The Unceasing Path
Ch 24 - 叛逃
Traitor's Run - wherein the time has come to stand and fight, or to turn tail and run.
[Storage Room, Club BamBam Bar and Nightclub]
Ami floated in darkness, rising and falling in that space between asleep and awake. There was pain. Agony. That's how she knew she was alive. Beyond that, she knew little else. She could hear her name. Over and over. Someone was calling. Calling. Telling her to open her eyes. Snap out of it.
Ami turned away, trying to ignore the summons. "Go away", she tried to say, but all that made it past her cracked lips was an inhuman groan.
The voice persisted. "That's it Ami! Almost there! Stay with me! Wake up!"
There was nothing keeping her here except for that voice, and that voice wasn't real. It was Makoto's voice, and Makoto was gone. Ami didn't want to open her eyes to see that truth. She preferred to stay inside herself and and drown in the depths of her longing. Here, there was still beauty. She could still hear Makoto's voice. Outside, she would be forced to know better.
It would be so easy to drift off and leave that pain far behind. If she could somehow die before Diana's initiation ceremony, then at least she could get a last laugh. A chuckle caught in Ami's throat and broke out as a hitched gasp. Her muscles seized. Every shallow, torturous cut Diana had inflicted on her body exploded all at once. Fire raced through her nerves, sucking the air from her lungs.
Oh gods. The pain.
White spots burst in the red haze behind her eyelids. Memories flickered between. Mistakes and regrets, lies and betrayals. One after the other and all at once. There were so many. Too many. This was it. It was time to let go. Things were better this way...let it all slip away into the black...
"Come on Ami! You can do it! You're stronger than this. Stay alive!"
Makoto's voice again. Mako's voice.
"Stay alive"
The command snapped Ami back into the here and now. Her world became a sea of green. Eventually, she realized she was staring into a set of eyes. Mako's eyes, shining in the dark. Was this real?
"M-Mako?"
"Just hang on. I'm going to get you out of here ok?"
This wasn't possible. She had to be hallucinating. Ami lifted her head and was flooded with the presence of Makoto. Her wavy brown hair. Strong shoulders. Roses and cinnamon that Ami could somehow smell over the scent of her own blood. It was too much. She couldn't be imagining this. That would be too cruel.
"Mako?" Ami asked again, still not fully trusting in her senses. "Is it-"
"Yes. It's really me. I'm alive." Makoto walked off to the side. Ami began to panic as Makoto left her line of sight. She craned her head around, ignoring the searing protest from her wounded shoulder. "It's ok Ami. I'm here. Hold still will you? I've almost got this."
Ami had no idea what Makoto was talking about, nor did she care. She kept staring at Makoto, scarcely daring to believe what was right in front of her. She was taken completely by surprise when the ropes keeping her bound fell away. Without the support, Ami toppled over. She would have hit the ground hard if Makoto hadn't been there to catch her first.
"How?" Ami whispered the question more to herself than anything. She didn't actually want to know. This didn't make any sense and she wasn't sure if it was going to. Ignorance was bliss, if that meant she could hang onto Makoto just a little bit longer.
"Witness protection program. Katarina and I faked that explosion." Makoto glared down "I had to. You left me alone to get Chiba. You promised you'd come back."
"I'm sorry." Lying in Makoto's arms, Ami was overwhelmed. Makoto was really here. "I tried. I wanted to be strong. I was trying to protect you." She clutched at Makoto's hands, desperate to make her understand. "I couldn't. I didn't mean to. Please...I'm so sorry."
"Hey!" Makoto gave her a rough shake. "Come on. Don't go breaking down on me. We still have to get out of here." Her tone softened. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"
Ami nodded. Makoto was right. She still had a job to do.
Ami closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She willed her heart rate to settle and her limbs to stop shaking. With Makoto's assistance, she forced herself into a sitting position, then up on one knee and finally, with a push that took all her strength, she stood. She managed a single step before her vision dimmed to grey and her knees collapsed in on themselves. Ami stumbled and fell hard against a shelf. Paint cans clattered damningly loud in the enclosed space. Makoto was at her side in an instant.
"Just a headrush." Ami tried to shake it off even as Makoto lowered her to the ground once again. "I'm fine. Let's get going. Someone might have heard that. Where are we anyways?"
"No. Sit. Lean against the wall if you have to. We can try again in a minute." Ami did so, grateful for the respite even if she was sure there as no time for this. "We're in a nightclub." Makoto continued. "Diana's having a party tonight, and you're the star attraction. What the hell happened to you anyways? You look like shit."
"Diana likes knives. Little ones. Like claws. 'If I have supplied false particulars about myself for the purpose of joining the family I shall be killed by myriads of swords'. Ami recited one of the many oaths she had taken in her life from memory. It had been in the back of her mind for years now and Diana had done a good job of dragging it up front and centre. "She's been studying our Triad traditions it seems."
Makoto gave a low whistle.
"Yeah. No kidding. Just be glad she didn't kill you outright. Thanks to Chiba, she thinks you killed her dad. Have you seen the news lately? "Rogue cop suspected in Artemis Katze murder". That bastard... he's pinned Katze's murder on you! We all thought you were dead though. Ami… how did you survive? Minako saw you get shot twice, then fall into the harbour. How did you survive that? Imagine my surprise when I heard." Makoto glared down at Ami. "That vigilante shit! What the fuck did you think you were doing?"
"You were dead. I thought you were dead. I–" Ami felt the raging despair that had driven her on for the past few days well up again. She had to change the topic before she was lost again. "It doesn't matter. I got lucky. One of the shots was a through and through. The other hit my gun. The barrel's dented beyond repair, but that saved my life." Ami blinked, suddenly remembering. "I need a weapon."
"Here. Take my spare." Makoto drew a gun out from beneath her shirt. Ami couldn't help but notice a hesitant pause before she passed it down. "You sure you're ok? "
"A Model 10? You brought your service revolver?" Ami chose not to answer Makoto's simple question. She snatched the gun from Makoto and made a show of testing it's balance to hide of much effort that simple action really took. "Geeze. I haven't seen one of these since the Academy." She checked the chamber and frowned. "Only 6 rounds."
"Fine. Take the SIG then you big baby." Makoto took the revolver back and replaced it with a sleek black semi-automatic pistol.
"Where did you get this?"
"It's the standard issue for all the witness protection guys. I ahh...may have borrowed it without asking. I probably owe Agent Kwok a drink after this, assuming he doesn't have a concussion or anything. At least I hope he doesn't..." Makoto trailed off. Ami accepted the new gun with a non-commital grunt. It wasn't really relevant either way. Ami could tell what Makoto was thinking, and Makoto was looking at the situation all wrong. "Besides! What the hell are you planning to do? Shoot your way out? You can barely stand as is and there are like 15 guys out there! We can't take them all. We gotta do this quiet."
One last hope. One last question.
"How did you get in here? Can we use that route to get out?"
"I lied. Bluffed my way in. I'll spare you the details, but once I heard the Yakuza had caught the vilgilante, I figured it was you, so I conked my bodyguard over the head, snuck out of the ICAC safehouse. Went straight to Motoki's. Fed him a story that I've been Jane Doe-ing at the hospital these past few weeks. He believed it. Told me I was lucky to get out just in time for the big party, and well, you can figure out the rest. Long story short, don't worry. My cover is still good. They don't suspect a thing."
Ami closed her eyes and nodded. It was as she suspected.
"Good. Then you can turn around, and go back the way you came. You shouldn't be here."
"Don't be stupid. I'm not going to leave you behind. Maybe we can pretend that Diana ordered me to move you to a more secure area or-"
"Leave, Makoto. Call Katarina and go back to the safe house as soon as you're clear. That's an order."
"And what? Leave you here to die? Hell no! I don't think you heard me clearly. They are. Going. To. Kill. You." Makoto said the last words slowly, enunciating each syllable like Ami was an idiot child. "Do you understand that? They are going to kill you. Tonight! Diana told me herself! She wants to make a statement, and she's going to do that by dragging you up on the stage in the middle of the party and blowing your brains out. In front of everyone! Is that what you want?"
"It doesn't matter. Your mission is Chiba. I left everything with you. Take care of it."
"And you also promised you'd come back! We're partners! We are supposed to work together! Why are you pushing me away?"
"Because it's the right thing to do. I have to be strong."
"No it's not! That's bullshit and you know it. You're just scared! You're scared to let anyone get close to you because you think something terrible is going to happen if you do. You know what? You're wrong. You're a coward and you're wrong. If you run, I would follow you to the end of the world. We're in this together. I love you! Deal with it!"
"NO! Don't say that! I'm trying to protect you ok!? You don't know me! You don't know what I've done! If you knew, then you wouldn't be here saying those words! I've been lying to you since the beginning. You're a good cop Makoto. I'm not. I'm a liar. I'm a -"
"A gangster? A killer? I already know. I talked to Minako. As soon as we get out of here, I'm placing you under arrest for the Bo Foy massacre, and for like, I dunno, 40 counts of aggravated assault and whatever fuck else you've been doing this past week. After that, I'm going to find you the best damn lawyer in the city and...fuck! I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen after that, but I swear to god, you are getting out of here alive. I thought you were dead for the past month. I'm not going to lose you again. The least you could do is fucking try."
Ami stood there, dumbfounded. This was more than she'd dared to dream of. This was more than she knew how to dream of. Makoto took one look at her face and shook her head.
"Save it Ami. We can deal with this later. There will be a later." Makoto smiled. Ami found herself smiling back without any conscious thought as to how or why she was smiling. She just was.
A sound from outside the room caused them both to break away. "Shit!" Makoto swore. "Are those footsteps? What the fuck? I ordered the boys to leave us alone."
Ami scrambled to her feet. Adrenaline cut through the pain and the fatigue.
"Oi! Kino-san!" An accented voice called from down the hall. "Are you done with the prisoner yet? Diana-sama would like to have a word before the party starts if-you-know-what-I-mean."
A chorus of unpleasant laughs clearly indicated what Diana had in mind.
"They're headed this way." Ami hissed. "Quick. Is it anyone you know?"
Makoto shook her head. "Boss Diana flew a lot of her own Yakuza in. Motoki tells us that we're supposed to teach them our ways on how we do business in Hong Kong. I met them for like, 5 minutes, and most of that was spent bowing." She cupped a hand over her ear and listened harder. "Sounds like 3 people based on the footsteps? That's good. Between the two of us, we should be able to knock them out. You got any ideas?"
"Yeah. Don't die."
"Any good ideas?"
Ami was smart, but she wasn't God. There were no more good ideas. There was only herself, Makoto, and the gun in her hand.
"I'm going to cause a distraction. Use that to get out of here. Call Katarina as soon as you are clear. I'll hold them off as long as I can and escape when I get a chance."
"Ami, no! That's suicide! I'm not going to let you do that."
"I'll be fine. You're the only one who can testify against Chiba. You need to escape." Ami was steeling herself to order Makoto to run again Makoto suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace. They kissed, hot and hard and fierce. Ami tasted Makoto in that kiss. She tasted of salt and blood. She tasted of all the nights they had spent together, and the days they wish they had. She tasted of sunshine and promise. A promise of life outside the waking hell Ami woke up in everyday.
Ami drank it in, savoring every second that life had left to her. She melted into Makoto's arms. For this woman, she would try. She would try her best. Always.
"Screw you." Makoto pulled back first. Her whisper was soft against Ami's lips. "You're not my Sergeant anymore. I don't take orders from you. We are not arguing about this."
Makoto let go and took a defensive position beside her. Back to back, the warmth and stability of her partner was a fortress against the world. The situation was beyond critical, yet Mako made her feel safe. Given the circumstances, that should have been impossible, but there it was. Ami couldn't deny what she was feeling.
Reality reasserted itself again with the sound of boots.
The footsteps got closer. Louder and louder.
"Do you trust me?"
The Yakuza was here. Right outside the door. It was was time to act.
"Yeah, I do. What's your plan?"
"I'm sorry. It's the only way..." Ami took a sidestep, and without warning, spun Makoto around and punched her in the gut. She turned away from seeing Makoto doubled over in pain. She shouted, loud and clear. Loud enough to be heard over the choked gasping sounds Makoto was making. "Is that the best you got you Hung Fa piece of shit?" She had to do this. "Come on! Catch me if you can!"
Ami threw herself out the swinging door. Surprise and momentum carried her past the line of enemy gangsters. She barreled through, then, with a last look at the partner she was leaving behind, Ami ran.
A.N.
This is it my dear readers. The end is near.
Cheers,
-Drift
Up Next:
Ch 26 - 無間道 - The Unceasing Path - wherein the story comes full circle as it must