It was a warm, yet breezy day in Chicago. Months have passed since Clara's very first sneak in at the jewelry store. She has gotten used to stealing and sometimes she wouldn't even wear her mask because she felt like she couldn't breathe behind it, she needed fresh air.
Clara didn't know how Aiden could wear his mask all the time. She thought it was silly that he would wear such a heavy trench coat to hide himself, yet she was almost doing the same thing. Therefore, that would make two of them.
Today she was wearing her original attire: black leather jacket, strapless white shirt underneath, blue skinny jeans, low heeled boots and her red bandana wrapped around her neck. She usually wore this outfit during robberies. She just got done with another one and she was on her way back to the pawn shop.
She feels a sudden vibration in her jacket pocket. Someone must have been calling her on her phone. She pulls it out and notices that the caller is unknown. Usually no one would call her except her father or car valet. The number didn't even look right. It had a bunch of zeros on it and a few other numbers turned upside down.
She was skeptical at first, but her curiosity gets the better of her and she answers. Clara presses her phone against her ear and waits for the person on the other end of the line to speak. After a few seconds, a distorted voice answers, "Badboy17, or should we say Clara Lille." It was Dedsec.
"We've been watching and we are quite impressed with your abilities. You could have much use to us."
She sighs and crosses her arms.
"What do you want?"
"Ever since Lucky Quinn was killed by Aiden Pearce, his son, Niall Quinn, is trying to take his place."
Her heart skipped a beat once he mentioned Aiden. Where is he?
"One of the Chicago South Club members, Brian Smith, has information on you that could expose your identity. He also has been screwing with Dedsec. Since we have similar issues and you were once one of us, we could use the help."
Clara takes in what he just said. If her identity was exposed, it could risk the Black Dragon being exposed as well. She decides to stick with Dedsec's plan. She places one hand on her hip while holding the phone with her other hand.
"Listen, I don't work for you anymore, but if this club member wants to expose me then I guess I'll go with your plan."
The Dedsec member continues, "Your job is to take him out, and wipe all the data he has on us."
"And where is this guy anyway?"
"He is at an old Ctos station. We'll send you the location. The place is loaded with armed guards, so you'll need weapons if you're going in there."
Clara smirks.
"I have a few."
Back at her apartment, she opens her closet doors and shuffles some clothes out of the way. Behind the coats and jackets were her weapons. She selects a sniper along with her two daggers and her grapple gun.
Going outside, she is greeted by her car valet at the garage. He gives her a warm smile.
"Hello, Ms. Lille. Lovely afternoon isn't it?"
She smiles back.
"Just an average day in Chicago," she says
She had to admit she was in a good mood today.
"Your bike is polished and ready for you."
Right next to him was her motorcycle.
"Thank you, I need it today."
"You're most welcome."
She hops on her motorcycle and drives off. While on the road, Clara thought about the phone call with Dedsec. She did like the fact that she could get some payback after what the club did to her. Simply, this was revenge.
By the time she reached the entrance to the Ctos station in Pawnee, she could already see two guards. One was leaning against a ctos van while another was pacing back and forth with an assault rifle in his hands. They were heavily armed just like Dedsec told her.
The old station was protected by a wired fence. If she were to climb over it, she would cut herself. Besides, the fence was too tall for her to even launch her grapple gun at something. She would need to find another way in.
Clara discreetly parks her bike behind a concrete wall and gets off the vehicle. While keeping her head low to avoid detection, she spots a dark colored SUV parked outside the station as well. Perhaps someone else is here. She shrugs it off. She needed to focus on her main task; find Brian Smith. However, she needed to find a way inside.
She sees an open gate, but behind it were two more guards. She could take them out by using her sniper. That'll work. She moves over to a nearby bush and pulls out her sniper. She puts one eye through the scope and aims towards the guards. She delivers a headshot to the first guard. The second guard, who had been leaning against a wall, immediately takes notice and moves towards the dead guard. Clara takes this opportunity to deliver another headshot. The guard was out instantly.
Clara goes up to the gate and slowly opens it. The door creaks open. She takes a moment to analyze the place. There was a Chicago South Club member standing on top of a building that held a satellite. Matter of fact, the whole place had satellites everywhere along with different buildings around the area. There were also cameras. She hacks into one of them and profiles the club members in order to find Brian Smith. She continues to profile numerous club members until she finally catches him two stories up inside one of the buildings. He was pointing a sniper out the window. Two can play that game.
She aims her sniper towards a club member, who was standing next to a huge satellite, and shoots him in the head. He stumbles over and falls off the building.
"Sorry, but I'm taking your spot," she says as she aims her grapple gun on top of the building.
She looks down at the members and notices that some of them were already taken out. Clara doesn't remember taking them out. He can't be here, can he? She needed to focus. Brian was still peeking out the window, so she shoots him with her sniper. She reloads her sniper before latching the grapple hook above the window Brian was peeking from. Reaching the window, she swings inside and lands on the concrete floor inside the building.
Looking around, she spots a computer. She walks quietly over to it and turns it on. Wiping collected dust off of the top of the computer, she starts her magic. She wipes all the data off of Smith's hard drive. Now that she was done, she needed to escape.
Clara cautiously walks down a set of stairs expecting guards to be standing around, but there weren't. Once she reached the bottom step, she sees club members lying on the ground either unconscious or dead. She definitely wasn't here alone.
She ducks behind cover once she hears someone coming into the building. It was a club member. He gasps once he sees all the dead bodies. Clara was about to shoot him until a sudden shock of electricity surges through the man as if he were being tazed. The man falls to the ground, revealing a small RC car behind him. That's as far as Clara could tell. The little car drives past the bodies. Someone is controlling it, but they didn't seem to notice Clara. She should go, but she couldn't help but watch the little toy try to go up a set of stairs. She had a sudden urge to giggle.
"An RC car. Cute," she thought.
She suddenly remembers her main objective. Crouching down, she sneaks past it as quietly as possible. Making it out of the building, she hears two voices. One of them sounded familiar. She shoots her grapple gun on one of the satellites to be able to see them. She lands on top of the building and aims her sniper towards the two men. She didn't want to shoot them because she was curious to know who the man with the familiar voice was.
She puts one eye through the scope and adjusts the knob to zoom in more. Getting a closer look, she sees a homeless looking man wearing a beanie and a dirty looking long sleeved shirt with a white shirt beneath it. She looks over at the other man next to him. He was a bearded man with dreadlocks breaking loose from the cap he was wearing. Clara knew all too well who the dreadlocked man was.
"Raymond Kenney," she says aloud with a smile on her face.
A.K.A T-Bone Grady. She remembers how she looked up to him. He was an inspiration for her to advance her hacking skills once she joined Dedsec. She also remembers his silly remarks back at the bunker and meeting him.
Still grinning, she glances back over at the man next to him. It took her a moment to figure out who he was.
"And he must be Tobias Frewer."
She listens in on their conversation.
"Frewer, you didn't have to come with me."
"Yeah, but I'm trying not to be a coward and I want to help out."
She could hear T-Bone chuckle. Suddenly, Clara spots four cars surrounding the area. It must be reinforements. The club members rush out of their cars and start charging towards Ray and Tobias.
"Looks like they could use some help."
Clara starts firing at two club members. T-Bone and Tobias take cover. They fight them off with their own guns. Clara takes each member out one by one with a single bullet from her sniper along with help from T-Bone and Tobias. They wipe out the whole crew by working together, or at least they thought that was it.
One member comes out of his hiding spot and sneaks behind Kenney. Two more surround Tobias. The club member tries to strangle T-bone. One of the men surrounding Tobias pulls out a gun and tries to shoot him. Tobias reacts quickly and shoots him with his pistol. Before the second one behind him could shoot, Clara fires a sniper bullet through the man's skull. She quickly turns to the man who was strangling T-bone and takes him out with a bullet as well.
Tobias noticed that the man behind him was shot, but not by him. He looks up to see where the shot came from. Clara thought this would be the best time to leave before they spot her. She launches her grapple gun once more, flies up in the air, and vanishes.
Now on the ground, T-bone sees Tobias looking up at the satellite building. He stumbles to his feet, thinking that Tobias was the one who shot his attacker.
"Thanks, Frewer. I owe you one."
Tobias turns to him with a confused look on his face.
"Ray, that wasn't me."
"What'd you mean?" T-bone cocks an eyebrow.
"There was someone up there," Tobias explains while pointing up at the satellite building. T-bone follows his gaze.
"Who?"
"I don't know, but they took off."
They stood dumbfounded yet curious to know who their helper was.
Clara lands in perfect timing next to her motorcycle. She gets on and takes one last glance at the ctos station.
"I'll leave those two to get out."
She smirks before driving off. On her way to the pawn shop, she gives Dedsec a call.
"Alright. He's gone and I erased the data from his computer," she explains over the phone.
"Well done," he sounded impressed. "I must say, we didn't think you could manage to do it so quickly."
"People underestimate me too much," she says with a grin.
"You have our thanks. Should you ever need assistance from us, we are most happy to help."
"Thanks, but I'm fine right now."
The call ends. Clara puts her phone back into her jacket pocket and continues down the road until she sees some kind of smoke or steam up ahead. She drives towards it and stops once she sees whats going on. One of the steam pipes have blown out and there were cars scattered around the road. She could see men firing at something or someone. They did not look like the police.
Her gaze follows what the men were shooting at and she spots a familiar man wearing a cap and a long trench coat. It was Aiden Pearce. He ran from car to car, rifle in hand, while trying to find cover behind each one. He fires at one of the cars across from him and it explodes, causing the next car beside it to burst as well. They erupt with loud booms, instantly killing the men.
Clara couldn't help but sit and watch in amazement as if she were watching fireworks. She didn't know whether to leave or stay and watch.
Suddenly, a man sneaks behind Aiden and grabs him. While Aiden tries to struggle free, the man pulls out a syringe and injects him. Aiden stops struggling and nearly collapses, but is caught by his attacker.
"Quick, get him in the truck," the attacker says to two arriving men inside an ambulance.
One man steps out of the truck and opens the back doors of the ambulance. The attacker tosses Aiden into the back of the ambulance like a rag doll.
"Hurry out of here, this guy is worth a fortune."
Clara couldn't believe it. She glares at the cold heartless men as they they take off. She actually felt pity for him.
"Aiden," she breathes out.
She can't just sit and let this happen. She starts to follow the ambulance at a slow pace on her motorcycle. There was a red light up ahead along with lined up cars blocking their path. The ambulance starts flashing red and blue lights while speeding past the cars. This angered her even more.
"Tabarnak. They're trying to fool the public with an ambulance."
But that wouldn't stop her. She drives pass each car not caring what anyone would think and speeds past the red light.
She continues to follow the truck until it stops at an abandoned apartment complex. She stops behind one of the buildings and watches the men exit the truck. She could see a big looking man leaning against the wall. He had a suitcase in his hand. He watched the two men approach him with an unreadable expression.
"You got Pearce?" He asked them.
"Yeah. You got the money?"
The man opens the suitcase revealing loads of cash.
"A hundred grand as promised."
Clara had seen enough. The men hear a loud vroom from a distance before seeing Clara charging towards them on her motorcycle. She drives towards one of the men and pulls out a dagger. She cuts his throat while going past him and stops to put her bike in park.
Seeing the two men staring at her in surprise, she steps off of her motorcycle and stalks towards the men. One of the men pulls his gun out to shoot her, but she smacks it out of his hand and twists his arm. Spinning him around, she pushes him up against the ambulance and reaches for the gun on the ground.
She hears footsteps behind her and turns to see the fat man trying to run away with the briefcase full of cash. Oh no you don't. She picks up the pistol while holding onto the other man's arm and with precise aiming, she shoots the fleeing man in the leg. The fat man tumbles to the ground. He couldn't run now.
Clara turns her attention back to the man she was holding up against the truck and slams his head against the vehicle. He was out cold, so she pushes him to the ground.
Clara didn't know why she felt this sudden rage she never felt before. Perhaps she has more feelings for Aiden than she anticipated.
She turns around and stomps over to the man she shot. Not caring for his cries of help, she lifts him off the ground and drags him towards the ambulance. She starts smashing his head against the vehicle until his whole face is bloody and bruised. She swiftly kicks him to the ground and straddles him with a gun presses against his head. The man swears once she cocks the gun.
"You think you can abduct someone in broad daylight and get away with it?" She asked sternly.
The man's lips were shaking as blood flows down his nose.
"Do you?!" She nearly shouts.
"I-I'm just the dealer. I only give them the money, that's it," he explains.
She shakes her head.
"Your kind disgusts me. Don't ever come near my friend again. Got it?"
"Fuck, you're crazy!"
"I don't need you to swear at me. I need to know if you understand me."
He nods, still shaking.
"Can you please let me go?" He pleads.
"Hm...alright."
She removes the gun from his head and puts it in her pocket. The man thought he was free to go, but Clara punches him in the temple, knocking him out. She sighs heavily before lifting herself off of him.
She goes towards the back doors of the ambulance and opens them slowly. She sees Aiden slouched against the trunk walls and he had his mask on. His eyes were closed, so he was still knocked out. It was a sad sight for Clara.
She tentatively grabs him, one arm around his waist and the other around his upper back, and pulls him out of the truck. She was practically hugging him at this point. She tenses up once she hears a soft groan from him. She stood frozen in fear for a few seconds until she hears another sound, but it sounded more like a snort instead of a groan. Turns out, he was snoring.
She sighs in relief and continues to carry him. She catches his scent and blushes a little. She shakes her head.
She places him on the back of her bike. She positions herself in front of him and places his arms around her waist to make it look like he was holding onto her.
Shuddering at his touch, she shrugs it off by starting up her motorcycle. She drives out of the rural area going through the back alleys and shortcuts to avoid detection.
She stops once she sees a few shipping containers on railroad tracks. They seemed to be unnoticed by the public.
She gets off the bike, causing Aiden to fall flat on his stomach onto the front seat of the motorcycle.
"Those bastards," she grumbles.
She picks him up and places him inside of one of the shipping containers. She puts him up against the wall so he was sitting. She then lets go.
What would she do next? She could go, but she didn't want to leave him clueless when he wakes up. She should leave him a note, but she didn't have any paper. She'll have to get some. Speaking of paper, she needed to get back to the pawn shop and write down what she stole.
She pulls out her phone to check the time. 4:00. Her profiler was on too and her phone was pointing directly at Aiden. It showed his name surprisingly and his age. 41 years old. It also showed his birth date, May 2, 1974. That was today.
She thought about today's events and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
"That's no way to be treated on your birthday."
He should at least get a little treat for his birthday. The syringe should wear off in thirty minutes. She didn't want to give him a big birthday cake because they don't last very long and what would he even do with it? She wanted to give him something that would last.
Donuts wouldn't work because they don't last long either. Maybe cookies. Cookies that's it. They can last up to 3 weeks. She gets back on her bike and heads towards the cafe downtown that held a pastry shop.
The little bells ring as she walks in through the door. She goes over to the pastry and sees different varieties of cakes, buns, and cookies.
Clara didn't know which flavor he liked, so she decides to get every single flavor. The woman behind the counter hands her a big bag of cookies. Clara takes the bag and suddenly remembers something.
"Excuse me, but do you have a piece of paper?"
Once she returns to Aiden, she puts the bag of cookies in his lap and places the note on top so it would be the first thing he'd notice when he wakes up.
She looks down at him for a moment. A part of her wanted to wake him up and talk to him. She shakes her head.
"No, not now."
She sighs before getting back on her motorcycle. She takes one more glance back at the shipping container Aiden was in.
"I hope he'll be okay."
She truly meant it. She leaves the area and on her way to the pawn shop, she thought about today's events. She had run into not one, but two old friends today. She actually felt a sense of being home. It was as if she wanted to be back with the old gang. She liked being with her father in the Black Dragon, but she also enjoyed today.
"Enjoy your birthday present, Aiden."
Aiden wakes up with a pounding headache. He rubs his head before feeling something in his lap. He looks down and a sweet aroma fills his nostrils. The smell was coming from a bag resting on his lap along with a note on top. He picks up the note first and reads it.
Dear Aiden
If you're reading this, I assume you must be confused as to how you got here. Some men tried to abduct you and sell you for money, but I put a stop to them. I brought you here so that way no one would find you while you're unconscious. I also got you some cookies which are inside that bag. Take them or leave them. I left them as a present. Be careful out there and don't get yourself kidnapped again.
From, Anonymous
P.S. The cookies are on me
P.P.S. Happy Birthday
Aiden immediately grew confused. How did this stranger know his birthday and why did they help him? Also, who would be nice enough to give him all of these cookies?
He peeks the bag open with his index finger and sees different flavors of cookies. He chuckles at the sight of them. Should he eat them? After constantly running from fixers, he was hungry. Whoever this stranger was, Aiden would surely thank them.
Journal #7
I'm sitting on my apartment building again. I have a lot to think about. Today Dedsec called me and asked if I could take out somebody for them. The person was a Chicago South Club member and he had data that could expose me to the world. I don't want anything to do with Dedsec anymore, but an urge to get back at the club for placing that hit on me.
So I took the job and I happened to run into some old friends. I ran into Raymond Kenney at the Ctos station Dedsec told me to go to. I've always admired his work and as I recall, he was a whistle-blower. His friend, Tobias, was also with him. They didn't exactly see me because I was on top of one of the satellite buildings to help them fight off fixers with a sniper.
That's who those men were. I asked my father about men like that and they were basically hitmen who target people and kill them. I think I just made new enemies with these guys.
Anyways, I was glad to see them, but I didn't want to stick around for too long so I left. While leaving, guess who I ran into next. That's right, Aiden. I saw him fighting off a bunch of fixers in the middle of the road. Trust me, there was a lot. He must have a huge contract on him. Regardless of all the fixers, he just fired a couple shots at their cars and they exploded. He honestly is amazing at what he does. That's why I stuck with him 2 years back.
One of the fixers tried to kidnap him and sell him for money, but while I was saving him, I felt this strange anger. Maybe after having hitmen try to kill me, perhaps I have a new pet peeve about fixers.
Today is also Aiden's birthday. I found out by checking the time and my profiler was on too. I wanted to give him a present such as a treat. I concluded to cookies since they are one of the most delicious food items in the world. I got a whole bag of them and I also left him a note which I hopel he read.
I left after that and I no longer felt any kind of anger for Aiden. Instead, I was in a good mood because I saved his life. God knows what thise fixers could have done to him if it weren't for me. I helped out some old friends today and I just might celebrate by getting a little treat for myself.