Ch. 17: What Goes Around
Kane hobbled down the alley, shoving bandages from the hospital against his bullet wound. He was about to turn a corner when a shot rang out, hitting the wall next to him. He turned back around to see his assailant, and he spotted Ethan walking towards him.
Kane's eyes widened and he paused a moment, waiting to see what Ethan did next. He knew if Ethan wanted to have hit him with that shot, he would have. The miss was intentional. Ethan wanted to do worse to him. Kane's eyes narrowed. He had no intentions of being caught. He turned on his heel and sprinted. Ethan lowered his gun and bolted after Kane.
Kane went down an alley, grimacing as his arms swung, hurting his shoulder. Ethan was gaining on him. Kane threw his elbow into the front window of a sitting car, the driver shielding her face from the shards. Quickly yanking the woman from the car, Kane took her seat and slammed on the gas, screeching past Ethan. The agent skidded to a halt, his heart in his throat.
He's not getting away from me again.
His eyes scanned quickly, looking for the right car to seize. Finding his target, he sped up again, sliding over the hood of a small smart car and pulling a man away from his BMW.
"Sorry," Ethan commented, climbing through the open door and slamming it shut. His foot hit the gas and the owner was left behind in Ethan's dust faster than he could process what had just happened.
Taking chase, Ethan's eyes went to Kane's car, and he sped up, gaining again on the man. Kane spotted the agent in his rearview and pressed harder on the gas, trying to dodge the traffic. Ethan gripped the wheel tightly, his knuckles whitening. Suddenly a truck pulled in front of Ethan, causing the agent to swerve into a parked motorbike, debris flying across his line of vision. The source of the collision began honking his horn at Ethan, but the sound was lost on him, he put the car into reverse, spinning around the truck and shifted gears, sending the car into motion, tires screeching.
Kane pulled onto a bridge, trying to veer left and right in between cars. Ethan's car was right behind him again, the faster of the two vehicles. When Ethan nearly caught up to Kane, he pressed the gas to the floor, smashing the car nose against Kane's rear bumper. Kane and Ethan were jerked forward in their seats. Kane's wide eyes looked behind him and saw the rage on Ethan's face. Ethan rammed the other car again.
Kane's gas pedal was to the floor, but he needed to go faster. Ethan's car started to pull up alongside Kane's but he swerved to the side, Ethan's passenger side scraping the railing of the bridge. Ethan grimaced as sparks and chips of paint flew off the pinned sides of the car. Looking ahead, a large tractor trailer was down the way, and Ethan's car was flying straight toward it. Kane kept his wheel turned, forcing Ethan into the guardrail.
Slamming on the breaks, Ethan's car dropped behind and Kane swerved to the side, nearly driving into the semi himself, but at the last minute, he dodged the truck. Before he could feel a moment of relief, gunshots rang out. Ethan was leaning out of his window and firing at the rear tire of Kane's car. Squinting in concentration, a bullet finally pierced the tire, sending Kane into a fishtailing motion. As they reached the end of the bridge, Kane tried to maintain control of his swerving vehicle. Ethan rammed the other car again, shoving it into the edge of the rail and spinning out of control. Kane pulled to the side, but it was slowing from the damage.
Quickly Kane crawled out of the car and started running from the bridge. Ethan was out of his car in a flash and was gaining on Kane. The two reached a dock and Kane grabbed a pipe from atop a crate, spinning around and striking Ethan just before he could grab him. The agent dropped his gun and before he could pick it up again, Kane kicked it away, then came after Ethan with the pipe.
He swung hard and Ethan dodged before sending a solid punch to Kane's midsection. The blond became enraged, swinging again, but Ethan blocked it with his arm, letting out a groan of pain. He threw a punch into Kane's face and tackled the man when his head snapped back. The two wrestled a moment, throwing in punches and grabbing at each other's throats, when Ethan began to get the upper hand, Kane grabbed Ethan's face, attempting to press his thumbs into the agent's eyes. Ethan lurched backwards, scrambling away from Kane.
Ethan pulled the pipe from Kane's hands and stood up, but as Kane stood up as well, Ethan saw the man had his gun.
"Goodbye, Ethan," he smirked, pulling the trigger.
Click.
Kane looked at the gun, stunned. Ethan was relatively unphased. Throwing down the gun, Kane looked from Ethan to the pipe in his hand, and back.
"So now what? We just keep fighting until one of us is dead?"
"Works for me," Ethan replied calmly.
Kane let out an angry laugh, "And what if I get away?"
"I will hunt you down."
"That worked well for me."
"You're not me."
Kane let out a huff, eying the agent.
"So you get to destroy my life, and you think after all this you're in some righteous position?"
Kane drew closer, fists bunched, ready to resume fighting. Ethan gripped the pipe and looked into Kane's eyes. He let out a slow breath and threw down the pipe, letting his hands drop to his side.
"No. I don't blame you for coming after me when you believed it was my fault," Ethan told him, "I don't care that you tortured me, I don't care about anything you did to me. I understand."
Kane drew closer, waiting for his moment to strike now that Ethan was disarmed.
"I'm willing to forgive it," Ethan continued, "Every harm you did me, I hold no grievances."
Kane's fists closed tight and his eyes flicked to Ethan's throat. He was ready to attack.
"But you came after Benji...and that...I can't ever forgive…"
Kane jumped forward, hands clamped around Ethan's throat, but he let out a sudden gasp and looked down. Sticking out of Kane's chest was the knife he had stabbed Benji with. Ethan pulled the knife to the side, gutting Kane.
"I believe this is yours," Ethan added, barely above a whisper. Kane's hands relaxed and fell to his side.
Ethan's eyes, full of controlled fury stared back into Kane's and he watched the light slowly leave them. Ethan pulled the knife back out and held it at his side, never looking away from Kane.
The man slowly fell backwards, letting out a gargle when he hit the ground. His eyes tried to focus on Ethan, who stared down at him. Kane's hands fumbled at his knife wound, but he was too far-gone to save himself. Slowly his eyes went out of focus, and they drifted to the side. His mouth hung slack and with a final cough, he went still.
Ethan remained transfixed another moment before he let the knife drop from his hand, it hitting the ground with a clatter. He let out a breath and turned away, heading back towards the hospital.