oOo
"Ladies and gentlemen." Hans Gruber spoke above the murmuring. Definitely a German accent. "Ladies and gentlemen." he repeated as the crowd quieted down to listen.
"Due to the Nakatomi Corporation's legacy of greed around the globe, they are about to be taught a lesson in the real use of power." He paused to glance over them again before slowly adding. "You will be witnesses."
He closed a book he had been holding- a journal maybe- before asking aloud. "Where is Takagi? Where is the man who… used to be in charge? Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi."
Takagi, who was right beside her, said nothing. Nobody in the crowd did either, nor did they glance toward him and accidentally give him away. Hans continued talking as he stepped down to the floor below, walking slowly among the people as he spoke. Moving like an anaconda through still water. "Stay behind me." She heard Holly whisper to Mr. Takagi, and she moved in beside Holly to help her hide their boss.
"Born, Kyoto 1937, family emigrated from San Pedro California 1939." He continued to speak, citing facts about Mr. Takagi, like where he'd gone to school and what he'd studied. As he stalked through the crowd, she and Holly both positioned themselves between Mr. Takagi and the intruder's line of sight. He was coming closer though, inspecting anyone of asian descent, though his gaze lingered over her for a second as he passed. "President Nakatomi Trading, Vice Chairman Nakatomi Investment group…"
"Enough." Came Takagi's voice from behind her. He had to push her aside to step forward. When she moved to stay in front of him, the older man simply shook his head at her. "It's all right." He told her.
"...And father of five." Hans finished as he finally turned and saw Takagi. His movements and the look on his face reminded her very much of a predator having cornered its prey.
"I am Takagi." He announced, standing up as straight as he could.
Hans' face suddenly broke into an easy smile. "How do you do?" The man asked politely, even sticking his hand for him to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
What an ass. Charlie thought, releasing a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
From nearby, a large man- Karl- came and grabbed Takagi roughly by the shoulders, leading him off. Charlie was surprised to find the leader still staring at her, a pensive look on his face. Before she could ask what he wanted, he said. "You," pointing to her. "With him."
"What- no!" With wide eyes she took a step back, but then he signaled another one of his goons who used his gun to usher her along and she couldn't say no to that. She glanced around fearfully at the other hostages but they were all looking at her with the same look of confusion and fear. The other blonde- the one with the glasses- forced her back into the elevator again and they began to ascend, Karl and the other one guarding her and Takagi while Hans had his back to them. In the silence, Hans began humming along to Ode to Joy, playing over the radio.
"Why is she here? Leave her out of this." Takagi spoke as they stood in the small box. "She has nothing to do with whatever this is."
"You don't know that." Hans replied playfully before changing the subject. "Nice suit. John Phillips, London." When Takagi gave him a surprised look he added. "I have two myself."
Takagi fell back into silence, but he cast a worried glance at Charlie.
"Rumor has it Arafat buys his there." He continued, but then the door opened to the ding again and he walked out ahead of them. He mumbled something quickly over his shoulder in German to Karl who grabbed her by the arm and led them through what looked like a large office with building models displayed on tables. She had never been up here before. She heard Hans start to talk again, but was pushed through a set of glass doors to where another person was waiting at a long conference desk. He was sitting at a computer that popped right out of the table and was wearing large glasses.
He looked up as they entered and smiled warmly. "Well, hello." He watched as Karl sat her down a few seats away from him. "Who are you?" he asked as he glanced between her and Karl.
"She's a hostage." Karl answered before she could speak, and she closed her mouth, glancing around to look at her boss having a conversation with a gunman through the glass door. Hans' posture was calm and relaxed as he walked around the room touching things as he spoke, while Takagi's was rigid.
"Hey," The man with glasses called her attention and she turned back around. "What's your name?" he asked gently.
She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead she just closed it and shook her head, swallowing nervously. Her face throbbed.
"It's okay." He assured. "Look, my name's Theo, and if you just do whatever they say, you're going to be fine."
She gave him a look that clearly said she didn't believe him, but then answered in a quiet voice "My name's Charlotte."
"Well Charlotte," He said, but he was looking over her shoulder through the window behind her. "Just… don't do anything to piss off Hans," He inclined his head toward the leader. "...and everything'll be okay." He stood up away from the desk.
She looked back around to see them coming in the door. Takagi was placed down in Theo's seat across from her and to her horror, Hans took the seat right next to her. She risked a glance at him but he was looking at Takagi who was inspecting the computer screen in front of him.
"I don't have that code." He concluded after a moment, and Charlie had to briefly wonder what code they were talking about. "You want access to the computer?" He stood up straight and spoke a bit louder. "Any information you get will be changed in the morning. You won't be able to blackmail our executives!"
"Sit down!" Hans snapped at him, bringing her boss back to his chair. Takagi glanced back over to her as he sat, and she wanted to warn him not to piss Hans off, but still wasn't able to make herself speak.
"Mr. Takagi I am really not interested in your computer but I need the code key because what I am interested in is the six hundred and forty million dollars in negotiable bearer bonds you have locked in your vault and the computer controls the vault." He calmly explained. Takagi and Charlie both stared at him like he was crazy. Those codes? She thought. Really?
Then Takagi laughed a bit, quietly as if to himself. "You want money? What kind of terrorists are you?"
This time Hans laughed. "Who said we were terrorists? I suppose it's right to assume, considering the atmosphere." He reached into his coat, and her blood ran cold as he produced the handgun, and began unscrewing the silencer. "The bonds represent, at most, ten days of operating capital for your parent organization. It's really no more than a temporary inconvenience. Now," he said calmly as he carefully placed the silencer upright on the table. "The code please."
"It's useless to you." Takagi replied. "There are seven safe codes on our vault, and the code key is only one of them. You'll never get it open."
"Then there's no reason not to tell it to us." Hans assured but Charlie could hear his patience wearing thin.
Takagi glanced nervously at her for a second, but said nothing. She knew why. Although she didn't know the code, she could break it fairly easily. In fact, she could open the vault alone in just a few hours, having designed a few of the electronic locks herself. Was Hans aware of this? Was that why she was here?
"I told you." Theo said in a sing-song voice.
"It's not over yet." Karl replied.
Hans spared an annoyed glance over his shoulder at them before returning his gaze to Takagi. "It's a very nice suit you have, Mr. Takagi. It'd be a shame to ruin it." He said with a dark tone. Takagi remained silent and unafraid of the threat, though a sheen of sweat was forming across his brow. Hans sighed, sounding irritated. "Let's try this again." He said before suddenly reaching out to grab Charlie around the back of her neck with one hand and then holding the gun to her temple with the other. "I'm going to count to three, there will not be a four. Give. Me. The code." He demanded. She started struggling, but he tightened his grip on her painfully, making her whimper. "One."
"You don't have to do this." Takagi insisted, trying not to stand up again, but wanting to stop Hans.
"You can stop this anytime. Two." Hans answered. She tried to struggle again, grasping at his hand with her own, but he laced his fingers through her scalp and gripped a fist full of her hair making her cry out again. "Just tell him!" She begged.
"Stop it-" Takagi shouted.
"Three." Hans said in an even voice, and she heard the hammer click loudly into place just a few inches from her ear. Suddenly everything felt cold and numb as the blood drained from her face. The next few moments passed quickly, but her perception of it felt slower, as if her senses were heightened. Time slowed down.
"I don't know the code! Just kill me instead." Takagi said quickly. She met his eyes one last time, saw so many emotions- too many to try and decipher- as if he was trying to talk to her telepathically. She would remember that look on his face forever, but she would definitely never forget what came next.
"Okay."
A loud pop echoed through the room making her flinch with a quick scream, her ears still ringing long afterwards. She didn't remember closing her eyes, but when she opened them, she wished she'd left them shut. He had fallen backward in his chair, now lying on the ground, but the window behind him was splattered with red and spongy pink brain matter.
"We do it the hard way." Hans said, releasing his death grip on her hair and standing up. Within seconds the smell of blood assaulted her nose, thick and metallic and mixed with the burnt smell of gunpowder. "Tony, find a way to dispose of that would you? Karl, you better check on Heinrich's work up on the machine floor." She heard Hans tell someone, but she was busy staring at Takagi. His eyes were still opened, staring up at the ceiling. He's gone… She thought in disbelief. It's just an empty body now.
A noise brought everyone's attention- except for hers- to the other room. Karl and Tony left the room quickly, pushing past the blood covered doors with guns drawn at the ready. Hans and Theo watched them sweep the room from behind the glass doors, but eventually their search turned up nothing. When Karl returned to tell him so, Hans said "See to Heinrich." and Karl and Tony disappeared.
"Now, you can break the code?" He was talking to Theo now.
"You didn't bring me along for my charming personality." Theo replied.
There was a moment of silence as the two shared a look between each other and glanced at Charlotte, who still had her gaze on the cooling body of her former boss. Blood pooling on the floor behind and underneath his chair. She heard another irritated sigh and tore her gaze away from Takagi's corpse to look up at Hans. He was staring again. Her own gaze now shifted nervously between him and Theo. She hadn't been paying attention, and wasn't sure what was going on. She raised an eyebrow curiously at him. Yes?
Finally, Hans said "I've made up my mind," with an air of finality. "I don't have to kill you…eh, I'm terribly sorry. It seems I've forgotten your name."
"…Ch-Charlie." She supplied.
"Right. Unusual name for a girl." He repeated his thoughts from earlier. "I have decided that I don't have to kill you, but I will-"
"If I don't behave?" She finished for him, and saw Theo tensing as if bracing for a storm.
She glanced back to Hans, expecting him to lash out at her (since Theo was expecting it too) but instead after a second he smiled slightly, but it was more snide than reassuring. Like he was laughing at her. "Yes. Very good. Let's go." He waved his hand at her and strode over to the door. Theo stood, waiting for her to fall into step behind Hans, and when Hans got to the doors and held it open, waiting for her to follow, she realized that she didn't have any other choice. With one last glance at the former Takagi, still leaking all over the conference room, she stood and walked out. His hand briefly on the small of her back to usher her along, Hans led them back to the room with the elevators but instead of boarding them, he walked right past them down a hallway as if he knew exactly where he was going. She was in a daze, her ears still ringing from the gunshot. Her face still throbbing from the pain. She felt lightheaded and sick.
They rounded a corner and Hans asked over his shoulder "What's the timeline looking like, Theo." breaking the silence.
"Thirty minutes to break the code, two maybe two and a half hours for the mechanicals and computer locks at minimum," Theo replied.
Amateur. Charlie thought to herself. As they rounded the corner too she slowed to a stop and stared in awe at what she saw. She had never actually seen the vault in real life before. Just the schematics and the algorithms that made it work.
"The seventh lock however, is out of my hands." A long silence followed as Hans stared at the vault door as if it insulted him by existing to stand in his way.
"...I'm sorry?" Hans finally asked, snapping out of his thoughts.
"The seventh lock," Theo repeated. "The electromagnetic seal. You do understand that the circuits cannot be cut locally?"
Hans only smiled knowingly and said "Trust me." Theo only shrugged and left to do his work, and they stood alone in the silence, just a foot apart.
"I don't have to kill you," He repeated again, breaking the silence. "But really I should."
Her worried glance landed on him. "…Why?" She asked, turning to face him slightly.
"Because, for a hostage, I think you know far too much about our operation."
"I-I don't know anything!" She insisted, raising her voice for the first time, though it was hardly a yell. She took a half step back out of fear, but managed to force herself not to actually run. He would definitely shoot her if she ran.
"Maybe not. But if so this means you're a liability." He continued. "Knowing what you know, I can't send you back with the others- you'll talk."
"I won't say anything." She promised with a shake of her head, taking another fearful step away from him.
"I know you won't." He agreed, advancing those two steps toward her. "Because you'll be staying with me at all times."
"What?" Her voice actually went up an octave in surprise. He's insane!
"Or if you prefer the alternative…" His sentence trailed off, but he raised the gun again, bringing the still warm muzzle up under her chin. She swallowed nervously.
