Chapter 45: Fight Or Flight
A/n: So the last Pll episode was really sad, but I'm not giving up hope on Paily, and in that airport scene when Paige walked away, it reminded me of a poem I heard from the bonus disk to Star Wars Thephantom menace that goes like this:
"Don't look back... before you go. Eyes forward. Choices to make. Dreams to realize.
Don't look back before you go. Know the truth. Learn to let go.
Don't look back before you go... before you leave... me."
Paige's Pov-
It had been almost a mount since Irina's death and I kept blaming A, but I also blamed myself for not being able to save her.
"Paige are you ready for the funeral?" I heard a voice behind me, I turned around and saw Emily standing in a black dress.
"I just can't believe that she is gone." I said and Emily walked up and hugged me.
"Be strong sweetie." She said as I cried on her shoulder.
I cried for what felt like hours and Emily stood there letting me cry out she was really what I needed right now.
"We must go, they are waiting for us." Emily said after a while and I nodded and wiped away my tears.
I was walking slowly when we were heading to the wake, and Emily seemed to notice since she'd slowdown and make sure to keep the same pace as me.
It took some time but we finally reached the wake where we both walked in and was greeted by Irina's parents, Irina's mom and I both shared a very silent hug, there was no need for words since we both could tell how the other felt.
After that very short moment some other people walked up to Irina's parents and paid their respects to their daughter.
As I took a few deep breaths Emily placed her hand on my shoulder "Paige, if you don't feel comfortable here we can leave." She looked me right in my eyes and I could see the concern in hers.
"No, this is where I should be." I answered.
"Ok, just if this gets too much for you, let me know and I'll help you home." Emily said, she was really my rock.
I kept walking into some off the rooms and saw some old photos of Irina, some of them where from when she was a baby others from when she had graduated high school but the one that caught my eyes was one when she was very young and siting on the couch holding me as a baby, I knew that I couldn't possibly remember that moment but I still tried to picture how it was and it made me start thinking, what would happened if A didn't existed.
"It's a shame when someone dies when they are that young." I heard a voice behind me said. I turned and saw a woman I'd never seen before, she had red curly hair, glasses and seemed to be in her mid-forties.
"How do you know the deceased?" She asked me.
"I'm her cousin." I answered.
"I'm sorry for your loss." The woman said and then she left, guess she was a friend or colleague to Irina's parents.
I stood there picking up the photo, took a long look at it and then I placed it back.
"Here." Emily said and held out a plate for me, "Paige you have to eat something." She said.
"I'm not very hungry right now." I answered.
"Ok, maybe later then." Emily said and placed the plate on a table.
"Is there anything I can get you?" She asked, but I didn't say anything I just looked down at the ground.
"Hey, babe." Emily said and placed her hand on my shoulder. "It's not your fault." She said and I could see in her eyes that she knew exactly how I felt.
"I just feel like I'm not the… I'm not the strong person I should be." I said.
"You are who you are and I love you no matter what." Emily said.
I sat down and looked at the plate Emily had put down for me, I was hungry but I wasn't really in the mood for eating. I sat down and Emily left to go to the bathroom.
I took a few deep breath before I went out the back door and sat down on a bench.
"What am I going to do?" I asked as I sat down.
It was true, I had no idea what I could do now, because no matter what I did it seemed like I couldn't stop A. I had stopped A's deliveries, I had confronted A's henchmen and I had even fought A head on, but nothing I could do. I was hopeless.
"Hey, are you Paige McCullers?" I heard someone say, I looked up and saw a young woman I'd never seen before. She had brown wavy hair, glasses and she was wearing an Otep t-shirt.
"Yes, that's me." I answered, wondering who she was.
"I am… or well was her roommate." The woman said. "My name is Heather." She said and reached out her hand.
"Paige." I said and shock her hand.
"That night before Irina died she told me to give you this." She said and handed me a flash drive.
"She told me it was very important that you'd get it." Heather said.
I accepted the flash drive and then I got worried in case A would find her to.
"You know, it's probably better if you'd transfer collage." I said.
"Yeah, that's what Irina told me." Heather said as she started to go.
I ran up to her and said "If you need to take a flight I'll pay the ticket." I said and Heather seemed very thankful for it, we hugged and she left. Once Heather had left Emily appeared and walked up to me.
"Paige, there you are, I thought you had left." She said.
"I'd never leave without telling you." I said and hugged her.
"So who was that I saw you talking to?" Emily asked.
"Someone very helpful." I answered.
We walked back to my mansion and I entered the bat cave where I connected the flash drive to the computer and it revealed some information that Irina had decrypted, there was mostly uncompleted information but there was one thing that caught my eye. Tonight A was going to fly to Russia in a private jet where she was going to get a delivery. It didn't say what it was but now I knew exactly where A was going to be and now there was no escape for A this time.
"Paige, what's that?" Emily asked as she walked into the bat cave.
"I finally got A, look." I said and pointed to the screen.
"Oh, that's good. I guess." Emily said suddenly sounding very worried.
"Emily, this is what I've fought for, I can stop A once and for all." I said.
"I know, but… I'm worried that I might lose you. I know you've fought A before and all those times A got the upper hand." Emily said.
Those words hurt me more than I could describe "You think I can't win" I said.
"Paige it's not that, it's just that… I'm worried I won't see you anymore." Emily said
"Emily…" I said reaching out for her.
"NO! Paige. I don't won't you to say it. I got a feeling that you might not return." Emily said.
"Emily, why do you think I can win?" I asked.
"It's because you know you can't win." Emily said, it was true I had fought A more than once and all times I hadn't managed to defeat her. What Emily had said was something a part of me had always knew, I can't win over A.
"You know that you can't win so how am I supposed to believe you won't die this time?" Emily said and tears started to roll down her eyes.
"Emily you're right I don't know if I can defeat A or not, but I want to win, I want to come back to you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." I said and grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes.
"I want to believe that you'll return, but I just can't." Emily said and went upstairs.
I grabbed my cellphone and sent a text to Spencer and Caleb asking them to get to the bat cave as soon as they could.
Once the text was sent I was going to go back upstairs to comfort Emily but once I was halfway up the stairs I stopped since there was nothing I could say that was going to make Emily feel better, at least not now.
Caleb and Spencer arrived a few minutes later and I showed them the new info.
"So, are we going to attack A at the airport?" Caleb asked.
"No we'll take the batplane and jump aboard A's plane, then A will be trapped and we can take that bitch out once and for all." I said.
"So this will be the final fight?" Caleb asked.
"Well A's forces will still exist once there leader is defeated but they'll be unorganized once there leader is out of the equation so they will not be much of a threat." I said.
"You're starting to sound like me." Spencer said.
"This is big, this is how it will all end." I said. "The most important thing is to come back alive." Emily said as she walked down the stairs.
"Yeah it is." I said and looked to Caleb, he was about to be a father and I was going to send him on a suicide mission.
"Caleb, you don't have to come with me." I said and Caleb and he stood up and said. "I've been with you too long to quit now. I'm with you all the way." He sounded serious.
"Thank you Caleb, that means a lot to hear." I said.
That night:
"It's time." I said as I checked the time, I was wearing my Batgirl suite and Caleb was wearing his Robin suite, we were both heading for the Batplane.
"I've found A's plane." Spencer said pointing to the bat computers radar.
"Ok now or never." I said and sat in the pilot seat of the Batplane and started it.
"Paige, please come back alive." Emily said as I was ready to takeoff. "I will." I said and started the engine. The Batplane flew out of the bat cave and I gained air quickly and activated the planes cloaking device making it invisible to radars and its dark color made it next to impossible to see it in the darkness. A wouldn't know we were there until it was too late.
"I got the coordinates for where A's plane is I'm sending it to the Batplanes computer." Spencer said over my comm link and checked where A's plane was.
"It's not too far from here we'll Caught up in half an hour." Caleb said and I activated the auto pilot to fly to A's plane.
I took a deep breath and said "Emily I know you're worried I am to, but I will come back to you because you're the only person in the world that matters to me. I love you Emily."
Emily's Pov-
I heard what Paige said over the comm link but I couldn't bring myself to answer. I stood up and went upstairs and sat on a couch crying. I reached over to a pillow, it smelled like Paige I held it close to me and started to breath in Paige's smell.
"Emily are you ok?" I heard Spencer say and I looked up to see her standing there.
"Shouldn't you be at the computer and help Paige and Caleb?" I asked and wiped away any tears I had.
"They won't need me for another twenty minutes." Spencer said and sat down next to me. "Em, what's wrong?"
"I don't want to lose Paige." I said holding the pillow tighter.
"If that's all you think then you have already lost her." Spencer said.
"You're just thinking that Paige will die, it sound like you've already given up on you two." Spencer said.
"I haven't given up on her and I never will." I answered.
"Paige talked to you and you just left." Spencer said.
"Yeah, I did." I said and started to tear up again.
"I get it, you're worried that you'll lose her, but there is a chance that Paige will come back. You've seen the enemies she has fought, they seemed invincible but Paige managed to defeat every challenge thrown her way and she survived and kept fighting." Spencer said.
"I know she has, but this is different, it's A she'll fight." I said before realizing what I just said.
"Oh my god, I'm a terrible person, my girlfriend will fight A and I'm practically rooting for A." I said and I felt like I literally was the worse person it the world.
"Now Paige probably doesn't want to see me once it's over." I said.
"Emily, Paige loves you and she is still on the comm link downstairs and you can still talk to her." Spencer said.
"You're right Spence, I should tell Paige how I feel about her." I said as I got back up and went back to the bat cave.
I went down the stairs, almost tripping and once I reached the computer I tried to activate the comm link.
"Paige, are you there? Paige" I shouted. When I didn't get a respond I started randomly pressing buttons trying to reach Paige but nothing happened.
"No no no, not like this!" I said as I tried to get this stupid thing to work.
"You turned off the microphone." Spencer said and pressed one button. "There, all fixed." Spencer said.
"Paige?" I tried again.
"Yes." I heard Paige's voice.
"There is something I have to tell you, I want you to come back. I love you and I know you'll find your way back to me, no matter how lost you are." I said, I hadn't prepared on what to say so I just said anything that came to mind.
"I love you to, Em" Paige said, hearing that made me feel very relieved, now it felt like Paige was coming back after this.
"Erm guy we might have a problem." I heard Caleb's voice.
"What's wrong Robin." Spencer asked.
"That plane A is on, I can see it and it's not a small private jet, it's a big ass cargo plane!" Caleb almost shouted through the comm link.
"Well that doesn't mean anything, it's not like they got fighter jets protecting it." Paige said.
"The plane will still be the same!" She said and I could hear how determined she was.
"Ok, it's show time." Spencer said.
Paige's Pov-
I disengaged the autopilot and flew the Batplane manually to the back off the cargo plane.
"Ok let's see if I can get that hatch opened." I said and activated a magnet that pried the back cargo door, slightly opened, just enough for the Batplane to fly in, once inside I landed the Batplane and quickly closed the cargo doors.
"Ok we're in." Robin said over his comm link.
"Ok, I can't see what's going on inside the plane so you guy have to be careful, there is no telling how many henchmen that's in there." Oracle said.
We started to sneak around the plane, it was empty, that meant whatever A was getting from Russia it had to be big.
After checking around Robin and I saw that there was no crew in the ship, it was really empty.
"Shouldn't it be a crew in a plane like this?" Caleb whispered.
"Yes, it might be an ambush, be careful." I said and we kept searching.
"Guys have you found anything yet?" Oracle said over the comm link.
"Nothing at all, Robin said."
"What do you mean nothing? With a cargo ship this size it should be a whole private army in there." Oracle said.
"Relax Spenc… erm Oracle." Robin said.
"We have checked the entire cargo room for both henchmen and traps and there is nothing here, it's like a ghost town in here." I said.
"Well if A is the only one aboard she must be in the cockpit." Oracle said and Robin and I hurried there.
Once we reached the cockpit door we looked through the glass window on the door, we could see that there was a black hoodie sitting in the pilot seat.
I didn't felt like wasting any more time waiting, I opened the door and walked up to the seat where I saw it was empty. Suddenly I heard a click from the door, I turned around and saw that it was locked. Robin was on the other side and he was struggling to get the door open.
Then a monitor was turned on and the Joker was on the screen. "Well if it isn't the dark knight herself, this is an unwelcome surprise." He laughed insanely "No it isn't the boss knew that you'd get this info after she had killed that girl so she rigged this trap just for you, in less than a few minutes this cockpit… hahahahaha will blow up and the ship will sink to the bottom off the sea, not that it matter for you, you'll die from the explosion anyway. HAHAHAHA!" The Joker laughed and the screen went black.
Emily's Pov-
I had heard everything the Joker said to Paige, I couldn't believe this was happening.
"Robin, get the door open!" Spencer shouted over the comm link.
"I'm trying, it's built like a tank." Caleb shouted back.
"Come on Paige." I mumbled.
"ROBIN, GET OUT OF HERE, YOU'R KID SHOULD HAVE A FATHER!" I heard Paige say to Caleb.
"I'm sorry." Caleb said and he started to run, leaving Paige in the cockpit to die. This isn't happening.
"Ok, I'm in the Batplane, about to get out of the cargo ship." Caleb said and fired some rounds of bullets to blow off the entire hatch at the back off the plane and then he flew out.
"Emily." I heard Paige's voice over the comm link.
"Paige, please don't do this to me." I cried as I felt that Paige was seconds away from death.
"Emily, never forget how much I love you." Paige said and turned off her Comm link.
"Paige no, don't…" I said then the plane exploded.
"PAIGE!"