Author's note: Haven't updated in a while. Been busy, busy, busy. Hopefully some of you will still stick with this story, it'd be great if you left me a review to let me know.
I apologize if the chapter comes across as messy. It's been a while since I wrote this so I'm not sure if it's really up to par.
26th November 2013
Xav nudged Ireland aside with his hip, grinning as added an egg to the cupcake mix. Ireland simply rolled her eyes and walked across the kitchen to turn down the volume on the radio, not a huge fan of loud music.
"Wouldn't have taken you for a baker, Benedict," she teased as she pulled herself up onto the counter, sitting next to the mixing bowl as he stirred the contents with a wooden spoon. "Wouldn't that be easier if you used an electric whisk?" She pointed out.
"Definitely," Xav replied, nodding his head. "However, this is always how my mom did it. She makes the most amazing cupcakes and when I was little I was always the one that was helping her. I mean, it was meant to be a punishment for misbehaving but she knew that I enjoyed it really. So I'm gonna do this the proper way, just like she did."
"Well, at least you'll get some muscles. About damn time."
"Hey!" He tapped her on the nose with the spoon, getting a spot of the mixture on her. "That was uncalled for, Hawk."
They both laughed at their banter, being interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. Ireland jumped down off the counter, flashing an amused smile at Xav as she wiped her nose clean with the sleeve of her jumper. She left Xav in the kitchen and went to answer the door, wondering who could be visiting on a Tuesday afternoon. Wouldn't most people be at work?
She took the latch off the door and swung it open, freezing with wide eyes when she saw it was Trace and Victor Benedict stood opposite her. Victor was dressed in a smart suit, already glaring daggers at her, and Trace was in his police uniform, looking at her with sad eyes as if he were disappointed in her.
"Xav," Ireland called out, hating how her voice shook with nerves. "Xav! I think you need to come in here!" She looked back at the two brothers and asked if everything was okay.
Neither of them replied. Their eyes left her face when Xav came up next to her, putting a protective arm around her waist. "What's going on?" He asked in a steely tone. "I'm guessing you're not here for a friendly chat."
"No we're not," Trace agreed with him. "We're here to arrest Ireland."
"What?" She blurted out, her eyes flitting over to Victor. "You said I had until the thirtieth! You said I'd have a choice, that you wouldn't arrest me if I told you where my dad is!" She knew that she sounded desperate and she hated giving him the satisfaction of seeing her flustered, but she didn't want to go to jail. Of course she didn't. Especially now that she had Xav in her life, she wanted to make this work between them. She still didn't want to ever betray her dad, but she didn't want to lose Xav either.
"Don't take me, please," she begged. "I'll tell you where my dad is, everybody that works for him stays there. I can give you a list of a bunch of his contacts, other people that have acted against the net.." She clutched onto Xav's hand over her hip, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Was she ashamed to be crying? Yes, she was. Oliver had always told her that to cry in front of someone was to show them weakness, so she'd learned to bottle up her emotions and hide them. Since the personalities had been taken from her mind, and because of Xav's influence and utter faith in her, she'd noticed slight changes in the way that she didn't really hide everything anymore. It both scared and pleased her that he was helping to bring out the real her.
"Oh I know you will," Victor snapped. "But right now, I don't believe a word you say."
Trace pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pockets and held them up. "If you walk downstairs with us right now and get into the car without struggling, I don't have to use these. It's your decision, Ireland."He heaved a sigh and looked at Xav, almost apologetically, before returning his gaze to Ireland. "Ireland Hawk, I am arresting you for the murder of Carl Reynolds. You do not have to say anything, but it may not harm your defence if you do not mention something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"
"Carl Reynolds?" She exclaimed. "No, I didn't kill him! He was recovering in hospital, you know that. He's not dead!"
"Carl Reynolds was found dead this morning," Trace explained. "He was murdered, quite brutally I have to admit. Including his throat being slit, exactly how you attempted to kill him the first time."
"Is that all the proof you have?" Xav almost shouted, his body tense beside her. "Trace, come on-"
"Her prints were all over the place, Xav. Carl's neighbour reported seeing her leaving his apartment in the middle of the night. We have no choice, we have to take her in."
"I'll give her an alibi," Xav said stubbornly. She didn't have to look at him to know he was speaking through clenched teeth. "She was with me all night, we were in the same bed."
"Were you awake all night?" Victor questioned, sounding like he was having fun with this. He probably was, she thought to herself. He never had liked her, probably never would. "Can you confirm that you know for a fact she didn't sneak out whilst you were sleeping?"
"Well, no but- Vick, I know she didn't do this. She's changed, Oliver's not controlling her anymore," Xav defended her.
Victor shook his head. "She has to come with us. Ireland? Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"
Ireland was silent. She looked both brothers up and down, contemplating her next actions and words. She couldn't go to prison. She couldn't. With this charge, plus all the others that would be dragged up once she was in the station, she'd never see the light of day again. She'd be locked up forever, never able to see Xav again. She'd seen some of her dad's employees get taken to prison and the lucky ones that managed to get out were never the same. Her brother Evander was still in prison and she'd lost all hope of ever seeing him again.
She acted before she could have time to think properly about it, her mind focusing only on all the offence and self defence lessons she'd had with Chéng, all those different styles of fighting.
She slid out of Xav's grip, darting forward and pulling a gun out of its holster at Trace's waist. In the next second, she was knocking him out cold with a swift knock to the head with the hilt of the gun. Before Victor could react behind her, she threw her arm back and felt her elbow connect with his nose just like she'd planned to do.
She spun on the heels of her feet, Trace's unconscious body sliding to the floor. Victor was clutching his nose, blood spewing from his fingertips. Holding the gun steady, aiming at him, she took a step backwards to stand in the front doorway of the house.
"Ireland," a pained voice said.
Keeping the gun on Victor, she looked up at Xav. God, she'd almost forgotten about him if she was being honest. He was holding an arm out to her, an expression of longing on his face. He shook his head as he said, "you don't have to do this. Just put the gun down, okay? We'll figure this out, we'll come up with a good ending for this."
"Don't you get it?" She asked, her voice shaking and tears filling her eyes. "We'll never get a good ending, Xav. We'll never have our happily ever after. My past has ruined all of this for us. I want us to be together, I really do. But it'll never work. Maybe... Maybe I was always destined to work with my dad."
"NO! No. No, no. I know you've been thinking differently to that recently, don't start going back to that way of thinking. There is a better life out there for you – with me. Please don't do this," he begged her, the hand he was holding out towards her trembling.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered before kicking Victor in the gut, causing him to double over and grunt in pain.
She dropped the gun and turned, running away. She left Xav behind, left her desired future behind, with only one safe place in her mind that she could go to now.
Looking up at the façade of the hotel, Ireland gulped. This was the last place she wanted to be, even though it was once home to her. Now, home was where Xav was. After everything her dad had done to her, she was finally starting to take notice of that dark side of him, a side she wanted nothing to do with. Unlike Xav, her dad hadn't made her feel appreciated in a long time. She was starting to think he might not even love her at all.
Despite this however, she knew she had nowhere to go. Besides, even if she did Oliver would find her anyway and drag her here. Better to just go running back to him like the coward she was.
She pushed open the glass double doors and entered the lobby, looking around. Nothing had changed: it still looked professional and immaculate. They had to keep up appearances, make it look like a proper hotel even if they did always say they were fully booked if normal people wanted a room. Behind the front desk sat Robbie, flicking through a magazine.
As the doors closed behind Ireland, Robbie looked up. Her fake professional face slipped away and her mouth dropped open as Ireland walked towards her. "What are you doing here?" She gasped. "Your cover will be blown if the Benedicts know you're here. And what if they followed you?! God, you've really messed up this time, babe."
"I wasn't followed," was the only answer she gave. It was true: Trace and Victor were incapacitated, Xav was too stunned to follow her, and she'd come to the hotel the long way round as a precaution anyway. "Where's my dad?"
"In his office, but-"
Ireland walked away before Robbie could finish. Oliver's office was on the ground floor, through the dining hall and right at the back of the building. She pushed open the door to his office without knocking and strolled in, closing the door with a gentle click.
Oliver was sat at his desk flicking through some paperwork but looked up at her when the door closed. She was expecting shock on his face, expecting him to shout at her, maybe even hit her. She'd thought he'd be furious with her for leaving Uriel's place and ruining their entire plan.
But his expression was blank, no anger or shock or anything. In a calm, controlled voice he asked, "were you followed?" Ireland shook her head no. "Okay. Good. Tell me what happened then."
She wanted to burst out crying and tell him how happy she was with Xav and how heartbroken she was to have left him. But she didn't, of course. Instead she schooled her face into a neutral expression and made herself act how the old Ireland would have. "Trace and Victor Benedict were going to arrest me. They would have locked me away forever, just like they did to Evander. I couldn't let that happen so I ran and came here, back to you. I came home, dad."
Oliver simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "I knew this day would come eventually. I never expected the Benedict family to accept you fully. At least you messed with them and got an inside look at how they work. I'll want a full report on everything you learned about them, please." He waved a hand as if he were dismissing her.
"That's it?" She blurted out, still not understanding why he wasn't reacting like she'd thought he would. "You're not angry at me?"
Oliver stood up and walked around to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. Affection shone in his eyes as he smiled at her. "My dear, of course I'm not. This couldn't have been prevented, you did the right thing by coming here. I still expect you to go through with your mission to kill Saul Benedict, but that will be easier now you know about the family's defence systems and their capabilities. Besides... I've missed you, sweet girl. It hasn't been the same without you here, I am unbelievably pleased to have you back. Welcome home."
Ireland smiled in delighted surprise. Perhaps she was wrong about her dad not loving her at all. Perhaps he really did care, maybe things would be different now and he'd treat her better. Maybe she was right when she told Xav this was her fate and it wouldn't actually be that bad because she'd have a good relationship with her father this time.
"Thanks, daddy," she gave him a grin before turning around and leaving the room.
It was only when she was in the hallway that she'd realized what she'd just done: she'd left the room without even opening the door. She'd walked straight through the door. Having the ability to do that was her savant power but she'd stopped being able to do it after that tragic night her family was torn apart. She quickly dove back through the door effortlessly, as if it was no trouble at all.
"Dad! Did you see that? My power's back!" She exclaimed, unable to contain her giddiness. Did it come back because she was so happy about her dad being nice to her? Or was it because of Xav's influence and his family's help with her mind?
Oliver looked stunned and it took him a moment to answer her. "Yes, I saw that." His smile slowly spread back onto his face. "It came back just in time too. It'll certainly help with your new mission."
Her smile fell. "I have a new mission already? I just got back, dad." She hoped he wasn't giving her another mission to kill a Benedict.
"Trust me, you'll like this one," he reassured her. "Ireland, it's finally time to break your brother out of prison."
In the next chapter: Ireland leads a prison break and Xav reacts to Ireland leaving him.