Salvation
Earlier that morning
"I definitely fell asleep in pants, Mauga!" Bap stood over him with his hands clenched in fists. This asshole was so damn sneaky and conniving, he wouldn't put it past him to have touched him while he was drunk!
"Hey, I can't control what you do when you're drunk like that," Mauga played innocent, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Enkwayab." How was he supposed to explain this to Niran? 'Hey, my ex popped up and helped me rescue you! By the way, we slept in the same bed last night and I don't remember anything.' How the hell would that sound?! For Christ's sake! Didn't he have enough going on?
Mauga sat up, rubbing his jaw while he watched Baptiste get into his gear. He had his back to him, so it was impossible not to check him out! Damn, he missed that. Would he get to experience him again? As much as he wanted to stand behind him and feel him up, he knew now wasn't the best time for that. "So, Vishkar…"
"The plan is to find out where he is, kill everyone who stands in my way, and rescue him. Simple as that." Baptiste didn't particularly like that plan, but it was what would get him the best, fastest results. Especially if this big bastard was going to help. "Be sure to bring Gunny and Cha-Cha."
"Pfft! If you think I'm getting involved, you got another thing coming, buddy!" Mauga laughed loudly, finally standing from the floor.
"You piece of…" Bap fumed, pointing his gun at him. "Why the fuck would you tell me you know where he is if you weren't going to help?!"
"Malolo," Mauga moved his weapon to the side, completely unbothered. "I'll tell you where it is, and even how to get in there, but that's as far as my assistance goes."
"I prefer it that way." Bap stepped into his pants, debating on whether he should put on his gear now or… wait. He was getting ahead of himself. He'd put his gear on when he was on the plane. He had about four or five hours to come up with a plan, and this asshole—he whipped his head, staring at Mauga—was going to tell him everything he needed to know.
"Don't look at me like that," Mauga stretched, flexing his arms. He remembered how much he liked his muscles, and now he should like them even more considering how much bigger he was. "You're the one who got yourself into this situation."
"Don't remind me," Bap threw on a shirt before looking over at him in disgust. "Stop with that nonsense and put some clothes on."
"You're telling me you don't like what you see?" Mauga cheesed, throwing an arm around him.
"Get the hell off me!" Bap pushed him away, not liking how comfortable he seemed to be. And it bothered him even more that he didn't remember what happened the night before! Though… if he was honest, he didn't think much happened.
"That's not what you told me last night~!" Mauga couldn't help himself! He loved how worked up he got!
"You…!" Bap threw a punch only to have it blocked, as per usual. He couldn't have, right? He wouldn't have cheated on Niran no matter how drunk he was, not in a million years! In fact, he was even thinking about popping the question in the upcoming months! But now…? Could he?
"You seriously don't remember anything?" Mauga ignored the punches he tried to throw, grabbing his wrists. How convenient was that?! He could fuck with him in so many ways! "Well, your body sure remembered me."
Bap's mouth fell open in pure astonishment. No way something happened between them! He didn't feel like something occurred, and he would know since he remembered feeling like absolute shit after Mauga was done with him! Not to mention, he was the first and last person to top him, and that was no easy feat.
Drunk or not, he would have definitely felt it if something happened.
"Don't lie to me. You know how much I hate that," Bap figured ignoring him was the best course of action while he finished getting ready. He already got a text from his friend saying he was at the airport, so all he needed to do was pay him to wait for him in Chennai while he rescued Niran.
"I mean it," Mauga said. "You spent the entire night in my arms!"
Bap's stomach churned at his words. That was more believable, for sure. But in his eyes, it was just as bad as cheating! God, and the worst part about it was the big bastard probably just held onto him while he was out cold. "So, you're saying you took advantage of a drunk guy?"
"Well, when you put it like that!" Mauga chortled, it was about time he got dressed, too. He had the unfortunate task of helping this guy rescue his boyfriend and it was grating on him in the most annoying way. He liked to believe that they'd still have a thing going if he hadn't been such a pussy and deserted Talon like he did. "Geez, what do you take me for?"
"A barbaric, untrained animal," Bap said coolly, making sure he collected all of his and Niran's belongings. "You think I don't remember your ways?"
"Please, you loved it when I was like this," Mauga was irritated. He grabbed his upper arm, stopping him. "And if you think I'm doing this for free, you're mistaken."
Bap shrugged him away, grabbing his things and heading for the door. Of course, this asshole wasn't going to offer his help for free. But the type of payment he was looking for, he wasn't willing to give! "Are you ready? We need to go."
"Avoiding the topic won't make it go away, buddy," Mauga said, eyes roaming that beefy Caribbean bod.
"Then I'll just leave you in here," Bap walked briskly through the door, his mind running a million miles a minute. He was already in go-mode, ready to take out all of Vishkar if he had to. His only priority was Niran and his safety and wellbeing, and getting him out of that hellhole! He could only imagine what he was going through!
His mind went to darker places, they wouldn't kill him, would they? No, he had something they wanted, so at most, they'd torture him to near death until he gave them the biolight. But his lotus was strong. He'd rather die than let Vishkar get their hands on it… which led him to his next dark thought.
He couldn't have been in a decent mental state with what's happened to him! Bap was one hundred percent certain he probably already wanted to die, which was why he was moving as fast as he could to get there. He just hoped he didn't have the heart to do it himself.
Bap kicked himself mentally. This was all his fault! If he'd have just been real with him and told him not to go… but no, he pushed him to get that closure from his family, he sent him into this trap! He got him kidnapped, he got him tortured! How could he ever forgive himself?
And because of his foolishness, Mauga was now in the picture! If he'd have played nice with his sister, would she have dug up his past like this? He's ruined his and Niran's life!
So, it was a good thing Mauga didn't want to get involved. It made it easier to get in, get Niran, and get back to the plane as discreetly as possible. Because Mauga was relentless. He couldn't let them meet under any circumstances! The scheming bastard was so good at prying into people's heads and finding their weaknesses, and with Niran having this fresh trauma, it wouldn't take much to push him away.
He mentioned this before, but Niran was a little sensitive. When things got extremely rough, he'd shut down and throw himself into his studies. And that was why he needed to figure out the best time to tell him about this. He'd been nothing but honest and open in their relationship, and as hard as this would be to talk about, he didn't want to switch up now.
'What am I getting so worked up about?' It wasn't like he cheated or anything! But the fact that he shared a bed with another man who just so happened to be his ex would definitely pose an issue! How would he react to that? They'd never had such a subject as infidelity pop up before!
It wasn't until he was in a cab, on his way to the airport when he realized he'd been deep in his thoughts for quite some time. He barely even noticed Mauga sitting in the backseat next to him! "Ugh." He pulled out his phone, anything to keep from this guy starting a conversation!
"Penny for your thoughts?" Mauga caught the way Baptiste high-tailed it out of the hotel and into a cab, and he had to almost jog to catch up to him! He spent the whole ride sitting in silence, probably thinking about that little scientist of his. What could he do to separate them? Surely, once he found out his man spent the night in the arms of his ex-lover, that would cause some serious tension, no?
He wanted to meet this guy.
"Keep your damn pennies," Bap replied. He wasn't giving him the time of day. Not until he was ready for the information needed to get into the north compound.
"I feel used," Mauga joked, making a few online purchases with his new money. Seriously. That was the reason he started freelancing for Vishkar. To pay this much for some scientist? He didn't know much, but he knew that biolight must've been something serious!
"Tch," Bap almost commented, but that's exactly what this guy wanted!
"So, this friend," Mauga started. "The one with the plane. How'd you guys meet?"
Bap looked over at him incredulously, why the hell was he asking him questions like they were in a relationship?! Niran didn't even question him like this! "What's it to you?"
"Y'know, you've been nothing but rude since we've reunited, and it's starting to hurt my feelings!" Mauga fake pouted. "If it weren't for me, you'd never even know about your boy!"
What a manipulator! To try and pretend he had feelings! But… he was right. Whether or not he wanted him there, Mauga had been very helpful and just wanted to see his old friend again. He didn't know he was in a relationship when he showed up in his hotel room, so he had to put himself in his shoes. However! This big behemoth had been making moves on him nonstop, even after learning he was taken so it was only natural for him to be defensive, right? He sighed. "Sorry. You're right."
"I know I am," Mauga said smugly. "So, this pilot."
Ugh! Why was he still stuck on this?! He had to force himself to play nice. "I met him in the Coalition."
"Uh-huh. So, before you met me?" Mauga was a possessive guy; he always had been. And as long as he'd known Baptiste, he was able to lay claim to him. So, to come back only to find out he was no longer his to claim irked him beyond belief.
"Bondye, can you please cut it the hell out?!" Bap rubbed his temples; he didn't remember him being this agitating!
Ignoring his plea to be left alone, he continued his thought as their cab approached the airstrip. "See, I only ask because, with this extra money I got, I can buy a much nicer plane and take you places."
"That won't be necessary." Once the cab came to a stop, he quickly got his bags out of the trunk and made his way over to the plane. It was very weird coming back with Mauga instead of Niran, and he certainly wasn't looking forward to being cooped up on this flight with him!
"You call this luxury?" Mauga scoffed, stepping inside and being brutally disappointed. There were cheap couches and cheap seats, cheap lighting, cheap everything! Though he remembered Baptiste wasn't a material guy, so this was probably top-tier in his eyes.
"It's good enough for us," Bap answered, speaking for himself and Niran. "We don't travel that much anyway, so this is just fine. Plus, it's damn near free, so…" He got comfortable in his seat and put headphones in. He was going to shut him out as long as he could.
"C'mon," Mauga sat in the seat next to him, nudging him with his elbow and rudely taking out one of his earphones. "Why won't you let me take care of you? I did a pretty good job of it back then, didn't I?"
"You suck, you know that?" Bap said with an exasperated breath.
"Me? How so? I've been nothing but nice this whole time!"
"To who? Not to me." Bap clarified. "You've been overbearing and obnoxious this entire time, even more so after learning about my relationship!"
"I just know you could do great things with the right partner," Mauga stretched in his seat, crossing his ankles and putting his arms behind his head as the plane began to move. "We were a good team, you and me."
Bap rolled his eyes. He already was doing good work with Niran. And what was he going on about, they made a 'good team'? All they did was commit crimes disguised as rescue missions! What was good about that? "You know nothing."
"Don't tell me you're actually happy with that scientist."
"Happier than I've ever been. And I'll have you know, Niran takes good care of me. Better than you ever could." Bap meant every word. Niran pushed him to be his best, supported him all the time, and loved him more than anyone ever did. He was the best thing that could ever happen to him.
That's why he was willing to die to get him out of there.
"First, you're gonna need a boat."
A boat which Bap gently… persuaded from a civilian on the beach. What? The guy wasn't using it and he needed it! After commandeering it, he tossed a few American dollars at him before taking off into the water, not even bothering to think about the fact that they probably couldn't use that currency in India.
He was lucky that Mauga sort of knew the layout of the building, telling him that the southern entrance would be the best way in, but… he couldn't use his gun. Running in and gunning everyone down wasn't going to work. It was incredibly hard leaving the most important part of his gear on the plane, and even harder knowing what he had to do next.
The poor people in the building he was approaching had families, friends, lives! Unfortunately, he was already in his "Talon mindset" and was ready to get rid of everyone in there to take back what was his.
"'Poor people'," Bap said aloud to himself. "What am I talking about?" These were the same wretched humans that hunted Niran, conned his family into handing him over on a silver platter, kidnapped him, and were probably abusing him! 'Poor people'?! They deserved what was coming to them!
Which brought him to his next thought, he hadn't been stealthy in so long! It was no longer his area of expertise, so he was going to be a little rusty, but he'd get the job done.
"It's where they keep all their prisoners… hostages, whatever you wanna call 'em. There's dozens of guards."
He got closer and closer to the compound, his nerves starting to take over. Dozens of armed guards, just itching to put their finger on the trigger? He wasn't making it out of this unharmed, that was certain. But the more he thought about Niran and what he was going through, anger and adrenaline replaced those nerves and he only saw red.
"Surprisingly, they don't have anyone guarding the outside. Probably because they're on the water. No one's ever had the balls to break into Vishkar, but if anyone can do it… it's you, buddy."
Damn right, it was him. For his lotus, he could do anything.
He turned the engine off and let the boat wade to the edge of the island, not wanting to alert anyone, though judging by what Mauga said, it didn't sound like that was even necessary. He climbed out of the boat and up the rocks, no way they had the door just propped open like that!
He stood next to the door against the wall, there were two men inside smoking and having a conversation. 'Ah, that's why the door is open.' It wasn't ideal that there were two of them, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle if they weren't expecting it. He just needed to wait for the perfect moment.
They were speaking a language he didn't understand, so he couldn't make out what they were saying, but it didn't matter; one of them stepped outside to toss his cigarette butt. 'Perfect.' Swiftly, Bap pulled a blade out of his pants pocket and snuck up behind him, covering his mouth and slitting his throat. And when he threw him to the ground, he got lucky, taking the pistol out of the dead man's pants and keeping it for himself. It even had a suppressor on it! How convenient.
He entered the building and immediately aimed the gun at the other guy's forehead. It was obvious he wasn't expecting this! This was seriously like taking candy from a child.
"W-Whatever it is th-that you want…" the man held his hands up, voice shaking terribly.
"What I need from you, is to lower your voice," Bap connected the gun to his head, feeding off the fear in his eyes. "Niran Pruksamanee. Where is he?"
"The s-scientist…?" The man could barely even think! "H-He's in the left wing! P-Please don't kill me…!"
"Leave you alive? Why? So you can stab me in the back?" Literally. Bap zeroed in on the large knife on the desk. "I think not." With that, he put a bullet in his head and watched him collapse to the floor.
He looked around, he appeared to be in the control room or something like that. He flipped through the cameras, memorizing the location of every guard and finding the left wing. It actually wasn't far from him at all, so that gave him two options. Take out only the people in his path and risk getting caught on the way out, or take out every damn guard in that building and escape safely?
He turned the cameras off—no need to leave any video evidence—and left that room, immediately greeted by another pair of guards headed his way. "Shit." Before they could get over their confusion and react, he'd already shot one of them and had the other in a headlock.
"Who's in charge of Niran Pruksamanee?" At this point, Bap was just trying to get as much information as he could. He was sure he was tortured, and he wanted–needed to find the culprit.
"Th-The… scientist…?" The man fought for breath, how strong was this guy?!
"Come on, I don't have all day," Bap needed to move quickly and this asshole wasn't helping! He squeezed harder, holding the gun to his temple. "Tell me and you'll live."
"Th-There's an older g-guy…" the man stuttered. "Scar on his face… y-you can't miss him… he hangs out around his c-cell…"
"Great, thanks," Bap let him out of the headlock only to break his neck and keep it pushing to the left wing. This was too easy. Nothing compared to the missions he had to carry out for Talon. But to be fair, this was just an off-site building that happened to belong to Vishkar. He was sure breaking into their headquarters would be ten times more difficult.
"Hey! You!"
Bap ducked behind a wall, but it was too late, he was seen and now there was a guard yelling and causing a ruckus! 'Think, think!' He was sure the guy saw him hide, so he decided to wait it out and make him come and find him.
"Holy shit."
He heard the guy say. Probably because of the dead bodies. This was a problem, but not a big one. He sounded like he was alone.
"I know you're here, asshole."
Footsteps approached and he heard the man cock his gun, his heart racing like crazy. He was beginning to remember how thrilling these situations were. That was bad. He couldn't wait to get to his lotus and get back to their normal lives.
The guy quickly turned the corner the intruder was hiding behind and was quick on his feet, pulling the trigger, but… this guy was somehow quicker!
Bap thought about throwing down his immortality field, and he was glad he didn't waste it on the likes of this guy. He was too easy to disarm. He knew he'd shoot first, ask questions later, so he prepared accordingly. As soon as he turned the corner, he grabbed his arm, which was a small mistake on his part because the guy was faster than he anticipated with firing his weapon.
He hissed as the bullet grazed his arm, but he didn't let it stop him from knocking the gun from his hand, pinning his arms behind his back and pushing him against the wall. "Your first mistake was not calling for backup," Bap said menacingly, putting one in the back of his head. Ugh, he should have taken a step back first.
Wiping his face with his shirt, he peered around the corner to see if anyone heard the commotion and scoffed. They really need to amp up their security around here. 'Maybe they should hire Talon.' It was then that he heard Niran's name come up in a conversation down the hall, and he lost all rationality, taking off in their direction. What was his plan? He wasn't sure. He just knew everyone he saw was about to die.
"Hey! Who the fuck are you?!" One of the guys yelled before his associate was tackled to the ground. He didn't know who this asshole was, but he had a rude awakening coming. He hit him on the head with the butt of his gun, which frustratingly didn't knock him out, but it sure slowed him down quite a bit.
Bap was injured, but it didn't stop him from slamming this piece of shit's head into the floor repeatedly. He was nowhere near in his right mind by now. Suddenly, he was thrown off the now-dead body and hit in the face with what felt like a gun. He tumbled to the floor, trying his quickest to recuperate before he met his maker.
The man stood over the intruder with his gun pointed at him, who did he think he was, taking out his men like this?! But on the other hand… with these skills, he could be very useful. It'd been a while since they recruited someone of this caliber, aside from that huge Samoan guy. "Now tell me, who sent you? What's your motive?"
Bap held his nose, blood dripping from it but thankfully it wasn't broken. It was then he got a good look at the bastard standing over him. Older guy, with a noticeable scar on his face, it was him. As much as he wanted to kick his knees in, he had to play this smart. He didn't have the upper hand this time around, and he needed to make sure he did.
"Not gonna say anything?" The man shot him in his shoulder, satisfied at his cry of pain. "I can do this all day."
Fuck, that was going to hurt once he took his healing gear off. He glared up at the guy, choosing his next words carefully. "…Niran. Where is he?"
"Oh, that fag?" The man was surprised to see someone with the balls to rescue him, but he was out of luck! He grabbed him by the collar, waving his gun around. "He's in that room over there," he nodded in the direction of the cell. "But you're not gonna get to him if that's what you think."
The man let him go and hit him in the face again with his pistol. Was this dumb fuck made of steel or something?! He was barely reacting to anything! But if he was angry enough to murder his men to get to him, he must have been someone very important to him. "And guess what?" he stood up straight and lowered his gun, confident that he wasn't going to be dumb enough to attack. "He's been thoroughly used. Not half bad. You should try it."
Putting his gun down was his first mistake. Bap did as he wanted, kicking the guy's knees in and launching at him as he fell to the floor. He wrapped his hands around his neck, how dare he treat Niran like that?! Like some animal! He squeezed as hard as he could, and the man was smart enough to use his brain, one hand trying to pry the grip off his neck and the other fumbling around with his gun.
Bap easily knocked it out of his hand and watched it slide down the hall. "You should have killed me when you had the chance." He returned the favor, pistol-whipping him a few times while he struggled beneath him. It wasn't easy, keeping this guy down. He was a little bigger than he was, and that only made him angrier! His poor Niran. He shot the guy in his shoulder as a courtesy before pummeling his face beyond recognition. "You piece of fucking shit! Who do you think you're fucking with, huh? I will end you!"
It took some time after the guy's body went limp for Bap to be satisfied enough to get off him. The worst part about all of this was how… aware he was. He looked down at his hands covered in blood, he knew he'd just committed a huge crime, quite brutally, too, but he didn't care. He'd cleared out that portion of the left wing and was so exhausted. He needed to get to Niran and get him out of there before anyone else saw him.
He was too old for this shit.
He got up and dredged over to Niran's cell, pressing the button on the wall that opened the door. His heart shattered at what he saw when he walked in, his lotus, injured and lying on the floor unconscious. He went down to him and almost cried at the visible torment he went through. He fixed his clothes, covering his exposed lower half and closing his shirt before gently lifting his upper body from the floor. Jesus, the state he was in, it was horrifying. The first thing he was going to do when they got home was give him a checkup and tend to his injuries!
"Mon cher," he said, trying to wake him gently. "I came for you, like I promised." He got a little nervous when he didn't respond, and time was of the essence, here! "Niran!"
He held his face, trying not to let the anger from his injuries consume him again. "Wake up, Bua!"
A few more seconds pass and still nothing, panic started to set in. "Bondye, Bua! Tanpri!" And when he finally opened his eyes, he felt a wave of relief as he was hugged tight. "I'm here, Bua. In the flesh."
He took a good look at his face and into his eyes before hugging him again while he sobbed. He was so traumatized, so vulnerable and fragile. It was going to take them both some time to get back to their normal selves. "I'll take care of you, cher. Everything's going to be okay."
His next task was getting him out of there and onto the boat without being seen. He didn't take out everyone, only the ones in his path, so if all went well, they should have a straight shot to freedom. "Vini la," he said, helping him stand on his obviously injured ankle. "We need to get out of here."
As they walked through the halls, Bap was absolutely horrified with what he'd done. These people, seven of them, all dead by his hand. He never wanted Niran to see this side of him, let alone see this side of himself ever again! He could already sense the nightmares coming.
How would his lotus view him now, after seeing all this? He'd known about his past, but to experience it was another story. He wouldn't put it past him to be frightened. To have fallen in love with a killer? He was so ashamed of himself.
"Bap…"
"We've got a ways to go until we get to the airstrip," Bap didn't mean to cut him off, but they were nearing the exit, and he needed to focus on his next plan: getting him on that boat and a little bit further down the beach.
They stepped outside and Niran shielded his eyes from the sun. God, he suffered in that cell. He was very fond of sunlight and for him to be deprived of it was just as bad as keeping him from his research. He held onto him tighter as he helped him into the boat, sitting him down carefully and wrapping a blanket around him. "I've got a car ready to take us to the plane when we get to the port."
He made sure he was as comfortable as possible before taking off as fast as he could. He purposely passed the area he left from, only because he left Mauga there, and the last thing he needed was for those two to meet! So, he did the only reasonable thing and went down to the next beach to dodge him.
The entire time, the only thing he could think about was how to come clean to Niran and tell him about Mauga. He was drowning in guilt already from sending him to Thailand, and now even more so since his ex was around! He didn't want to give him a reason to be insecure in any way, shape, or form. Plus, he was already overwhelmed with this shit.
He was relieved when he got to the port and didn't see Mauga, who could very well still find him. He quickly got Niran into a cab and slid in next to him, telling the driver to get them to the airport as quickly as he could. Why was he so antsy? It wasn't like anything happened between them, yet he felt like he was keeping a huge secret.
"I… I'm sorry…"
He whipped his head to the side in surprise, holy hell, had he really been isolating him this entire time? No wonder he thought this was his fault! He was probably thinking he was mad at him, or something! He extended an arm and he attached to him like a magnet. He felt so bad, but honestly, there wasn't much he could say! He was too busy caught up in his own mess! "You have nothing to be sorry for."
He held onto him for the duration of the cab ride, relieved when they finally got to the plane. He did a quick scan of the area and saw no sign of Mauga, did he really make it scot-free? He gently nudged Niran to let him know they were at the plane, and he woke up in a slight panic. To be expected.
"It's okay, cher," he kissed his forehead. "Let's go home. Lord knows we both need the peace." He helped him out of the car and up the steps, thankful to be over this nightmare. "All of our luggage is already boarded. Let me pay the cab driver and get the itinerary from the pilot, and I'll be right there, dakò?"
"Okay," Niran said before he grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "Hurry, please?"
"Don't worry, cheri. I won't take long."
"Okay."