WOW! Last chapter got a incredible response from you guys! I was so overwhelmed that I had to go back into writing next chapter immediately! My muse was suddenly on fire and so here's Chapter 22!
I can't believe how fast I wrote this!
Lalaland Resident: thank you soo soo much for your review! I'm glad you managed to catch up with the story again! I'd like to know what you think now of this new chapter.
Stephanie: I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer than the last one. I'm really humbled by your comment and I hope this very quick update satisfies your need to read more! Let me know what you think of the chapter!
Aquababy58: as promised: action, action annnnnnd action! Let's see if this chapter makes you sit at the edge of your sit! As always, let me know what you think!
So, without further a due: enjoy!
Once she saw Steve heading out the door, she turned her attention back to the boat where people were still shooting at them. They were returning fire but were clearly outnumbered. She wasn't planning on leaving Danny behind to fend off three attackers all by his own, but the moment she saw the younger brother, Paul, running towards the stairs, she lost all sense of procedure and just ran after the guy.
- Danny! I've got Paul! I'm going out! Cover me! – and she had just run off without paying attention to the boat. She knew Danny would cover her.
She ran after Paul and once she reached the upper floor she put her weapon in front of her ready for anything, but he was nowhere to be seen.
There was a large hall to her left from where you could actually see all the way down to the ground level floor where gunshots could still be heard, but she tried her best to tune those sounds off. She needed to find Paul.
There were just three doors she could see. Two to the left at the end of the hall and one to her right. She decided to clear the one on her right first. She entered with caution examining every inch of the room. There was no one there.
She turned around and headed towards the two rooms at the end of the hall. She walked hunched down through the hall in case a stray bullet made its way to the top floor and once she was clear, she stood straight again. The second room she went into was also empty aside from a couple of desks with computers on them. Obviously it was the central of operation of the repair boat facility. After doing one quick lap around the room, she left.
So now the only other option was the last room to the left.
When she went inside, she could see tons of boxes piled on top of each other leaving only a minimum amount of free space to walk freely, which unfortunately also left a bunch of hiding places. She listened in, in case she caught the sound of footsteps or a heavy breathing but the place was silent. Too silent.
She had only just reached the middle of the room where there was a bit of free space when it happened. A pile of boxes tilted sideways and crashed on top of her. She brought her hands up for protection and she couldn't help but fall to the ground as one box after the other kept falling. Thank God the boxes weren't heavy but after having at least ten of them falling on top of your head, it wasn't a surprise that her vision swam up a little bit and she lost her grip on the gun.
She caught a glimpse of a pair of legs making their way to the door but she lunged herself from the floor and tackled the guy wrapping her arms around his legs and propelling them both towards another pile of boxes. More boxes fell on top of her and she couldn't protect her exposed back as she was too busy struggling to keep a hold of the man who was trying to get free by kicking his legs to her torso.
She grunted and had to let him go but she quickly got up from the floor and put herself between him and the door. She wasn't going to let him leave.
- It's over – she said, breathing a little bit heavy. Paul's breathing was also a little bit off but she noticed the guy's demeanor wasn't actually tense. He didn't even look concerned. He was calm. She frowned as a memory hit her out of nowhere and she replayed again the scene at the house where she was made to be with Steve. She remembered that Sean and the third man had their attention solely focused on them, but Paul hadn't seemed that interested. He had actually wander around the house while they had been forced to do such a horrible thing – How could you do something like that? – she found herself asking him. The need to understand why would someone force two people into being together in that way suddenly taking over – what did you gain from that? How could you have just stood aside and let something like that happen!? – her anger was also starting to get the better of her.
- It's just what we do – he answered simply as if she hadn't been talking about something as serious and delicate as raping.
- "Just what you do?" – she repeated – So you have done this before?
- Why do you care? – he asked coldly. It had been his brother who had assaulted her in the bar, and it had also been his brother the one who seemed to be calling the shots at the house, but there was something about the frivolity of the way this guy was talking to her that sent a shiver down her spine. She wanted to know how could he have been so cool with what was happening at the house? If he wasn't so interested in the act, how could he have stood so carelessly and let the monster that was his brother do that to them? If he didn't get off from it like his brother clearly did, then why did he do it?
But instead, she asked.
- Why me? – she just wanted to understand – why us?
- Is there really a good reason? – he answered – my brother liked you and decided to have you.
- So the goal of your life is to please every single wish your brother has? – while she talked, she was also thinking about how to take him down. She had lost her gun when the first pile of boxes had fallen on her, but she guessed it must still be somewhere around the middle of the room.
- That's just the way it's always been – he simply said.
He then made a move to grab something from his back and cursed herself for being so stupid to forget that he was also carrying a gun. She jumped to the left just a second before he shot his gun and pushed the pile of boxes directly in front of her towards him. He ducked and covered his head and that's when she jumped on him and the both fell to the floor again.
They struggled for the weapon while boxes were thrown around by their frantic movements. The guy was young but he was still larger and stronger than her. But, she was better trained.
She kept a firm hold on the wrist of the hand that was holding the gun, keeping it away from her body while with her left hand she punched him in the face several times. Even though blood was starting to flow freely from his nose, he was still fighting.
He caught a hold of her next fist with his right hand and, even though she had training, her left hand wasn't her dominant one while the other guy was, in fact, right handed. So he was able to take a firm hold of her fist and extend their joined hands upward, bringing her crashing down on top of him because she lost her balance. While she was falling, he used his body mass against her and turned them over so that now he was on top of her.
They kept struggling for the gun and it actually went off once before they both lost their grip on it and the gun slid to the side. With his hand now free, Paul brought it down to her neck and grabbed a hold of it in a vise like grip. She immediately tensed. If there was something she hated in life, it was people grabbing her by the throat. She had been choked one too many times in her past and the sensation of lack of air combined with the pain of fingers digging into her flesh was horrible. The burning inside her throat while it was being forced to shut closed and the gagging reflex that assaulted her always made her head spin and her eyes water. It also made her remember the moment Sean had held her by the neck while attacking her at the bar.
She really was a good trained spy, and she could face many things but one of her irrational (or maybe very, very rational) fears was being choked to death like this.
Paul must have realized how this was affecting her because he soon had both hands on her neck applying so much force that all income of air was cut off instantly. She tried prying his fingers away and she started kicking her legs but the guy suddenly weighted a ton and his hands were like iron around her throat. Just when she felt like her windpipe was about to break and she had to scrunch her eyes shut with reflexive tears rolling down her face, she felt a tug to her left and the weight of the world being lifted from her.
She instantly took in a big breath and started coughing her insides out. With one hand she clutched her stomach which was seizing painfully with the effort of every cough and, with the other one, she clawed at her own throat trying to get the feeling of his fingers digging deeper and deeper into her flesh. She turned on her side while still trying to catch her breath and saw Danny, who had tackled Paul, roll away from him avoiding being kicked by his legs. The man really liked to use those to kick.
During the tackle Danny had also lost his weapon but he was ready to take down the bastard with his bare hands. But when he turned around to deliver a punch, all he got was a freaking box to the face.
Paul had recovered quickly from the tackle and went to give one of his own to Danny. You gotta hand it to the guy, he was resilient. Danny felt the collision and he landed on a pile of boxes. Freaking boxes! He thought.
Once she was able to get oxygen flowing to her lungs again, Annabeth got into a kneeling position and noticed one of the many guns lying on the floor just a few feet away from her under a bunch of boxes. She rapidly dived for it just at the same time that Paul had managed to get his hands on Danny gun as well. Danny was picking himself up from the floor, struggling to maintain his balance with all the freaking boxes lying around when he saw a gun being pointed towards him.
Three consecutive gunshots were fired and he fell to the floor after staggering a few paces.
The body of Paul Brown hit the floor with a thud and the room went silent.
Danny quickly kicked the gun away from his hands and reached under his jaw to confirm his death. Once he was sure the guy wouldn't get up and attack again, he turned to Annabeth who was kneeling on the floor holding the recently fired gun in her hands.
- Are you okay? – he asked her. She nodded still trying to catch her breath.
- What about… you. The…men down…stairs? – she gasped.
- Three dead, two secured – he answered.
- Where…Steve? – she asked.
- I suppose he's laying all his super powers on top of Sean – he said, helping her stand up. He recovered his weapon and took her hand leading her out the door – let's go find that SEAL.
And they both made their way through the hall and down the stairs, passing the boat and living the rest of the bodies and the two tied up men behind until they reached the back door where Steve had disappeared right after Sean.
They positioned themselves on either side of the door and readied their weapons.
- Ready? – Danny asked.
- Let's go – Annabeth said.
FINALLY! One brother down, another one to go! Did you like they way this brother was taken down? Can you guess what happens in the next chapter? I have to figure out and epic way for Steve to kill the remaining SOB, so maybe I'll work on that tomorrow!
I really really hope you guys liked this chapter and I'd love to hear your comments about it!
Any specific request on what should Steve do to Sean? I'm totally open to suggestions!
Until next chapter!