The Rescue
Stevie had his arms folded in front of him as he stood behind Hank, watching the very same set of screens that Hank was watching. Hank was a voyeur. He loved to watch, sometimes from right in the midst of things and sometimes he watched, like he was doing right now, on camera. He smirked to himself. He made a visit to the Pieces of Mercy gifts and antiques shop after the report of the failed shooting murder of Matt Rutherford at the gravesite. He watched as she opened the store and began to ring up customers. He waited, practically for hours, making rounds in the store, filling a basket with things that he never even intended to purchase. He didn't support black owned business – but he did take the items… After all, Kurt Hummel had ordered the downs girl to give him his things for free after he helped get the woman into the vehicle.
Hank chuckled to himself, at that thought. If they only knew! Stevie glanced at Hank when he chuckled and glared at the back of his head. Hank wanted to see the look on Mercedes Jones' face when she found out that her prince had been shot. He was not disappointed. The woman hit the ground with one of the biggest thuds he had ever heard a body make when connecting with a floor. He had even had the chance to make a slight against her and the other girl when they were the only ones working. The look on the cashier's face when she had to give free merchandise to the person who made such an offensive comment about her and criticized her and Mercedes had the young lady's face red.
Stevie watched the screen, not even realizing how sophisticated the set up had been – they had not set up the devices when Quinn let them in… they actually had simply turned them on. Will Schuester had those things in the house the entire time – but he had not had any reason to activate the system, previously. However, Schuester obviously realized that Emma Pillsbury would become an issue, eventually. Hank looked at Stevie and asked, "Have you gotten a response?"
"No," Stevie said. "They know the place is bugged, so they won't even be planning anything in that house…"
"You should shut up, Stevie," Hank suggested. He turned on the balls of his feet and ordered, "Get the ladies a drink. I'm sure that Aphasia needs some water and Quinn could probably use something for her headache." He looked at the screens. "Wasn't a question…" He sang out. Stevie rolled his eyes and went to do what he'd been commanded.
When he reached the ladies, he said, "I have water and pills. You want it?" Aphasia spit the biggest collection of saliva she had ever collected on him. Stevie wiped it away and glared at her. "You, Quinn?" He asked.
"Stevie, what the hell are you doing? I mean… did you or did you not have a damned conversation with me about these people? I thought we agreed that we were stupid to ever get into bed with them," Quinn said.
"Yeah, I think that you said that, but it doesn't matter now. We're here," Stevie said and stuffed a pill into her mouth. He let her drink from the cup, then went to Aphasia and tried to get her to drink too, but she tightened her lips and moved her head in every direction, trying not to ingest anything that he was trying to give her. "Fine!" He snapped and splashed the water in her face. "You're going to die and it'll probably be a horrible death. Maybe you should have just drunk the water."
"Maybe you should just kiss my ass, Stevie. You tried already and if I wasn't tied up, let's be real, I'd beat that ass. You're a little damned sorry piece of shit!" Stevie shrugged his shoulders and left the room. "And you… why did you try to help me?" She asked Quinn. "Truth be told, I would've let them take you."
"I thought that I could reason with Stevie. If it were one of the others, I would've stayed out of it," Quinn said. She sighed and added, "I'm not as bad as everyone thinks. I just may not be as good as most other people might be."
"You're a traitor and a horrible friend," Aphasia told her.
"Well… that's between God and I," Quinn said. Aphasia scoffed and groaned, ignoring the sound. "We need to try to figure out a way to get out of here."
"Sam will come for us," Aphasia said. Quinn nodded. Sam probably would come – but that just meant that they would all be dead sooner. Aphasia added, "All we really need to do is get ourselves out of this tape and make a run for it. By the time Sam and Matt get here, we can all get the hell on."
"This tape's pretty tight," Quinn observed.
"Yeah, but I haven't been unconscious yet… and as far as I remember; that rookie didn't find the blade that I keep on me," Aphasia said in a baby soft whisper, in case they were being monitored. "You should be able to reach it, since we're back to back…"
Mercedes and Tina had an unfair amount of emotional struggle… Here they were, not even over the fact that one of their best friends in the world had done something heinous to them all, but instead of being given an appropriate amount of time to deal with all of those feelings of outrage and hurt and mistrust… they quickly had to flip the switch and worry about that very same person. Tina wanted to think that she didn't give a damn what happened to her "sister," for the simple fact that it was her betrayal that led to the death of her true sister; but truth be told, Tina had been much closer to Quinn than she ever had the opportunity to be to Kim. She loved Kim, with a strongest, deepest crevices of her heart, but she and Quinn had a relationship. She and Kim shared blood and past experiences and abuse… but they didn't share secrets and dreams. Tina had tried, but Kim had always been isolated and withdrawn – that was probably why David had targeted her instead of Tina. He probably assumed that she would keep it all to herself. Tina groaned thinking about everything that Kim had gone through before dying and looked at Mercedes.
Mercedes was a mixture of every horrible emotion that her mind could find words for. She hated this feeling, like quicksand, like being vacuumed into the abyss. She was picking at her forearms when Sam came up to her, obviously just noticing the scratches. Sam reached over and grabbed her arm, more roughly than he intended, for his upset about the condition of her, examining her forearms, "What the hell happened to your arms, Mercedes?" He asked.
"Nothing," she croaked, dryly.
"Nothing? And I guess 'no one' is who did 'nothing' to you? What is this? Did you do this to yourself? I don't remember seeing Quinn grab you in that scuffle. She was too busy trying to shield herself from getting punched in the head by Tina." He checked her fingernails, and there was blood underneath them. "Oh, God… Mercy…" his voice was practically pleading. She frowned and her lips began quivering, though they were tightly pressed together.
"Just leave it, Sam," Tina said. Then to Mercedes, she said, "I'll patch it up for you. The stuff is still all over the floor and I'm sure we have time, because they haven't contacted us back with any details of how they expect this visit to go down."
Sam bit his lip and took a deep breath. "Now might not be the time, Mercedes, but we will come back to this topic." She shut her eyes and tears began to fall, but she wasn't sobbing.
"I said leave it!" Tina snapped at him. It was the first time that she had done that in a while. Sam rolled his green eyes and went to check on his family.
Stacie was crying into Mary's neck and Dwight was assuring them that he and Sam would get Stevie back and they would get him some help. "What if he's killed those women?" Stacie asked. "What if there's nothing we can do to get him help? What if he gets killed, Daddy?" Stacie sniffled.
"I hope that the good Lord doesn't allow that to happen, Stacie," Dwight said, sadly and turned to look at Sam. "Sam, has he contacted you since he called Mercedes?"
"Not yet. They're probably trying to make us squirm. I'm so sorry that I didn't say something about Stevie's involvement with them. I was hoping that either through the course of what was happening, especially after what happened with Quinn that he would wise up, or that if he didn't y'all would be heading back to Kentucky and he couldn't be involved, if he tried to. This is so heavily my fault. I'm the one who taught him everything, and when he told me that he was going to try to kill Aphasia, I didn't take him seriously. I thought that he was just venting. I thought that he was certainly smarter than to try at her a second time, and I just have no earthly idea why they have Quinn, too." Sam rubbed a hand down the length of his face and Mary reached for him, but he forced a small smile and waved her off. He was still pretty raw about what she had done to Mercedes, and now, having seen the scratches that Mercy put on her body from wrists to elbows, he couldn't help but to hold Mary partially at fault for this beloved's current anguish.
Dwight asked, "Are we going to leave the ladies here?"
"Nobody's staying here. We're going to go somewhere that we know they don't have any eyes or ears… all of us are going to go, even though we aren't all going to meet up with Hank," Sam said.
Matt seemed to have complete control of the situation and Sam was quite impressed with how totally smooth the man could be, even in the face of chaos… because Sam believed with everything that Matt could not have been more troubled or worried about Aphasia. "So, call everyone and let them know that we need to meet at the spot. Sam and Mercedes, Mike and Tina can ride with me. I'll have Sebastian, Shane, Andrea and Anthony to meet us there."
"I'll call Joe and Artie," Mike volunteered and pulled out his phone. "Santana, Lauren and Becky should still be at the shop."
Sam caught Matt as he was making sure he had all of his necessities in his bag. "Hey, Matt… about Aphasia… I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to get her back to you."
"You mean to get her back. It's not exactly like she and I are anything special." He shook his head and waved a hand.
"Well, maybe the two of you aren't together, yet… But Mercy and I, before we were ever together, everyone else saw something there, and I'm almost pretty sure that it's there with you two… something special. She helps to center you and you help to keep her head cool. The two of you bring out the absolute best in each other and even if it's just friendship (which I doubt), it is definitely something special, Matt."
Matt clenched his fists and bit his lip, "Are you done, Evans?" Sam nodded and Matt rolled his eyes and walked away from him.
Mercedes was putting food into the dog bowls before they left, and when they were going to Matt's car. Sam tried to walk her, but she avoided his touch and Tina helped her to the vehicle, giving Sam a sympathetic look. He got into the passenger's seat of Matt's car and Mike helped Tina and Mercedes into the backseat and got in behind them. Sam couldn't stop looking back at Mercedes, wondering if she was alright. Tina was smoothing her hair and holding her hand. He felt like he should be doing these things for her, but she obviously didn't want him to. That hurt him, very deeply. He touched his bandage and winced. He might have done something to hurt himself with the struggle that he was trying to keep handled.
Matt pushed his items onto Sam's lap, then went to investigate Aphasia's car. He grabbed a few things out of it and touched the photo that hung from the rearview mirror, of her and Sebastian, four different poses, from one of those booths. He fought off this urge to panic and cry, and shook his head, balancing himself out. "Please be alright, Phai… I need you to be." He took the chain off of the mirror and got into his car, placing it into his jacket pocket. If he saw her again, she could have it back.
Mercedes led them into POM, all of them walking, on a mission. They were completely focused on getting to the elevator. Becky, Lauren and Santana looked at them and Santana came rushing up to Mercedes, "Hey… what's going on?"
"Those bastards took Quinn," Mercedes said. Santana's face immediately distorted. She looked like she might explode into tears. She knew the deal – the bad people had one of their friends… a woman that she had known and loved for years was now at the mercy of some pretty hateful and merciless killers.
Sam patted Santana on the arm and said, "We'll get them back."
"Them? Who else do they have?" She wondered.
"Aphasia," Matt said, and his jaws clenched.
"If you see any of the guys, send them up," Mercedes said, while as many of them who would fit got into the little elevator. The Evans had rode with Blaine and Kurt and they all were right behind Mercedes and those she rode with. On the first trip on the elevator, it was her, Tina, Kurt, Blaine, Matt, Sam and Mike. The Evans came up right afterwards.
Matt nearly immediately set up his computer and called Andrea to meet them with more equipment. "Alright, Gentlemen, Ladies… Hank Saunders – currently a graduate of Ohio State University, enrolled for his masters degree and most likely going to get a PhD in psychology, of all things. He writes about how to use psychology as a tool in the war against white power…" Sam and Mike both leaned over his shoulder to look at the screen, as Matt pulled up the file that he had on this guy.
Kurt gasped and said, "You guys… this man was in the shop the day that Sam was shot. He's the one who helped me to get Cedes into the car after she fainted."
"He touched her?" Sam asked, suddenly, extremely pissed off at Hank for even the nerve to enter the building, much more to… he clenched his fists, then rubbed the side of Mercedes' arm.
Matt went on to say, "Looks like amongst his known associates was Thad."
"Good riddance," Tina muttered and hugged herself, shivering at the thought of the things that bastard said to her, threatening Mike's safety. She glanced at the elevator when she heard it ding and saw Joe pushing Artie's chair, walking in next to Shane. They all gathered around the computer and obviously decided to just catch up as things went along.
Matt continued, "Jesse St. James, Rick Nelson, Sam Evans…"
"Do you think that I can be scratched off of this list? I haven't had anything to do with Rick or Hank since high school and when was the last time that I was a known racist?" Sam asked. Matt rolled his eyes, but Sam watched as he made quick work of deleting Samuel Evans from the record. Sam smiled, gently.
Matt was quick to return to his train of thought, "Other associates include: The Giardi triplets: Kyle, Max and Joshua – teenagers, related to Schuester by marriage…" Phil's kids, Sam immediately thought. They would probably want to personally see to it that he was hurt or harmed during all of this… Matt was still reporting, "one of his former Warbler friends named Nick, and…" Matt began to type, "Steven Evans." It instantly became a link and Matt opened it.
"You have a file on my brother?" Sam asked. Dwight folded his arms and bit his lip.
Matt's response had obviousness in his tone, "Of course, I do. Your brother is a known racist and I am updating his file to include what has been done."
"How long have you had this file?" Sam wondered.
"He came across my notice when he was thirteen… but I waited until he turned sixteen to upload it," Matt said with a shrug. "We can't do much before Andrea gets here, because she's the techie and the one who can get us into the tap undetected." Matt began to open tabs, pulling open the files of all of Hank's known aliases. "I'm willing to bet that the Giardi triplets are the ones that initially hit this place, but of course after Santana challenged them, Saunders sent in a specialist – Thad."
"And we know what became of him," Tina commented and sat down on the couch. Mercedes joined her, now delicately touching her bandaged forearms. Stacie joined them, as well and Mercedes held the younger girl in one of her arms and let her cry against her.
"If we're going to be able to get Quinn and Phai out of wherever they are in one piece, each – we'll have to go in there with some numbers. We have no idea what he is planning, but surely, he must realize that the rest of us won't just wait around thumbs inserted into anuses, waiting for Sam to sacrifice himself to the likes of their purpose on the unlikely chance that they would actually trade his life for theirs, or even one of their lives… They would still kill Phai and Quinn. We… we may have to resort to illogical and forceful action."
"We may have to resort to some gansta shit," Artie said, with a serious nod.
Matt stopped working on his computer and looked at Artie, gravely, "Mr. Abrams, while I and surely everyone here appreciates your willingness to cooperate, I have to tell you that you cannot come with us. It's simply going to be too much of a risk and most of us would be too concerned with trying to make sure that you aren't targeted because of your unfortunate disadvantage." Matt returned to the computer as Sam patted Artie on the shoulder, nodding at him. "That goes for you too, Miss Jones," Matt added.
"I'm going," she said. "If you leave me here, I will go crazy and will probably throw myself off of, in front of or under something deadly." That made Stacie cry harder and Mercedes tried to rub her shoulders, but really, the way she felt, she just wanted Stacie to get off of her and let her sulk, herself. She regretted having that thought, though.
"You won't, because Sam won't let you," Matt said. Sam's head jerked back and without even facing him, Matt told him, "Don't give me that look. You're disadvantaged, too. You've been shot, had surgery, and are on medication… need I add that you're supposed to be lying down? Plus don't think that I didn't notice you holding yourself on the ride over. You've probably already reinjured yourself trying to break up the girlfight, earlier. Sorry, Evans. The gangsta shit, as the colorful Mr. Abrams worded it is going to be reserved for us able-bodied men."
Tina's head snapped towards him now and she asked, "Excuse me?"
"And Miss Cohen-Chang," he quickly amended. She nodded her head once and he asked, "You know how to fire a gun?"
"I know how to throw a knife as quickly as the average shooter can fire a gun," she said.
"I'm satisfied with that report," he told her and pointed to his screen, "I know that we may have at least six dangerous hostiles in the place… if only his known associates are present. There are sure to be unknowns present, unless when we make the move to go to him, he makes a move against us. If he'll attack, he's most likely to attack here. If they have surveillance on the bed and breakfast, they'll realize that we aren't there. I recommend everyone moves into the hospital waiting room. Everyone who will not be with us needs to be somewhere safe. Miss Pillsbury is still in the hospital and the staff is quite familiar with most of us, so it won't be a stretch for them to think that you're all simply visiting."
Sam laughed, incredulously and said, "Matt, these people have my baby brother. I really don't care if he thinks they're his friends, or not – he's not staying with them and I am the only person who can get him out."
"Isn't your fathr coming along?"
"Stevie would never listen to him. He'd only listen to me."
Matt nearly pointed out the fact that he was certain that Sam had tried to reason with the boy before, but instead of reducing productivity with an emotionally charged argument, he said, "Suit yourself. I am not going to jump in front of any bullets for your previously shot ass, though. The closest I am coming to heroics on your behalf is insisting that you stay your ass away from the warzone," Matt said.
"I'll handle me, Matt. I'm not as fragile as I guess I look," Sam said. He turned to see Mercedes sniffling and Tina taking her into an embrace. Mercy was messing with her bandages, but Tina took her hands from them and held her hands tightly. Stacie sat up and dabbed at Mercedes' perspiration and tears with a cloth. Sam backed away from the computer while Matt went over plans with the others and went to check on Mercedes. "Tina, maybe you should stay back and keep an eye on her, for us?"
Tina glared at him, first, then nodded. "If they plan on attacking us, I might be just as useful here as there. Plus… if you don't make it back…"
"Shut the hell up, Tina," Mercedes said, hoarsely. She reached out for Sam and he met her embrace. "I have to talk to you," she whispered.
"Yes, sure," they vanished into the bedroom and Tina went up to the guys.
"I need to stick around Mercedes. She's unraveling. She has had more episodes in the past couple of weeks than she has had in the last five years… and today, she did something that I haven't seen her do since we were sixteen years old. I can't leave her, right now, Tina told the others.
"What did she do?" Shane asked.
"She clawed herself," Tina said.
Shane's head dropped sadly and he said, "I'll stick around here, with you. We can't have all of the men going into that place. Sure, we could… but I think that a few of us should be here too. There's a blind woman and a teenage girl here to think about."
"Blaine and Kurt," you two stick around here, too," Matt said.
The elevator opened again and everyone turned to see Sebastian and Andrea enter, dressed in all black and carrying huge duffel bags. "Supplies and equipment have arrived. There's more in the vehicle. Santana and Lauren are helping to bring things up here. They've just closed the store for the night, so there shouldn't be any interruptions," Andrea announced and threw the bag on the couch, in between Tina and Stacie.
Sebastian glared at Matt and shook his head, "Alright, there's no time for me to blame Matt for doing the exact opposite of what he promised to do in making sure that nothing happened to Phai-Phai. Instead, let me say this – the way that the place that they most likely have the ladies stored up in, you need to be a damned stealth attack agent to get into, undetected. Phai and I have dabbled in incognito recon missions enough in the past with investigating St. James that I think I may know a way in. They'll only be really expecting a couple of you – Sam and Matt… where the hell is Sam?"
"Other room," Tina said, as Lauren and Santana now came off of the elevator with more bags. "Keep talking, Sebastian."
"So, I know a few of their places pretty well. If this is a Hank Saunders operation, he and I were Warblers together and I had no idea that he was even in this kind of thing until after we graduated and he began writing those books… BUT, I have intel on one of his main places, as well. You people have no idea how down for my girl I have been over the years, even when her ass was hell-bent on revenge and it didn't even make any sense to allow her to obsess over these details. It's fortunate that I was always worried that she would get caught and killed an therefore went along with her. Sam and Matt can go into the meeting, the rest of us can just get into the building."
Andrea began pulling some things out of her bag and told them, "I'll try to guide you guys in from the roof of a nearby place. Take these headsets, so that I can communicate with you without you hearing me."
Sebastian opened his bag and said, "And these people have excellent ties, so as much as we will want to turn them into corpses, nonlethal attacks are the wisest choice." He began tossing cans of mace, tazers and brass knuckles around. "Those who are staying here should have some, too."
"No, no… you will need them. They come inside of this place, and you should believe with all your heart that there will be nothing non-lethal about our defenses. Cedes and I never got all the ass-whupping out of our system and I have been carrying around my knife collection since all the crazy shit erupted."
Dwight wondered, "Why do you kids have all of these things?"
Matt said, "I've been expecting to eventually be in the middle of war with white supremacists since I was a teenager. In speaking of which, Dwight Evans – you know how to fire a gun, correct?"
"Of course," he answered.
"You own one?" He asked.
"Yes, but it would be in the vehicle that Stevie stole from us," Dwight answered.
"Great, so that crazy little bastard has a gun," Matt said under his breath. He snapped his fingers at Andrea and asked, "What do we have, as far as guns?"
She frowned at the gesture as she collected a bag from Lauren and told him, "We have dart guns a plenty, I have the dart rifle that has the scope on it, for the rooftop endeavor. But, don't get it twisted – anyone who will likely see Hank Saunders and company face to face needs to take the the pistols, yes the ones with the bullets, yes the real bullets."
Sam sat next to Mercedes on the bed and held her to his chest. "Did you really reinjure yourself?" She asked him concerned.
"It's not too bad. I may have ripped the skin around my stitches a little bit. Did you do that to your own wrists?" He asked back. She sighed and nodded. "Mercedes, I don't know what prompted you to do that. I mean, I know that things are really hard for you right now and it seems like so much is falling apart… I even realize that a good deal of it is because I'm in your life." She gasped at him saying that, but he simply continued, "But, please don't do anything like that to yourself. It kills me to see you have done something like that. All of this is going to pass. There is no doubt in my mind that we are going to defeat these people and we will have freedom to live, laugh and love again. Think of how great the testimony will be. You thought that your testimony about making it through the institution was something… Wait until we're telling the kids how we defeated a chapter of the Aryan brotherhood and brought a bit of balance to this place."
"The kids that I'm most likely never going to be sane enough o stop taking medication long enough to give birth to?"
"It's gonna be another testimony: 'I used to think that I would be stuck taking medication my entire life and never have kids, but now I have my own little clubhouse full…" Mercedes broke into a fit of laughter and Sam held her close, "Yeah, that's what I needed to hear. That's good stuff, there, Babydoll. I love the way you laugh."
"Clubhouse full," she repeated with a snort. "Sam, I am so scared of losing you. I've never been so afraid to lose anyone before."
"Trust me, my fear of losing you is as bad, if not worse; but please have some faith. I promise that I am going to do everything within my power and hopefully, some things will also be done by divine intervention from the Lord Almighty for me to return to you. I.. want that clubhouse, Mercy. I want this little hand with a humble little ring on it, intertwined with mine everyday and I want to see you every morning that I wake up. I have something to give you!" He said. He jumped up from the bed and she heard him moving around, as he said, "I was going to give it to you for my birthday. I had you, so I had everything that I could have wanted…
After all of the tragedies, I wanted to give you time to cope. I know that it still has yet to happen, but since you're afraid of losing me, I want to make sure that I have the chance to give you this." He sat back down next to her. Sam took her hands and placed something in them.
"It's some kind of book," she said.
"Yeah. You pretty much know what I look like, well… you have a general idea and you also know what your face looks like to some extent, but since you'll never have the mirror or photograph recollection, I had this made for you." He opened it and she strummed her hands across a raised, three dimensional image and gasped. Sam smiled at the smile that came across her face. "This company makes books and diagrams and stuff for anatomy classes and other science kind of stuff, but Santana was able to custom order this photo album for you… it's photos of you and me, mostly, and they made it three dimensional, so that you can see our faces, like I can see them when I look at the photos; and there's some others with the gang and a couple of your baby photos and your parents…" Now, she burst into tears and shook as she read the Braille at the bottom of the page. "And I had to have the words done by a different company.
"How much did this cost you?" She asked, gently.
Sam flipped a page and ran her hands softly across it. She felt it, and was a little confused, because the faces were too small for her to be able to determine who they were. He brushed her hands slowly across the inscription, Mercy, Tina and Quinn, the first day in our new home, Pieces of Mercy… She began to cry harder and she felt the faces again, sniffling. "You'll have normal days again. Happy days, where your family is together and none of them are going through any of this. I promise you, that I will make it happen, or I'm going to die trying."
"Why did you do this, Sam?" She sobbed. "If you never come back…" He handed her his journal and she touched it, knowing what it was. She tilted her head.
"I never go anywhere without this. To me, this is my symbolism for who you are to me, what I am willing to do for you… If I don't come back, I don't want to take any piece of you with me. I want you to be whole, without me."
"That doesn't even make sense. I'll never be whole without you. I never was. I don't know if I am whole, now… but you definitely make me more than I have ever been," she cried.
"Well, hold on to it, anyway," he said and pressed it to her chest. "Hold it for me, so that it won't get even more damaged while I'm out there." He stroked her face and leaned in to kiss her. "I love you," he whispered into her mouth. The words caught in her throat. She didn't know if she wanted those to possibly be their last words to each other.
So, instead of saying it back, she whispered to him, "Look forward to hours of sex when you get back." Sam's eyes widened and she laughed, even though she couldn't see him. "That was incentive…"
"You're incentive enough, but I like what you did there… and I intend to hold you to it," he said and pressed his forehead to hers. Sam's phone rang and he looked at it. It was Stevie's phone.
Tina, Stacie and Mercy were looking through Mercedes' photo album. Mary was seated at the bar in Mercedes' kitchen, shaking her leg, nervously, while Brittany, Artie, Kurt and Blaine sat at the table in the little den, trying not to worry too much, as Kurt had on one of the headsets, and was listening to Andrea, as she talked to everyone else.
Hank had been on the phone, instead of Stevie, seeming very excited to have the chance to talk to Sam again. He invited him over to a building and told him, "Fell free to try to execute any plan running around in your head. It should be entertaining to see what you came up with."
"Actually, I left all that planning type stuff up to Matt," Sam told him. Hank was silent for a time and Sam knew that meant that he was panicked, whether he would ever admit it.
"Well then, let's see what he thinks he might be able to come up with," Hank said and hung up.
When Sam told the others the place, Sebastian said, "I knew it! I know the place – entry plan is in effect!" He and Andrea slapped hands. The two of them had been friends for a long time (well, the three of them, including Aphasia), and both of them were concerned and eager to get her back. Sebastian could hardly give any cares about the rest of this mess and when Aphasia was out of that damned building, he had every intention of whisking her away from this crap. They'd once said that after she got justice for herself concerning Jesse St. James that they would move to Santa Fe and live in a little adobe house together… this heifer better be ready for some red ass clay!
Mike and Tina were testing out the little sets, because he would be switching to channel six to tell her things, ever so often. She didn't want to hear from anyone but Mike, while this thing was on. "I wish that we would have your circuslike ninja skills with us," Mike said.
"Are you kidding me? With your dance training, you're totally agile and light on your feet. Now, just use those strong ass legs to kick the shit out of a fool, if you have to and do not hesitate to use any of this," she said, tucking into his clothes the tazer, the brass knuckles and the mace. "Also, for good measure," she told him, "Here's one of my favorite knives. You don't bring it back to me and I'll never forgive you. Lips, here and now," she said, placing her finger over her own lips.
"I love it when you're bossy and demanding, even in the event that I may be going to my death," he joked and immediately cringed at the crestfallen look on her face. "I'm sorry. That was tacky," he admitted.
Tina simply forced a smile and said, "Don't forget your dart gun." She leaned closely into him and said, "Shoot Stevie Evans in the middle of his ass."
Shane asked Mary Evans, "Where are you going?" when she got up and began to head for the elevator.
"I need a cigarette," she claimed.
Mercedes asked, "When did you start smoking?" At the same time that Stacie insisted, "You don't even smoke."
But, the woman snapped, "I need something to hold me over when my son kicks me out of his life and my husband wants to get a divorce."
"Stop being a bitch," Tina suggested, under her breath, as though it was the solution of solutions. Tina did not feel like hearing from this dusty ass tonight.
Shane told her, "There's a balcony on the other side of the room. I told your husband that I wouldn't let you and your daughter out of my sight."
"Do you know my husband?" Mary asked Shane, pulling out her cigarette.
"I know that I gave him my word," Shane told her.
"My husband thinks of you as a nigger and I don't care what he tries to tell himself or Miss Mercedes Jones, he'll always think of you that way. You don't owe him any favors and I'm going downstairs. Good luck keeping an eye on both of us, at the same time," she said and got onto the elevator.
"Please, let that bitch go, so we can BREATHE!" Tina suggested to Shane.
"Hey, language," Shane said to Tina and pointed at a very upset Stacie.
Mercedes added, "You don't need to disrespect her like that in front of Stacie."
Tina smiled at Stacie and said, "I'm sorry, Girl. You are a sugar dumpling. I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't. I mean, I know how my mom has been being to everybody here. I'm just surprised that she's being so damned rude when literally every man in our family might be in danger of dying tonight!" Stacie cried and wiped her tears away. "I feel like I am taking crazy pills."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Tina and Mercedes both said, exaggeratedly.
Stacie laughed and whimpered, "Sorry. I didn't mean to say…"
Mercedes and Tina chuckled and Mercedes said, "I want a drink."
"I'll make you one, Cedes," Tina told her.
Hank saw the women struggling and thought that they would be lucky to get out of that duct tape, until of course, he saw them break loose and Quinn began to slice at the tape around her ankles with a blade. "Stevie, how does that tramp have a blade at her disposal?" He asked. Stevie started and rushed to get into the room they were keeping the women in. When he got there, Quinn was just finishing slicing the tape off of Aphasia's ankles and when he came rushing at them, Aphasia kicked him in the shin, from the floor.
Stevie bent over in pain, and Quinn elbowed him in the head, to knock him down. Aphasia got up and kicked him in the ribs. "You basic bitch! I knew you couldn't hang without that tape!" She kicked him in the back and knocked him down. "Fool, do you ever win a damned fight?" She asked.
Quinn said, "I hate to remind you, but we need to try to get out of here!" Aphasia nodded and they began to go when Stevie grabbed the woman's ankle and she fell, landing right on her knee with a loud cuss. Quinn kicked Stevie in the face and helped Aphasia up. Aphasia was limping and wincing, so Quinn helped her, on her shoulders. "This is not good," Quinn said as they tried to rush out, even with Aphasia's injury.
Hank sighed and shook his head. "Boys, please collect that loser from the floor, then find those bitches and bring them to me." Quinn and Aphasia were hiding in shadows as they heard voices of someone collecting Stevie. They ducked into a random dark room and crouched, Aphasia hurt with every damned step, but refused to make a sound or quit. Both she and Quinn were barefoot. They had been taped at the wrists, back to back, with their ankles taped together, seated on a cold, hard floor. Quinn's legs and feet were numb and tingly, but at least she wasn't hurt… well… her legs were working. Her head was killing her. Even to blink was torture, but she refused to get caught. She refused to die here, at these peoples' hands.
Sebastian and Santana were creeping through the route that he had indicated for them. Andrea was on the headset, directing Mike and Joe to a certain entrance. She fired a dart at an enemy nearby it and told them to make sure to hide him. Mike whispered to Joe, "We need to put him somewhere that isn't too open."
Joe asked, "Where would we find a place not too open outside?" They settled for pushing the guy next to the building and proceeding inside.
They split up into groups. Anthony and Lauren were trying another route, one with more guys there, but t had been decided that they were probably the toughest fighters, so they went that route. "I do not have a clear visual on all of the guys that way," Andrea let them know. "I'll get who I can and I recommend withdrawing weapons…"
While all of the others were on their way to getting inside of the building, with Andrea's rooftop coaching, Sam, Matt, and Dwight were simply entering the front of the building. They were searched, right away and escorted to Hank, where he watched several screens. "Oh, hey!" He cheered happily, when he saw them. He rushed to hug Sam and patted him on the shoulders, firmly. "It is good to see you, after all of this time, Sam." Dwight reached out and socked him right in the lip. Hank stepped back and touched his mouth, "Mr. Evans, that was extremely rude. Boys, show Mr. Evans why he should watch his actions."
The red haired triplets were enthused to present to the men Stevie, beaten up and Mary Evans! "Mary!" Dwight said, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"She volunteered to come," Hank said. "She said that she would give herself over for her son… as if anybody would want her." Dwight looked miserable at the sight in front of him. Mary looked terrified and while he no longer felt the way that he once did about her, he definitely still regarded her of importance, as the mother of his children and the woman he had tried to make his marriage work with for 24 years.
"Gentlemen," Hank began, "I am not a tyrant. I believe in this thing called options. I love allowing people the right to choose. So, when Stevie contacted me, upset and pissed off that I had lied to him about something, that I technically did not lie about, I gave him a choice. He could choose to his family or he could choose the Brotherhood."
Stevie quickly said, "I chose you!" To his family, "I chose my family," he sobbed.
Hank pointed his head at Stevie and one of the triplets slapped Mary across the face and she yelped. Sam and Dwight both moved forward. No matter how pissed either of them were at her, this kid wasn't just going to be slapping her the hell around. "Before you proceed, know that any attempt against me will result in a slight against her." They paused. "Thank you. As I was saying, I am giving all of you choices. Right now, your POM is surrounded by people willing to blow it the hell up. I can give them the green light, or you can have anyone who might be with you turn themselves in, right now."
Andrea murmured, "Shit… guys… there may be a goddamned situation," into her headset.
"What type of situation?" Mike wondered.
"A hank just threatened to blow up Mercedes' place if you guys don't surrender type," she answered.
Kurt gasped, and the others in the apartment looked at him. He repeated it to them and Mercedes said, "Tell them to stall." She waved all of her friends with her and went into the breaker room, to cut the power. They had noticed that Mary Evans never came back and presumed that she either left or had been taken – either way, it was her fault. "Join hands, everyone and follow me," Mercedes told them. None of them could see, but she was fine with that, because she knew exactly where she was going. All they had to do was follow.
"Hey… whatever you guys do, Mercy says to stall," Andrea told them.
Sam was shivering. What the hell did she mean stall? Matt raised an eyebrow and asked Hank, "What makes you think that there is anyone else with us?"
"Because you're Matt Rutherford, and you are not stupid by a long shot, nor do you ever enter into any situation unprepared. So, I know that you have every able bodied man and maybe even a woman or two to accompany you here and I want to see them, in my presence. Particularly Mike Chang," Hank said.
"Why particularly Chang?" Matt wondered.
"Because Tina Cohen-Chang owes us a man," he answered simply.
"Well, damn – by my count you owe us a few," Sam said.
"Sammy, the grownups are talking. Why don't you do me a favor and sit at the kiddie table, Hun?" Hank taunted. He looked back at Matt and said, "I'm starting to think that you are trying to stall, so I wonder why you would attempt such a thing." He unlocked his phone and said, "Blow them up."
"No!" Sam cried out and moved forward. "No, I choose to turn us over."
"Tell Sam to stall!" Kurt said.
Andrea answered, "They've got Sam's balls when they threaten Mercedes. I guess that the other guys are going to have to stall. Mike, you think that you can show up in that room?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way there. I have been since he first said that he was blowing the place up," Mike admitted. "I know that Mercedes said stall, but I just can't imagine them getting killed on a whim. Joe is coming with me, too."
"Abort that plan, I repeat, abort that plan!" Kurt said into his headset.
"Ahh, we're here. Go down and watch your step, guys," Mercedes said. "Someone help Artie."
Shane said, "I have him."
"I'll get his chair," Blaine said.
Mercedes asked, "Is everyone here?"
"Yes," they answered. Kurt reported to Andrea, "We're safe. Tell them proceed, as planned."
Andrea repeated that, but Sam didn't understand until he got a text from Mercy. I have a bomb shelter in the lower part of the basement. I have my album and your journal. DO NOT let any of the guys surrender! Sam said, "No… no – I change my answer."
Matt said, "No one surrenders," knowing that Andrea would spread the word to everyone else. But, by that time, Joe and Mike had already gotten there.
Quinn gasped, softly and covered her mouth. She and Aphasia had accidentally wandered closer to the others than they wanted to. They hid outside of the room, and tried to see if there was a way out, without having to pass it or to get caught. They both leaned back against the wall, right outside of the door.
Hank smirked and said, "I am not sure what game that you're playing at… so I am just going to do what I initially thought to do. Kyle…" he said simply and the red head pointed a gun at Mary Evans. Sam's heart went into his throat, and he moved towards them, but the kid fired and Mary took the bullet right to her stomach, with a loud cry. Stevie's eyes widened at her and he rushed to check on her. Hank sighed and said, "I guess now I owe you even more," to Sam.
"She used to give you baths. You've known her since you were three," Dwight said, watching his wife kick her legs about in agony and his son try to comfort her.
"Yes, so what does that tell you about how I feel about the rest of these people?" Hank asked. "I was going to allow you to choose between her and Stevie, but I figured you would choose him, and even if you wouldn't have, he would have said that he'd be with us, and to be honest, he kind of sucks. You see how he looks – we didn't even do that to him. Two injured females did that to him, after having been bound for two hours." He shook his head. "He's a bigger letdown than you, Sam. Because, he had such potential. He was going to restore honor to your family…" Stevie growled and tackled Kyle. The two began to fight and Stevie ended up with the gun.
"Oh, shit," Matt said and dodged towards the door, because everything else was wide open. There was enough commotion of Sam and Dwight trying to calm Stevie, and Max and Joshua pointing guns of their own at the Evans boy.
"Someone shoot him," Hank said. But, Mike and Joe both fired their darts at the Giardis, while Hank watched Stevie approaching him with the gun in hand.
"Stevie, calm down, Son. Please, you don't want to do this," Dwight urged him. Mary was trembling and still writhing on the floor.
"I am tired of not being good enough for anyone," Stevie said, starting to cry. He pointed his gun and Mike and Joe and ordered, "Drop those!" Mike appeared to be about to try to shoot him with a dart but Stevie shot at his hand and he dropped the dart gun.
Aphasia urged, "Drop them shits, for real!" from the door. Matt jumped at the sound of her voice and just as Stevie fired at him, he ducked out. Aphasia Saw Matt and she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, God, Matt!" She cried out and squeezed him tightly.
Matt smiled against the side of her face and reported to Andrea, "Tell everyone to abort mission. We have the package." Quinn and he helped Aphasia to walk and he handed Quinn a tazer and Aphasia his mace, just in case they ran into trouble on the way out. Sam's ass wasn;t supposed to be here, anyway, so he could deal with his crazy ass family in there. Quinn peeked inside of the door to see Joe ducked, but not leaving the room. She wanted to call out to him, but didn't want to alarm the troubled boy holding the gun.
Meanwhile, inside of the room… "We can talk about this Stevie," Dwight said. Mary reached for her younger son's pants leg and he glanced down at her bloody hand, clutching him.
Hank said, "Stevie has not been taking his medication." He smirked and said, "It was affecting his ability to focus."
Sam glared and shook his head, "You sonofabitch!"
Hank shrugged and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have convinced him to stop. He hasn't been very helpful, lately."
"Shoot that little shit," Mary groaned and Sam tried to yell no, but before it was out of his mouth well, Stevie had fired and fired and fired. He was emptying the gun into Hank and others in the room were moving about, nervously. Stevie threw the gun down and reached for one of the others, but Dwight quickly restrained his son and held him in his arms, seated on the floor, crying. Mary crawled over to them and laid her head on Stevie's lap and he stopped struggling with his father as Sam called 911.
Sam and Dwight both tried to encourage Stevie, as the police took him away. Most of the others had left, but the Evans were all still there and Joe and Mike had waited, with Sam, as he went through a flurry of emotions. He had not lost anyone in this thing. It was sad that Puck and Tina's sister, Kim had been killed, and he felt badly for having to see his friends mourn over it, but his heart simply was not prepared for what had happened right before his eyes. He thought that losing Figgins in front of him was tough… thought that losing that great man had been traumatic… He had just lost two people that he really loved.
Mary didn't make it. She was dead by the time the ambulance got there. Stevie – Sam saw himself more in the boy now than ever before. The way that he'd snapped when Mary had been shot. They way that he had attacked Hank, but beyond that, Sam didn't recognize the damned kid that was probably going to end up in a psychiatric hospital He looked like an empty shell, with cold blue eyes. Sam tried to not cry in front of him. He tried to be positive and tell him that they loved him and they would do whatever it took to help him. Stevie was nonresponsive. Stevie was moving, but he might as well had been dead. When the car was gone, Dwight and Sam hugged and Sam cried on his father like a small child. "I'm sorry, Daddy! I'm so sorry that I messed Stevie up like that!" He cried.
"Sam, it was my responsibility to teach both of you how to be men," the man told him and pat him on the back. They ended up at the police station, answering questions and such. All of the others were gone, so Sam and Dwight Evans, Joe Hart and Mike Chang pretended that they were the only ones involved in the night's events and that they had only gone in to try to bring the sixteen year old home, because he was mixed up with these dangerous people.
After a while, Sam saw a familiar face and Holly Holiday entered the building, insisting that none of them answer any more questions and told the police that if they weren't being charged, they needed to be let go. As they left the station, she spoke, seriously to Sam, "You are most likely going to be facing violations of parole for being involved with this thing," she said.
"I didn't violate anything," Sam said.
"Sam, you aren't supposed to be around guns and…"
"I didn't have a gun. It isn't my fault if someone else does and I happen to end up in the building with them, with the gun pointed at me," he fussed. "How did you even know that I was here?"
"Matthew Rutherford called me, in the middle of the night and filled me in. Since I'm familiar with your history, your case, and your parole conditions, he felt that I was the best person to call for this situation," she told him. "How are you?"
"Horrible," he said. "My mother is dead and my brother just lost every last ounce of innocence that he had left." Sam fought the urge to begin to cry again.
"Well, I have already interceded with Miss Sylvester on your behalf, on this thing. She seems to feel like you don't take your delicate situation seriously. So, I hope that you'll take the time out tomorrow to give her a better understanding of how difficult others have made your time of alleged freedom and expect to hear from me, tomorrow." Sam walked the woman to her car and noticed that Matt's vehicle was waiting across the street. When he went to it, he saw that his dad, Joe and Mike were already inside.
"I brought you guys some burgers," Matt said. Joe and Mike were eating, but Dwight wasn't and Sam knew the feeling. Neither of them had an appetite and neither of them knew how to break the news to Stacie.
Matt was helping Sebastian pack Aphasia's things up. With that busted knee, she didn't need to be anywhere near any of this mess. Besides, she had gotten involved because she wanted Matt and Sam on the same side, and not, she felt damned fine with the thought of retiring from the hero stuff. When everything was ready, Sebastian went to bed and Matt went to rest next to Aphasia on the futon in her room. "Before I leave, I have to give you something," he told her. He pulled the photo charm of her and Sebastian from his pocket and handed it to her, "I didn't know if I was gonna see you again, and I realized that I didn't have any photos of you." Aphasia gave him a small smile and asked him for his phone. When he handed it over, she maneuvered herself to where her back was pressed against him and she took a photo of the two of them together, then, she began trying different poses and smiles with his camera. "Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked.
"Just… giving you the natural and real me," she said and shrugged her shoulders. She handed him the phone back and he looked through the photos. He selected one and showed it to her. She smiled at how she was smiling brightly at his phone and he was staring towards her, almost entranced. "That's a good one," she commented, collecting his arm around her. Matt didn't resist.
In fact, he even said, "You look beautiful." She glanced at him. She had washed up and brushed her hair up into a large clip, which it flowered out of at the top and her bangs were swooped across her face. She was completely natural, as she had said. He thought that she couldn't have looked more lovely. He shrugged and said, "Or maybe I'm just glad that my partner is safe."
"It's so weird… I know that I'd been sort of putting you on the backburner lately, but when Quinn and I were trying to get out of that place, I was so afraid of getting caught. I kept wondering, 'Who's going to look after Matt and keep him cool? Who's going to care that he's not the person that people think he is? Who's going to understand him and try to be there for him?" Her eyes were watering.
"That's along the lines of what the hell I was thinking… form the more selfish aspect, of course."
"Of course," she said and stared at him. He wasn't looking at her as he wrapped his other arm around her.
Aphasia turned and laid back on her friend. "You are SO in love with me," she teased and elbowed him, gently.
He didn't respond, immediately. But, when he did, he responded with, "I don't want to go back to what my life was before we became friends," and he squeezed her. Aphasia smiled, slightly and fell to sleep, right where she was. "Did this woman just fall asleep on me, like I'm a piece of furniture?" He asked himself. He sighed and shook his head, and allowed his exhaust to take him out, as well.
Stacie was asleep when Sam and Dwight got back to Mercedes' place. The teenager was curled up under Mercedes, hugging her tightly, on the couch. Tina was asleep on a pallet of blankets, next to the couch, and Quinn was in a fetal ball on the loveseat. The others had all left, by then. Only Mercy and her "sisters" (including Stacie) remained. Joe went to check on Quinn and Mike went to check on Tina. Both women hugged the men tightly and they each looked over the males' shoulder at each other. Tina rolled her eyes and shut them, burying her face in Mike's neck and telling him how glad she was that he was alright. They left, shortly after and Joe and Quinn were right behind them, hand in hand. Tina and Quinn looked sadly at each other, but didn't say a word. Tina still hurt too much and Quinn didn't want to do anything to disrespect her friend's feelings about her, right now.
Dwight gathered up Stacie in his arms to take her into the guest room and he was going to take the couch, but warned Sam not to try to pick up Mercedes with his wound. He would bring her to bed. After Stacie was rested in the guest bedroom, Dwight gathered up Mercedes and placed her in her own bed. Sam allowed him to wash up first. When he was done, Sam washed up and addressed his wound. He went into the bedroom and sat on the foot of the bed. He glanced at Mercedes. According to the others, the ones they left behind had spent roughly a couple of hours in the bomb shelter, but Hank obviously was bluffing about blowing anything up… at least he hoped, because they were settled back into the apartment, now.
The others gushed on how quickly Mercedes had thought about the unused space beneath her underground stock/garage area and how bravely and efficiently she had led them to the safety of the space. Sam was proud of her, and he really wanted to hold her, but he felt like every inch of him was in pain and like he might suffocate from his own sorrow. He began to cry, softly, but soon, felt the bed moving and Mercedes' soft little hands snaking around him from behind. She kissed his shirtless back and rubbed his chest, lovingly. The tears began to fall more. He really didn't want to do this to her, but he couldn't hold it any longer. "Let it all out. You've earned the right," she whispered.
Why did she have to say that? Sam shifted to turn to collect her into his arms and collapsed onto her neck, crying. She stroked his hair and held him close, kissing the top of his head and singing to him, softly. Sam sobbed and whimpered against her skin and shook in her arms, unable to stop himself from doing so. Fortunately, this was when his Babydoll was able to muster up her greatest strength – when someone she loved needed it.