A/N: I hope you enjoyed the last update! Here is a tense one!
I don't own pitch perfect.
Beca stood in the middle of the road of the underpass, her car parked to one side of the road. It wasn't hard to pay off the right people to make it look like road work was being done and closed have the streets closed off. The only people who would dare to come through would either be her friends and her lackeys, once the whole thing was done and she's called for them, and of course, the ones she's planning to ensnare in her trap.
One hand was fiddling with the cap of her lighter again, as she waited for the minutes to pass and the moment of truth to arrive, the other ready, holding the hand gun Luke had procured for her since her arrival. She was hoping she didn't need to use a weapon during what she had intended to be a short stay in Atlanta, yet here they were now.
Not far from where she was, Tommy and Justin were on standby. They needed to clean up the place and move the anyone needed to be manhandled and moved after all. Aubrey said she would keep her line open for updates, and Emily promised to do the same. Lilly was always ready and prepared for anything. Beca hoped she wasn't busy herself, not that she would need her bodyguard. She was confident she could take on anyone who would arrive. But because she had hoped that the tower residents would have a peaceful night.
Beca flipped the lighter's cap close and returned it in her pant pocket as she heard the screeches of a car roaring towards her. With one hand in her pocket, still gripping her lighter, Beca raised the other, and as soon as the black SUV appeared straight ahead from the turn, she steadied herself and trusted her aim.
One shot. Bang.
Direct hit on the tire.
Beca was quick to jump behind her own car as the other SUV swerved towards the other side of the road to a halt, crashing the front side of the car, near the passenger seat, against one of the pillars of the underpass. Beca caught a glimpse of four men and one woman, with two of the men – the two who sat up front – shaking off the collision.
Showtime.
The group started to open fire towards Beca's direction, making their way towards her, two of them flanking her on both sides, one just behind her car, and the other two shooting from behind their car. Beca quick, nimble, and small enough, slid underneath her SUV and shot at the man waiting on the middle, behind her car. One on the shoulder of his dominant hand, one straight to his knees. Then shot twice, targeting the ankles of the two people surrounding her. She slid back out of where she was hiding, back to the safety of her car as her cover and knocked out the man moving in on her left with the base of her gun. She shot at the man hiding behind their crashed car twice so he would take cover, and rushed to knock out the other on man crawling to her right, shooting at his hand, to drop his gun before knocking him out as well. That was eight bullets, with the make and model of her hand gun, she had about seven more. The man at the middle made to move again but Beca shot at his other shoulder, her aim precise to make sure they wouldn't die but be in pain to try and even shoot at her again. Six bullets, two more goons, and no one dead.
So far, so good. The woman on her right, hiding by the side of the crashed car, behind the open door, was mostly exposed. Beca shot once at her before hiding once more in her car, before she retaliated and rushed to empty her clip, firing all her rounds on Beca. The other man was more conservative, firing a shot or two at a time. Beca rushed towards a pillar and hid behind it, earning a better angle to shoot at then woman, three bullets, one on her knees, one on the shoulder, and one by her elbow. That should impair her mobility.
Beca had three bullets left. She fired once back at the man trying to get a move in on her. As he hid for cover, Beca rushed to where the woman was, knocked her out for good measure, looked underneath their car, found his ankles, and shot once. He was down on his knees. Beca took this moment to rush out of hiding. Shot his arm holding the gun, causing him to drop it and rushed towards to point the gun at his head.
"Tough luck," Beca said, before knocking him out.
Beca then made her way towards the man in the middle, still writhing in pain, with one bullet to spare.
She pointed the gun at his head, "I think we both know how this goes, so will you talk, or am I going to have to draw it out of you?"
The man grumbled and whined and gulped.
"Well?" Beca pressed on.
He looked frightened, but defiant nonetheless, as he remained silent.
Beca sighed and knocked him out as well. She knew many ways to get an answer.
Not that she can't dig it up for herself.
Beca used on of her hands to fumble around the man's pockets for his phone. She flipped through his contacts – the phone wasn't even locked – and saw only one number.
She was going to get her answers alright.
Chloe wasn't entirely sure what to make of Chicago's call and invite for coffee. She figured at least that she could slyly get info out of him with what DSM has been planning.
Chicago was ever the goofball once he saw Chloe entering the coffee shop. He was ready with Chloe's drink of choice, chatting her up with office gossips – none that she really cared about – and talking about how Chloe was a little hard to reach lately.
Chloe gave him no explanations, and insisted to just get to the bottom of things.
"Geez, you don't have to be so irritated," Chicago commented. "Look, I've just been worried about you, okay? I really do care."
"Thanks, but why did you call wanting to meet for coffee?" Chloe then replied. "You said you had something to share."
"I called because I missed you," Chicago commented, trying to reach out his arm over the table and grab hold of Chloe, but that was when Chloe grabbed her drink instead. He looked a little disconcerted before shaking it off.
"What's up with you, seriously?" Chloe pressed on.
"I said what I said," Chicago commented. "Besides, I can't say I'm comforted by the company you keep."
"I can say the same about yours," Chloe threw back.
Because how can the company she kept be even worse than the people running DSM? The people running Babel?
"I'm worried, okay?" Chicago insisted. "Especially because I heard the Kommissar and Pietro talking about how dangerous Beca Bella is, they think she might even be connected to the mafia."
Chloe sat there unfazed. She already knew that about Beca.
If anything, she was more concerned that the Kommissar and Pietro might have found out the truth about her.
Chicago hammered home the point, dropping his voice low, trying to besmirch Beca's good name.
But Chloe didn't care about any of it. Consigliere or not, Beca Bella was one of the best of them. Maybe Chloe doesn't agree with some of her methods, maybe she does with others, but she's known Beca long enough to see right through her.
See that she was always willing to do the right thing, no matter what it cost.
No matter what it takes.
She was thankfully saved from listening to Chicago go on and on about how Beca could be a criminal when she got a call from a rambling, mumbling, panicked Emily. Chloe all but bolted right then and there, hearing all about Beca's secret plan with Aubrey.
Her secretly dangerous plan.
Chloe mumbled some sorry excuse to Chicago as she bid him farewell, but Chicago grabbed hold of her hand before she could even leave.
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"There's no time to explain, I'm worried about Beca," Chloe replied.
"Then I'll come with," he insisted. Chloe wanted to turn him down but Chicago wouldn't accept her turning him down. "Look, if you're worried, then it's probably dangerous. If it's dangerous, then someone has to look out for you," Chicago argued. "My car is parked just outside, we can go straight to where you need to be."
"Alright, but we're picking up back up at the tower first," was Chloe response.
The next couple of minutes felt both like an eternity and a second all wrapped in one. They picked up Emily with Jessica, their only back-up because the residents were faced with troubles themselves. Emily had already explained where Aubrey was, so Chloe didn't bother updating her with changes in their plan.
All she could think about was Beca.
Beca who didn't even have Lilly for back-up.
Beca who was going at this alone.
All she could hope for was that they could make it in time to where she was.
This wasn't quite how he had thought of his afternoon panning out. But, if he were being honest, nothing has panned out as it should have since Beca Bella arrived. She has become an ever-persistent thorn in Chicago's side.
He had wanted to throw a wrench in Beca Bella's plans for a change that afternoon, plant the seed of doubt and mistrust between her and Chloe and watch them fight amongst themselves for a change. Isolate his enemy, weaken them before he moves in for the kill.
Unfortunately, Beca's own plans to ruin Chicago's plans were already set in motion before he could even enjoy the thought of ruining hers.
The first was an uploaded video announcing that the truth would be revealed that night about the death of the relatives of the victims of RDU-90. He had just arrived at the café where he planned to meet Chloe when he got the notification for the video. Chicago wasted no time and fished for the phone he kept on his inner right jacket pocket to summon his henchmen to send in their extermination specific team. This had to be done clean. As clean as the elimination of the family members. This was his chance to eliminate Beca Bella after all. He also ordered their "ground team" of local thugs to rough up the Barden Tower residents. He hasn't forgotten how they were a thorn to his side as well, and with them clearly behind the broadcasts, Chicago had to send a message to reinforce the idea that he was not to be trifled with.
The second was when Chicago thought casually dropping in the info that he had found out that Beca Bella was in the mafia to Chloe would ruin their relationship. She wasn't the shining white knight who have come to save them all, after all. But judging from Chloe's reactions, she already knew.
More than that, she didn't even seem to care.
Chicago wasn't sure if it bothered him more that Chloe's willing to work with a criminal or that she didn't care either way because it was Beca.
The only thing that can brighten his day overall is to find Beca bleeding to death on the road of the underpass.
Emily, Chloe's seemingly endearing paralegal friend, was calling someone on the phone about letting them through. Sure enough, Chicago saw some blockades about work being done where the trap was supposed to be sprung. He didn't see who had opened the way out for them, but he didn't care. All it told him was that Beca had a henchman or two in the shadows doing the dirty work.
The third thing that Beca Bella did that night to piss him off was finding her alive in the middle of the street. His team of five henchmen all wiped out on the road. In her hand was a gun, and in the other was a white phone.
She was hunched over one of them when they arrived, the lights of Chicago's car on her. Beca took notice and stood up, unfazed. She didn't need to be alarmed or curious of their arrival, but that was mostly because Chloe practically jumped out of her seat in the car to run towards her.
It almost knocked the breath out of Beca's lungs when Chloe reached her, arms readily wrapping around her for a tight hug, Chloe refusing to let go.
Chicago wasn't sure when he got out of the car himself. He was a bit on auto pilot. He was taking it all in. He wasn't sure if his hench men were dead, but Beca managed to take them all out unscathed. Then there was Chloe who only started to breathe again when she finally saw her alive. Jessica and Emily were quick to rush towards them but stopped midway to give them a bit of space. A flash of surprise graced Beca's face before it was replaced with concern.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, almost ready to reprimand both Chloe and Emily.
"What are you doing here, you idiot?" was Chloe's reply. "Why didn't you tell me about this plan? We're partners, aren't we? You could have died, Beca!"
"I…" Beca started to say, looking a bit lost. Chloe still hugging her tightly, burying her face in the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to get worried or do something reckless if you didn't agree. Besides, I knew I could handle it. But… I… I promise I won't do it again. I promise."
It was only then that Chloe let her go, shooting her a pout before heaving a heavy sigh. She looked around, "Are they dead?"
Beca shook her head. "No, they're no good dead."
Chicago steadied himself after hearing that. They don't know him, the real him. They haven't seen his face. He could let them be the collateral, captured and interrogated, and whatever else Beca had in store for them. He was cleared.
"So, is Babo one of them? You challenged him directly in your video right?" Chloe asked.
"I don't think so, but," Beca then said before turning her attention to the phone she had on one hand. She had it pressed against her ears, probably calling someone.
That's when the ringing occurred.
Of course, Chicago had his phone on silent, the one he used to call his henchmen, but apparently Beca Bella's ears were sharp and she could pick out the sound of it vibrating in his jacket pocket.
Chicago could feel his heart pounding loudly against his chest and hoped that Beca couldn't hear that as well as she took each step closer to him. He took a deep breath and acted the way he normally did.
He wasn't about to let Beca win.
He wasn't about to let her unmask him.
Beca quirked her brow at him as the ringing continued. "What?" Chicago asked.
"It sounds like you have a call," Beca replied calmly, eyes strictly on him.
Chicago reached for the phone in his left jacket pocket and showed the screen to Beca, which of course was blank. He wasn't an idiot like his brother, after all. He had two phones, with one strictly used for his "extra-curricular" activities.
The ringing stopped. Beca didn't seem convinced, but she didn't seem suspicious either, as far as Chicago can tell.
"You should go home," Beca then said. "Thanks for bringing Chloe and our friends here, but we've got this."
"Of course," Chicago replied with a terse smile. "I'll get going then," he said.
He did his best to stay calm on the way back to his car, even waving at them to say goodbye as he drove off.
He was disappointed things didn't go as plan, of course he did. He almost got caught too.
But he found himself excited with a kind of exhilaration at facing off his wits and tactics against Beca Bella. It made him feel alive like he never was before.
Chicago's never had an opponent like this before.
He was most certainly going to enjoy taking her down.
A/N Pt 2: The next chapter should, in theory, also be relatively short, but I might get carried away, so we'll see. More bechloe moments though!
UPNEXT: Interrogation! A quiet moment! And two scheming devils?!
