A/N: I am so, SO sorry for not updating for SO long! I am going through some really hard times, and I didn't have the energy to do anything. I hope someone still follows this story. I'll be grateful for your attention and reviews. Hope it's good enough.

Chapter 17

Danny was not a keen runner, and yet now he ran like a madman, looking for the stairs in the dim light in the old building's corridor. His ears were ringing, he couldn't hear anything but the insane beating of his own heart as he just ran. He wanted it all to be over, wanted to find Nicholas, get him and just go home. And everything would go back to normal.

Having nearly tumbled down the stairs in his rush, Danny finally managed to get his breathing under control as he found himself in another corridor, even darker than the previous one. He saw a lit spot not far from him and gingerly walked towards it. The light was coming from an open door frame. Before he could reach it, he heard some noise coming from the room. He couldn't quite place it. It sounded partly like a malfunctioning pipe and partly like someone pumping a tire.

"They really tried too hard with you, didn't they?" an unfamiliar voice sounded from the room, and Danny tightened his grip on his gun. "What's going on out there? Do you hear what I'm saying?"

Whoever he was talking to didn't respond, although the strange wheezing sound got somewhat quieter.

"Great, he's useless now," the voice sounded exasperated. "Fuck it all".

Danny finally swallowed his fear and peered inside. The room wasn't very big. By the wall opposite from the door there was a motionless human shape on the floor. The odd noise that had confused Danny earlier was coming from that human shape and turned out to be wheezed breathing. Above him stood a strange man with a gun, pointing it down at the limp form lying at his feet. Hearing the noise behind him, the man turned around, lifting his arm to point the gun at Danny, but the sergeant was faster. A loud 'Bang!' tore through the few seconds' long silence, and the man fell down, caught by a bullet in the shoulder, his gun falling from his hand to the ground with a loud thud..

It took Danny sheer milliseconds to feel relieved that he didn't actually kill anyone, the vision of the thug Benjamin had killed earlier still vivid in front of his eyes. Those milliseconds were gone just as he barely acknowledged it, as he staggered into the room, ignoring the croaks and groans coming from the man he had just shot. He had an idea about who the man lying on the floor might be, and the thought was making him feel sick. He saw a small puddle of blood on the floor around him.

Danny's breathing hitched when he finally got close enough to recognise the still wheezing and unconscious man. A lot of thoughts, far too many, were now running around in his head, creating a messy blur he couldn't even start to make sense of. Danny landed awkwardly on his knees, finally somehow remembering how to breathe. He wanted to call out his friend's name, to say something soothing, but all that came out of his mouth was a broken high-pitched whimper. Clenching his teeth, Danny reached out his trembling hand for Nicholas' shoulder to roll him over.

Blood. It was everywhere: covering Nicholas' pale and bruised face, painting his shirt red, surrounding him on the cold concrete floor. Danny felt sharp bile burn in his throat when he saw his friend's hands. Trying to be as gentle as he could, he took one of Nicholas' wrists and lifted his hand a bit to get a better look at it. He had to swallow another portion of vomit when he realised there were bullet holes going through each of Nicholas' palms. Tears blurred his vision. He felt lost, reality itself seemed too unreal. He wanted to wake up and learn that none of this had actually happened. He shut his eyes tightly, like he had done in his childhood. A sudden sharp wheeze from Nicholas made him shiver and brought him back to the present.

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Benji dashed through the entrance door, leaving his teammates to deal with the rest of the gang, his mind feverishly trying to count, just how many of them there were outside. Some of them could have stayed inside. Should have stayed inside, it was fairly logical. And yet, no matter how hard he tried, everything in his brain was a mess. He moved forward cautiously, using all his willpower to keep himself from breaking into a sprint. He couldn't see Danny anywhere, and that could mean either that the coast was clear, or that he was in trouble. Suddenly he heard a gunshot downstairs. Abandoning his cautiousness, he rushed to the stairs. There was another sound that made him freeze where he was. Someone else was there, not far from him. There was a passage not far from him. Peering into it, however, the agent saw it was empty. He had a choice: either follow his senses and go after whoever supposedly had ran into that passage or go downstairs, where he knew his brother was supposed to be. Letting out a short sigh, he chose the second option.

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Nicholas was now trembling all over, drawing every breath with an evidently great effort. Too lost to pay attention to anything around them, Danny didn't hear the new noise in the room in time to react as yet another gunshot rang in his ears. Stunned, he lifted his head up to see the man he had shot in the shoulder before now lying completely motionless, with a bullet wound in his forehead. He was still holding his gun in his hand. Danny gulped, realising he hadn't heard him picking that gun up. He could be dead right now if someone hadn't dealt with that man.

"And that's why," Benji's voice from the door frame was quiet and strained, "I always shoot to kill".

Danny felt shivers down his spine. Trying not to ponder on that line any longer, he looked down at Nicholas again. The sound of the gunshot seemed to have woken him up, and his eyes were now partway open.

"Ni-Nicholas," he finally forced and was immediately taken aback by the sound of his own voice. Nicholas blinked in confusion and let out a sharp and painful breath, trying to say something but giving up on the idea right away. His glassy gaze then moved somewhere behind Danny.

"Hi, Nicky," Benji's voice was trembling now as he took in his brother's appearance. Kneeling down, he took a long, controlled breath through his nose, trying to pull himself together. "Looks like I got you into a big mess again…"