**Semi-Urgent!**
I've been talking with another user, and it appears that PM's aren't registering. So, if you haven't got any PM's by me in the last couple of days (To people I usual talk to), please tell me via my actual email: BTolson23 .uk
A/N:- Thanks to PrincezzShell101 for your review! Here we go, this chapter and the two following are the final 'event', while last chapter 'tis an epilogue. Let's get to it!
Chapter 97
Blood
"It was nice of you to invite me to lunch." Grace smiled as she sat in the small restaurant opposite Nick. The place wasn't full to the brim, but there were a fair amount talking so any conversation wouldn't have registered to other's ears. Nick smiled, taking a bite of his pasta dish.
"Why wouldn't I? Joshua said it may very well be our last day on Earth. Where would I be if I didn't ask you out on a date?" Nick shrugged.
"Oh? It's a date now?" Grace smiled. "I don't remember you saying that when you invited me."
"Thought the obvious didn't need to be said."
"True." Grace nodded. She looked around the restaurant and her smile grew even wider. Noticing this, Nick raised an eyebrow.
"What's the matter? I can't be making you that happy, now, can I?"
"It's just… the others I've tried dating never took me to a restaurant. They always just invited me to their house or something. Derrick would follow and often scare them away before they could do anything."
"I'm half expecting him to be hiding in here behind a newspaper or something." Nick chuckled. "Are you sure he isn't here?"
"He assured me he wouldn't this time. I think he thinks that you are a good guy." Grace took a sip of water before continuing. "I guess what matters is that I think you're a good guy." Nick was silent, nodding slightly. "So, what did you do before all this? I know you were a policeman but what kind?"
"Just a simple beat cop. I went around the township, making sure everything was fine."
"Have you ever shot your gun?"
Nick shook his head. "Not at anyone in a direct attempt to hit them, at least before all this. Of course I had training but I never shot anyone."
"Did you chase anyone?"
"…No. Wayne always did the chasing despite being the older of us. I just stayed back and reported back." Nick sighed. "It wasn't the most exciting job, but I liked it. Maybe if I was actually in New York it would be a whole lot more exciting. But, I liked Willingboro. I was born and raised there… but now… now it's gone…" Nick's face fell. "My parents, my partner… pretty much everyone I knew… in one fell swoop… all gone." Nick looked up as Grace put her hand on his hand.
"What happened there? I mean, I saw some news reports but they never explained what happened. Of course, if you don't want to talk about it then –"
"No, no, it's fine. To be honest I have no clue what happened really. I know that Death thought Myers was there and wanted to get rid of him but… I can't see why he would just do what he did. I'm just glad he's never done it again. The devastation of Willingboro was huge… what if it was New York? Christ… It would be even worse."
"But it won't happen again. Because we're going to stop it." Grace said firmly.
Nick lightly laughed. "We're not going to stop it. Joshua will, and… the other person. You are not doing that though, Grace. Derrick certainly wouldn't let you, and nor will I."
"Well, what about you?" Grace frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what do you think you are going to do? Are you going to do it?"
"I…" Nick bit his lip. "I can't lie to you, Grace… I'm the most capable out of everyone. You have Derrick. Derrick has you. Dorothy is a strong woman and has already had enough trouble in her life – She doesn't need any more by doing this. Besides, David just died, she may think she's willing but she won't be. It's the same with Dominika. It only makes the most sense, Grace… That's why I asked you out… because I know that… that it will be my last day…" Nick looked to Grace with a soft smile. "I'm a police officer. I protect and serve. What better way to do that than do the hard thing?"
"No."
"W-What?"
"No." Grace said, anger lacing her words. She slapped her hands on the table. "You can't do that!"
"I-" Nick stopped as he saw tears in Grace's eyes.
"You can't just come into my life like this and then just sign out! You made me feel happy Nick! You helped me get over my parents deaths since I never truly got over them! This… this happiness I feel in my heart is an amazing feeling! If you go… if you sacrifice yourself then you'll break me. Quite simply, I wouldn't be able to handle it! Please! I need this happiness that you give me! It may be selfish of me to ask but don't do this! Don't try and be a hero! Don't sacrifice yourself!"
Nick looked at Grace with sorrowful eyes. He reached out to her and grasped her hands that were still on the table.
"Please… Please don't do that to me… Promise me, Nick… promise that for once… for once you won't be a hero… Please."
Nick looked down and lightly shook his head. "I'm sorry Grace… I'm sorry, but I cannot promise that."
Grace stared at him before drawing her hands back as if she had been burnt. She quickly picked up her handbag and stood up.
"Grace…" Nick tried but Grace was having none of it.
"No! You need to realize that it doesn't just affect you! You may not realize it Nick, but people care for you! My brother cares for you somewhat! I care for you! You… You are a horrible man to just come into my life like this and then just jump out again!" Her voice had risen loud enough for conversation to stop and heads to turn towards them.
"Grace… please, I-"
"Stop! You don't have to be any kind of hero! You are a human, you are a normal human being just like the rest of us! Don't think b-because you're a policeman that you have to make the hard choices! You don't! And if you do… If you do then I don't want any part of you, because you are even worse than the other men! Derrick was right… I never should have talked to you." With that, Grace turned on her heel and exited the restaurant.
Nick could only watch, mouth slightly agape, shocked.
After signing the receipt as hurriedly as he could, Nick ran outside the restaurant with Grace's coat she had left. The rain hit him hard as he looked left and right. It didn't take long to see Grace sitting on a nearby bench, her head in her hands. Nick bit his lip and approached her. Before he could get close, she looked up, eyes red and puffy.
"I… You… You forgot your coat…" Nick said quietly, holding the coat out. Grace got up slowly and grabbed it, slipping it on. She started to turn away but then turned back.
"Why is it that… that men always do this…?" She sniffed.
"What do you mean?"
"In books! In movies! It is always the man that decides to sacrifice themselves! They spout nonsense like they have to do this, but no-one has to do anything! They always try and be a hero but instead of saving lives they ruin a lot more!" Grace looked to the floor and Nick had nothing to say. She scraped her foot on the ground before suddenly lunging forward and kissing Nick hard on the lips. Nick stumbled back in surprise, having to catch himself and Grace to stop from falling over.
Letting go of Nick, Grace stared into his eyes. "I hope that my feelings were conveyed in that kiss Nick. I don't know what is it about you – I hardly even know you – But in just a few words, you helped me come to terms with my parents death. I don't know whether it's the situation, but I think I love you! So don't do this! Don't sacrifice yourself! Please!"
Seeing Grace's wet eyes, knowing that those were not the rain, Nick put a hand on her shoulder. He opened his mouth but his phone went off before he could say a thing. With a small sigh, Nick slipped out his phone. "It's Joshua…" He muttered, before answered. "Hello?"
"Hey…" The weary voice of Joshua answered. "I've already talked to the others. I've decided that we're gonna do this as soon as we meet up. Thinking it over, we can't let Death make another move, so we got to this quickly. Where are you?"
"Oh… Uh, we're up by Ramoz' Restaurant, up by-"
"I know the place. We'll be by there soon. Be ready."
With that, Joshua left the call.
"What was he saying?" Grace asked, crossing her arms.
"He's coming by here soon. Apparently we're going to do it then."
"So?" Grace asked quietly. "What are you going to do?"
Looking into Grace's eyes, Nick grit his teeth. "I said I wasn't going to lie to you before… So I won't. I…I don't know what I will do."
Grace narrowed her eyes before looking away. "Please do the right thing, Nick. Please don't be the hero."
He had decided – almost as soon as Myers had said it – That he would be the one to sacrifice himself. Nick had always thought that he would be the one but after seeing Grace like this, Nick couldn't help but question his own answer. "Well, let's find somewhere to sit. I don't want to stand in all this rain." Nick finally said after a few seconds.
They were silent for about ten minutes, both thinking hard. After all, as soon as the others got there, they would have to make a difficult decision. Nick raised his head after another five minutes just as a car skidded past, squealing. Nick caught a glimpse of the man's eyes, panicked and wide, before the car skid bonnet-first into another on-coming car a ways ahead on the street. Almost instantly smoke started to rise. The man inside stumbled out, shocked.
Nick stared, eyes wide in shock. He was only brought back to earth by Grace. "What's wrong?" Nick turned towards her.
"N-Nothing… it's just… I'm on edge. After all this, I always think accidents are never accidents…" Nick put a hand on his forehead and chuckled. "For once… for once this wasn't to do with us." Nick watched another man get out of the car and get into an argument with the first. "I'd like to help them, but I wouldn't even want to risk anything until the others get here."
"Yeah." Grace nodded.
Another car skidded to a halt, this time with Joshua at the wheel. Everyone piled out. Detrikov, Dominika, Dorothy and Derrick. Joshua got out last, leaning on the car. He motioned his thumb towards the car-crash. The police had come now, with only one squad car since no-one was injured. They were talking with the two drivers.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Nothing. An accident… a real one." Nick smiled. "Nothing to do with us."
"Oh… That's good… One less thing to worry about…" Joshua's ran a hand through his hair with a small smile. The smile didn't last long when a panicked shout came from the crash-site.
"It's one fire! Get clear!"
All heads turned just in time for the back car to explode in a bright fireball, causing the rain to hiss and turn to small pockets of steam. The officer's hit the ground, shielding their heads as the car burst into shrapnel. Three things happened at once.
A hub-cap spun through the air, spinning like a top, heading straight for Nick's neck.
A shard of metal speared hard towards Derrick's heart.
Finally, a long piece of metal was thrown like a javelin towards Grace.
Detrikov, acting quickly, pulled Nick down, stopping the hub-cap from decapitating him. Nick fell to his rear in shock, his mouth slightly open. Being close to Derrick, Joshua managed to push the big man back, who stumbled in surprise. The metal shard flew past him, hitting the wall harmlessly.
From the ground, Nick could only watch as the long piece of metal flew past an unknowing Dorothy. He watched it with wide eyes, his eyes turning to follow its movement, straight into Grace's eye.
In one single moment, blood pasted the young woman's face, coating the left side. The metal went straight out of the back of her head, causing even more blood to splatter out the back of her head. She stumbled backwards, before falling back into Nick's numb grasp.
"Grace…" Nick muttered as the others tried to register what had just happened. "G-Grace…"
Grace was suddenly pulled out of Nick's loose arms and lain carefully on the ground. "Gracie! Gracie, dammit, answer me!" Derrick's eyes were wild as he shook Grace's shoulders. "Gracie, God… no, no, no, please! Answer me! Gracie!" Derrick brushed Grace's hair back, revealing the ugly wound going straight through her left eye. Tears slipped out of Derrick's eyes as he shook his head. Her right eye was wide open, ignorant of what had happened. Derrick clutched her face between his hands. "…Please… Please, don't do this… G-Gracie… please… wake up… wake up… Gracie, please…"
Joshua was about to step forward when he noticed Detrikov completely pale and shaking, muttering something. Joshua turned towards him when he Detrikov got louder.
"Elena… Elena…"
"Detrikov…" Joshua said lowly as Nick went over to Derrick while the others could only look on in shock.
Detrikov's head snapped to Joshua. His eyes were wide and his skin was sweaty. Detrikov stood back. "I… Fisk, I didn't… that wasn't… I didn't kill her… it was… it was…"
"Vladimir!" Joshua said more firmly. "What are-"
"Get away!" Detrikov screamed, standing further back. One hand went to his head as he shook even worse than before. "I DIDN'T… IT WASN'T ME! DON'T…" Detrikov suddenly screamed in extreme pain, both hand's clutching his head. A small trickle of blood leaked from his nose and his screamed loud. Then he stopped and his head snapped back to Joshua. He staggered forward, as if drunk. "I… I did… I did it, Joshua… I… planted that… explosive… it wasn't… an accident…. It was… that was why I… I-I blacked out… I…. me… I-I killed them all…"
"What?" Joshua stepped forward, eyes narrowed.
"I killed… I k-killed them… Elena… Fisk… the survivors… I did it… I killed them… I-I…" Detrikov screamed out again, hands flying to his face. Small trickles of blood were coming out from his other nostril and his ears. "HE'S IN MY HEAD! GET HIM OUT! GET HIM OUT!" Detrikov fell to his knees, panting. He pulled his hands down hard, nails ripping into his skin. With five lines down each of his eyes, Detrikov looked up at Joshua and laughed.
The laugh was low and clear. Almost inhuman. Joshua took a step backwards. "Vladimir… What's… What's… wrong?"
"…He's telling me what to do…" Detrikov whispered. "He told me to kill Fisk… I did… He told me to destroy that place… so I did… he-he's telling me now… that… that all of you need to die… all of you…"
"Sir?"
Detrikov and Joshua turned towards one of the two policemen, while the other was by Derrick, Nick and Grace's body.
"Sir, is everything alright? Are you okay?"
"F-Fine… Fine… We are…" Detrikov chuckled again, and in one swift motion pulled a pistol from his jacket and shot the policeman point-blank in the face. Before the man had even his the floor, Detrikov shot the other one before standing up with a crazed look on his face. "H-He… He tells me that… He tells me that if I… if I end this… I can… be free… from this… s-so… so I… So I will kill you all!"