arm and pulled him upwards. Chance stumbled on the meanwhile violently lurching deck and fell to his knees.
Ah, sorry, forgot to insert important information here…
Baptiste grabbed Chance's arm, pulled him upwards and then, in the process of helping him on his feet, used his knee to hit him hard on the back of his head. Chance stumbled on the meanwhile violently lurching deck and fell to his knees.
What happened next Chance only perceived through a thick haze.
Footsteps approaching. The Crane, most likely, driven in their direction by Guerrero and his flash grenades. Sounds of a fight. A direct confrontation, mano a mano. The safety catch of a gun, released. Baptiste's voice, explaining to the Crane that his client had recalled the job. And then the probably most surprising sentence of the evening: "Nobody deserves to die. Jump overboard." Seconds later, Baptiste by his side, wrapping something around his wrist. "I'll try to stay out of your way, mate." A pat on his shoulder.
Gone was Baptiste.
A split second later Guerrero emerged from below deck and pulled Chance to his feet. "We need to free the crew before the whole thing sinks."
While the very grateful freighter's crew got ready to take to the lifeboats, a message from Winston got through. It would be nice if they could pick them up, too – Baptiste had shown up on the small boat and forced Winston and Ames to take a swim in the ocean.
A/N: Sorry for the delay! I was down with the flu and I'm still not 100%; I fear it shows in this chapter. Big thank you to niagaraweasel who helped plotting this!