Chapter 4: Revenge and Justice

The waiting was nerve racking. Nate didn't know whether Charlie, Sully, and Chloe were still alive or not. It felt like forever that he and Elena sat in the pub at a table anxiously waiting while other customers went on about their business with no worries. The acoustics in the pub didn't help with their stress. Laughter and talking bounced off the walls throughout the building as people drank, ate, and mingled. There was even a flat screen television that was playing rugby behind the bar that a group of friends were cheering to.

Elena played with her wedding ring with fidgety nerves, a habit she had picked up when she was nervous. Nate could only gather that she would do it to try and gather security from the ring.

Nathan felt as though he had constantly watched the clock on the wall over the bar for nearly two hours before he couldn't take it anymore. He moved to get up out of his chair. Elena looked up at him with wide eyes, worry etched on her beautiful face.

"Nate?"

"They should have been here by now. Something's wrong. Stay here. I'm gonna go look for them," Nate stated, looking to the front door of the pub.

"Oh no. I'm coming with you."

He winced. She was using that tone that he knew so well that meant there was no arguing with her. They would bicker about it as they went to search for the others. She gave him a look as she got to her feet as well.

Before they could start for the exit, the front entrance opened, and they saw a familiar face enter into the popular pub. Nathan about collapsed in relief upon seeing Chloe heading towards them in what looked like a hurry, but his relief soon died away when he realized that Sully nor Charlie accompanied her. On top of that, she looked as though she was in a hurry.

"Chloe, where are-"

"No time to talk. We need to get out of here. I hope this place has a back exit," Chloe quipped, glancing over her shoulder.

Nate registered got her point. "Let's go."

The three quickly but subtly headed for the back of the pub, passing the bathrooms and poker rooms. They saw the exit sign above the last door at the end of the hallway, and unlocked it to get outside. Chloe took the lead, and Nathan and Elena followed on behind while also keeping watch. As they rounded the corner of the building, heading back out towards the streets, they saw agents getting out of black vehicles. The three quickly slipped behind the building again, this time earning a curse from Nate.

"What happened to Sully and Charlie?" he hissed, as Chloe started leading them down the alleyway with a quicker pace.

"They are still held up at the museum. I was able to escape and they told me to just go on and find you two. Our gentlemen in black here were able to follow me."

"Shit."

"Uhh, guys?" Elena mumbled.

Another black car pulled up at the end of the alleyway. Men in black suits were getting out. They stopped short, but couldn't turn back because the agents were already snooping around the back of the pub.

"This way," Nathan quickly whispered, taking point, and darting down the skinny alleyway between two close quarter buildings. "Any ideas where we can go that is safe? Talbot will probably keep an eye on Charlie's apartment so there's no use going back there."

Chloe had to think for a moment as they made haste down the narrow alleyway, she and Elena looking over their shoulders to check to see if the agents had caught onto them yet.

"Uhh, how about Lucy's garage? Only place coming to mind right now, Nate."

"Who's Lucy?" Elena questioned.

"Charlie's sister," Nate and Chloe answered in unison as they rounded another corner.

It looked like a clear shot from there, so Chloe took lead and they headed for Lucy's garage to hide and make a plan. As they kept low key for the next few blocks heading for the automotive shop, it looked as though the three of them had lost their pursuers.

The grungy, dim-lit garage had to be the perfect place for them to lay low for a bit and come up with a plan. The shop had a back room where they could sit down and talk things over. First, however, Chloe and Nathan had to have a talk with Lucy.

Lucy was a small, petite girl, obviously younger than Charlie and had raven black hair that was pulled into a loose ponytail with a few free bangs around her pretty face. She was chewing on gum as Chloe made up a story to not worry her about her brother, but so they could use the back room to discuss their private matters. Lucy looked to be border-line punk in her style. She had a lot of tattoos, wore a lot of black, and had her nose and eyebrow pierced. But on top of that, she was the owner of the garage, and so had a lot of grime and grease on her hands as she played with a large wrench in her hands.

At first, Lucy seemed suspicious of their story, but soon nodded, and agreed to let them use the room in the back for them to discuss matters, even though she was about to leave.

"You can help yourself to any contents in the fridge," she said, studying them closely. "Charlie thinks highly of you guys. Can you just lock up before you leave?"

"Thanks, Lucy. We sure will," Chloe replied, smiling.

"Great. Tell that oaf of a brother of mine to not be such a stranger."

Lucy finished putting up her tools and washing up before she left the garage, going ahead and locking the garage doors but leaving the front door entrance for them to lock behind them when they were through. When she was gone, the three of them headed into the back break room to sit down at the table and devise a plan.

"Okay. So tell me what happened with you guys," Nathan started.

"I came to before Sully did. We were down in some jailhouse below the museum. We just waited and talked about what had happened to each of us before we heard gunfire and yelling. Next thing we knew, Charlie was there unlocking our cells and ranting about how Talbot was still alive and wanted us dead. I personally thought he had gone off the deep end as we were getting out of there. I know Sully had popped off to him that he was crazy. He told us how you had went to get Elena at the apartment and we were supposed to meet at the pub. Just as we were getting close to escaping from the building, we got surrounded, and lo and behold we saw Talbot blocking the exit. I didn't really pay much attention to what he was saying, I was in too much shock, but then I managed to grab the nearby switch for the chandelier above and drop it. It fell on three agents, but Talbot had managed to dodge it. We continued to fight our way out, but they got subdued. Before I could help, they told me to keep going, so here I am."

"Great," Nate sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"How did he survive Iram? I thought you said he died, Nate?" Elena asked.

"Look, I told you guys how it happened. I don't know how it's possible he's alive either."

"There's something that bothers me about Talbot," Chloe admitted. "This isn't the first time he was supposed to be dead."

Nate had to think for a moment to get was she was saying. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Remember back in Syria when we were in a stalemate with Talbot and his men? Charlie tricked him into thinking he was still under the drug and then shot him so we could get away? That shot should have killed him."

Nate rolled his eyes. "Easily enough debunked. He was wearing a vest. Had to have been. We might have called him the Magician for all his tricks, but I guarantee you all of them could easily be explained. Like this one."

"How about how he disappeared around that corner when he stole Charlie's notebook and gun?" Chloe challenged, eyes narrowing.

Nate blinked, then faltered. "I'll uhh have to get back to you on that one."

Chloe sighed, shaking her head. "Anyways, I heard and saw that bullet hit him. He didn't have a vest on. I heard it hit flesh; I saw the blood come from it. Charlie did too. He's the one who shot him."

"Well, he sure as hell didn't use any magic tricks in our fight in Iram. He fought dirty though."

"Are you sure of what happened there?" Elena asked, studying her husband.

"I'm sure I'm sure!" Nate snorted. "If Sully was here, he would agree with me. Talbot's just trying to get in my head that I hallucinated all that. I know I didn't drink any of that water just before the city started to collapse, and neither did Sully."

"I guess it doesn't really matter right now how he's still alive. He was the fox with the tricks then, but now he's also the wolf with the power and leading the pack so to speak. Marlowe isn't here, and he's in charge of the secret society. We need to figure out how to get Sully and Charlie back alive before Talbot decides he wants to kill them," Chloe explained.

"Good point," Elena agreed.

"Okay, I got it. You two get out of town, and I'll head in to get Charlie and Sully the hell outta there," Nate said, but quickly got glares from both women.

"Yeah, nice try," Chloe quipped.

"Well, we are going to need firepower. Our weapons are back at Charlie's apartment, but I'm sure Talbot has it snooping with agents. It would be a bad idea to try and sneak back into the museum without any weapons."

"Did Talbot say what he wanted with us?" Elena asked.

"Does it matter?" Nate snorted. "Obviously, it's revenge."

"Is that what he said?" Chloe inquired.

"Well, not really. He said something about wanting my help. He wants my help for revenge I'm sure."

"Or he wants your help with something bigger and he's going to use Sully and Charlie as leverage to make you not have a choice in the matter," Elena stated seriously.

"Not just Charlie and Sully. Us as well," Chloe said to her.

"I'm sure he doesn't want help fixing his car or computer," Nate said sarcastically. "We need to get Sully and Charlie out of there and get out of London so we can figure out how to stop him."

Elena scooted her chair back and got up, rubbing her temple from a forming headache. "I need to go the restroom real quick."

She turned and left the break room to head out into the main area of the garage where the small hallway that led to the restrooms were. Nate and Chloe watched her go, before turning back to each other. Chloe had got to her feet, but only so she could lean on the counter by the fridge.

"So what? Do I need to call up some friends for more weapons?" Chloe asked, folding her arms.

"I don't know," Nate sighed, scratching his head with much stress. "I don't want to have to wait that long. Maybe we should head back to the apartment and check it out."

"It might be our only shot. Maybe we can get lucky and they left it alone after you and Elena got out of there."

"That's a very optimistic statement from you."

"Did I sound too optimistic when I said it?"

"No."

"Okay then. But it isn't as though we have many options. Not like we can go to the police and tell them that a guy in charge of a 400 year old secret society is keeping our friends captive in his museum."

"You never skip an opportunity to flush out all the negatives of our situations, huh?" Nate mused.

Chloe gave him a look, and then headed for the exit of the break room. "I'm gonna go check on Sunshine. I need to go to the bathroom anyway. Maybe splash some water on my face."

He heard her sigh as she left. Nate slid his chair back and got to his feet, walking over to the sink in the back. He got out a glass and filled it with tap water. He gulped it down and filled it again. As he was drinking the second glass, he heard someone come back into the break room, but soon he sensed it as a presence that was not good. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he felt tension starting to fill the room.

Nate spun around, choking on his gulp of water as he saw Talbot in the doorway aiming a gun at him. Glaring across at the new leader, Nate slowly sat the glass down on the counter.

"You are the only one left that needs to be apprehended, Nathan," Talbot stated.

"Why are you doing this, Talbot? The others have no use for you. I'm the one you want, let them go."

Talbot smirked. "It's all about getting a point across. I need them so I can be sure to get what I need out of you."

"Forget it," Nathan growled.

After those words, both Chloe and Elena were dragged in being held captive by agents. Talbot motioned for the agent holding Elena to come over to him. Elena struggled, but it was useless. Talbot put the gun to her head, sharp eyes never leaving Nate.

"You don't have a choice in the matter if you want to save them. Otherwise, you all die."

Nate never before had felt the urge to kill a man so strongly than seeing Talbot point that gun at Elena. But he knew he was at a loss here. He was going to have to listen to Talbot or pay the consequences.

"Nate, I think we need to listen to him," Chloe stated, trying to remain calm in her restraint.

"Alright, alright, damn it, just stop pointing that gun at my wife," Nate snapped. "What the hell do you want Talbot?"

Talbot removed the gun from Elena's forehead and re-aimed it back on Nathan. "As I said before in my study, I request your assistance."

"It's not much of a request if I don't have a choice in the matter."

Talbot chuckled. "Touché. You do this for me, then I will let your friends and family live. If you refuse, you all die."

"What, I die no matter what?" Nate growled.

"The justice I seek requires you to die," Talbot stated simply.

"Justice?" Nate sneered. "What justice?"

Talbot looked as though he was done discussing the matter for now. He nodded to the two agents, who led the women away, and then turned back to Nate. "You look exhausted, Nathan. We can discuss this after your nap."

"Nap? What are-"

Talbot fired the gun, but no loud bang came from the barrel, only a hissing sound. Nate felt something prick his neck, and he instantly knew that Talbot had drugged him. He tried to cuss Talbot out, but he was soon getting wobbly legs, and he suddenly felt tired and sleepy. He collapsed onto the floor and everything went black.

Nathan groaned, head limp on his shoulder. He was coming to slowly, groggily lifting his head and opening his eyes. His vision was blurry, but sounds were coming to him in much clearer portions. The very distinct rumbling of a plane's engines could be heard. Blinking his vision into clarity, he realized he was on a cargo plane.

The cargo plane was full of supplies and crates, as well as agents. There were a few black vehicles, some regular luxury cars, others massive SUVs. Nate looked down at himself, realizing the reason he couldn't move was because he was tied down to a chair. It didn't stop him from trying to break free, but he soon found it useless. He was looking around. He didn't see Elena, Chloe, Sully, or Charlie anywhere. He was starting to get worried.

"Don't worry. They are safe."

The voice made him jump, jerking his head back to in front of him to see Talbot, who had not been there a moment before. Nate grinded his teeth, swallowing back nasty words.

"Geez Talbot…I thought leading an all powerful and rich secret society would mean first class travel."

Talbot chuckled. "Any other smart comments, or should we get down to business?"

"Where are my friends?"

"I told you. They are safe. I keep my word, Mr. Drake."

Nathan knew he wasn't going to get anything out of Talbot about the others. "Fine. What do you need my help with?"

"I'm searching for something. I need your help to find it. If anyone can do it, I am sure it would be you, Mr. Drake."

Nate glared at Talbot. "Wow, I'm flattered."

Talbot studied him a moment, his demeanor cool and unrelenting. "I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before the thrill of adventure awakens in you. Marlowe was right about you. It's always been about the adrenaline and adventure. You don't care about anything else in the end. And I am going to prove that to your dear friends."

"You son of a bitch. You can't prove anything to them. They know I'm not like that."

"But do you?" Talbot inquired.

"Hell yeah I do."

"Then why has it been so hard to settle down?"

The venom behind those words disturbed Nathan as he locked eyes with Talbot. For some reason, he couldn't answer his enemy. He looked away from Talbot, angry but also ashamed that he couldn't defend himself.

"You don't know me. You don't know any of us."

"You said the same thing to Marlowe, but she exposed you for what you truly are. Can you deny that?"

Nate regained control and glared at Talbot again. "Her tricks didn't work on me, and neither will yours, Talbot."

"Tell me, does your wife know the truth? Or how about Sully, the man who has taken it upon himself to be your father?"

"Look, are you going to tell me what you want? This has nothing to do with it," Nathan growled.

Talbot twitched a smile, slightly cocking his head as he folded his arms. "On the contrary, this has everything to do with it. I hope you will come forth in the end and tell them the truth, Mr. Drake. They deserve to know the truth. They have followed you to the end of the world and back, such loyalty and love should be returned."

Nathan didn't say anything. He just stared at the floor, trying to ignore Talbot's words, but taking them in silently. Talbot waited a moment for Nate's reaction, but gone none, so he turned to leave.

"We'll discuss more once we land," he said.

"What was she to you?"

Nathan's words stopped Talbot in his tracks. Nate watched as Talbot slowly turned to face the man bound in the chair once more. There was something more to Talbot's glare, but Nate couldn't read him very well.

"Excuse me?"

"Marlowe…what was she to you? She seemed too important to you to be just your client."

Talbot was silent for a moment, a flash of unreadable emotions in his eyes before that cold, collected demeanor took over him once more.

"You and I are more alike than you will ever realize…Nathan."

With that, he turned and headed for the front of the plane, leaving Nathan confused while strapped to the chair alone.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! Wow...2012...can't get my mind around it! Just seems like the other day it was 2011...oh wait it was lol. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the new chapter! We are starting to get into the nitty gritty now, mwhahhaha! :D what does Talbot have planned for Nate and the others? Find out next chapter! :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!