The update came sooner than I thought I could deliver.

Having said that…

I'm sorry in advance.

Also, TW for torture and graphic depictions of violence. For the most part, this will be in Beca's POV. You'll know when things are about to go down, it will be pretty obvious. Just in case though, Beca's POV is in two locations, it's when she gets to the second that most of the graphic violence occurs, in case you want to just skim through it. Overall, Beca's POV leans to being dark, so that's you're warning folks.

I don't own pitch perfect.


Things have been fairly busy at the law firm.

It's only been three days since the incident with Kirk Montmorth, and they've barely been able to take a break and relax. Theo Walters has shockingly been able to give them a steady supply of info on what Chicago's plans with regards to the tower was going to be. He's been mobilizing DSM on the legal front while also pushing for the return of RDU 90 and BLSD as the focus of Babel Pharm and Babel R&D, even asking Theo to take the lead with BLSD, convincing his brother he would give him Babel Pharm to be in charge of after a successful launch.

Theo wasn't buying it anymore though, but he played along with Chicago's plans nonetheless.

Aubrey has filed the motion for Dr. Mitchell's case to be retried, and while awaiting for updates, has fully shifted her focus on what they needed for a case against Babel and their illegal methods for obtaining Babel Tower and pushing its residents out. Chloe was hard at work helping her, while Beca was juggling multiple fronts – helping Emily sort through the Guillotine File, working on her problem with her gold bars, and plotting ways to derail Babel both in the case their building and in any and all plans they may attempt. Hopefully they don't resort to blowing up the building to get rid of the tenants again.

Chloe in the meantime had filed a complaint with regards to te bombing attempt, but any motion to sue or implicate Babel has been blocked by the prosecutor's office, Kimmy Jin personally taking charge. Beca simply laughed it off, noting how she was truly pushing her luck.

That afternoon, things were starting to fall in line and the busy atmosphere was grinding to a halt. Emily had fallen asleep on couch in their rest area, where the TV was. Beca looked thoughtful in her chair, looking at a photo she kept hidden in a black journal, while Chloe kept sneaking glances off her, a light smile on her face and Aubrey couldn't help but be curious why.

Aubrey volunteered to buy them all coffee, deciding to take a break and let Emily, who usually ran these errands, sleep it off. Beca declined her offer, but Aubrey didn't push as to why.

When she returned, Beca was gone, with just Chloe and a still sleeping Emily in the office.

"So, where did our beloved consigliere run off to?" Aubrey asked.

Chloe greeted her back with a smile as she gratefully accepted her coffee. "She left nearly twenty minutes ago, what took you so long?"

"There was an actual line, and I got coffee for Stacie too. I've dropped hers off," Aubrey explained.

"I'm shocked you're back so soon then," Chloe then teased.

Aubrey sighed and shook her head. "She's not up to something, is she Chlo?"

Chloe shook her head in response, "No, she's gone to visit Dr. Mitchell."

"Oh, and you stayed back for the coffee?"

"No, I figured they needed alone time," Chloe replied with a knowing smile.

And that's when it clicked for Aubrey. "How'd you find out?"

"About?" Chloe coyly asked back.

"About Beca's father," Aubrey then said, keeping her voice low and checking to make sure Emily was still happily snoozing away.

A brief look of surprise flashed by Chloe's eyes, she was clearly not expecting Aubrey to know the truth either. "How did you?"

Aubrey simply shrugged. "I have my ways, and you? Did Beca tell you?"

"No," Chloe replied, this time keeping her voice down to a whisper too. "Dr. Mitchell wrote me a letter. He gave it to me along with a scarf he made for her. He didn't know how to tell Beca he knew who she was, and so in case he wasn't able to, he wanted to make sure I could give her something from him."

Aubrey nodded along as she heard Chloe's explanation. "And did Beca tell you she was planning to talk to him?"

Chloe chuckled. "No, this is Beca we're talking about. She wouldn't directly say that. But we got photos taken when we took him out for a day and she's been looking at it all day. She promised to tell him soon, and the look of determination on her face when she left and said she's going to the hospital was all I needed to know."

Aubrey smiled, feeling a sense of lightness. She was happy to at least hear that, most especially for Dr. Mitchell. He's been punishing himself for long enough.

The two of them settled in on chatting up about other topics, mostly Chloe teasing Aubrey about Stacie and her not sharing much of anything about their relationship – not that they were dating or anything, they've never defined it explicitly, but they kind of were – and Aubrey lamented the fact that with Babel constantly coming up with endless shady schemes, they've barely had time to actually just hang out and catch up us best friends normally do.

Emily was barely stirring awake after their few moments of normal when Aubrey's phone rang, an unexpected call from the one of Dr. Mitchell's physicians.

Aubrey felt a pang of dread hit her as she saw the caller on her screen, what with Beca visiting the hospital that very moment too. A thousand thoughts all rushed through her mind.

"Who is it?" Chloe asked. Aubrey simply raised her hand as a response, gesturing for Chloe to wait a moment.

"Hello," Aubrey said, as she answered the call. It didn't take long for the person on the other line to give her the news.

Everything went silent, the room started spinning round, and Aubrey found herself collapsing on the floor, dropping her phone at the same time.

Surely she hadn't heard right.

Surely the doctor was mistaken about his message.

Chloe wasted no time in rushing to her aid, and a half-asleep Emily all but stumbled towards them to pick up the phone and hand it back to Aubrey asking what was wrong.

And Aubrey wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, she wanted to cry out, but she couldn't find the voice to do so.

Because it wasn't fair.

None of it was fair.


"Again," Beca said coldly, analytically, as she had the hospital's security staff playback the video captured by their security cams over and over again. It followed a man disguised as a nurse in scrubs travelling through the ER with a in an empty bad, and going to the floor, hall, and then room Dr. Micthell was in. Initially he looked to be transporting the bed where it was needed, only for it to be left in the hallway outside Dr. Mitchell's private room. The one security guard – sent by the prison, since Dr. Mitchell was still an inmate getting treatment after all – had asked what he needed from their room. The disguised nurse was quick to disarm him and snap his neck before entering the room.

He was in there for five minutes and four seconds.

Then he left.

The entire time he had a surgical mask on.

But Beca saw him.

Oh, he saw him.

On her way up to where Dr. Mitchell's room was. Beca took the stairs from the main lobby of the oncology wing up to the private rooms. That's when the man made the mistake of removing his mask during his quick escape.

She studied his movements in the video, memorized every quirk, every minor detail and train. She was sure it was the same as the man she ran into. They confirmed it was him based on the video that captured his departure, his back against the camera. They managed to get his side profile though, when he turned to give Beca a quick look as he went down the steps.

Perhaps that was destiny's design. Perhaps it was Fate.

But Beca wasn't feeling thankful at the moment, not to Fate and her cruel tricks.

No, she was seething. A dark cloud was forming over her mind, her blood boiling. And her heart? It felt like crumbling. But she wouldn't let it crumble, no. Not just yet.

If she had known who that man was, she would have stopped him right then and there.

If she had left earlier, she could have stopped him and prevented this nightmare from taking root. Instead, she was five minutes and four seconds too late.

Her phone buzzed, interrupting her thoughts. Jesse came through. All it took was the side profile from the security cameras and the right contacts. He had given Beca a name, a rap sheet, and an address, before frantically asking what was going on. Beca did not give him any answers. She didn't want anyone to interfere after all.

There will be time for answers later.

A time for mourning.

But now was not the time.

She hung up the phone, the address seared into her mind. Beca doesn't even remember the man's name, neither did she care about his rap sheet. They didn't matter to her, he was a dead man walking after all, why bother learning his name. All she needed was a face, and that address. The reason, she could already guess. He was just released from prison after all. Beca didn't need to know the rest, the pieces of the puzzle were forming together on their own. But she did want to hear the confirmation.

She could already guess who was behind it, but she wanted something more tangible.

Beca made a move to leave stopping for a second when she saw Chloe on Aubrey by the door of the security room. Chloe had already looked like she was crying, completely distraught. Aubrey too. A part of her simply wanted to run towards Chloe's arms, a part of her wanted to feel and be released from the sorrow that gripped her heart. She wanted nothing more but to grieve and not be alone.

But the mission comes first.

But the darker parts of her whispered and screamed deep inside, begging to be let out. A price must be paid for such transgression. Beca felt like dying on the inside after all, and she would stop at nothing until the person who caused her this pain feels just as much as she did.

That's why she decided to steel her heart. She looked at Chloe with nothing but a blank expression on her face. "Watch over him, until I get back," she said with a silent "please" that she hoped Chloe would sense.

Chloe looked at her with confusion and then understanding before nodding. Then and only then did Beca march out of the security room, out of the hospital, and straight into her car. She wasted no time in inputting the address on the GPS. She made a quick pit-stop at her apartment for a few things she needed, and headed straight to her intended destination. Only Lilly noticed her arrival, and perhaps, sensing how distraught Beca was, that's why she decided to trail her at a distance afterwards.

Beca found herself at a sketchy part of town, standing in front of the door into a dingy old apartment. She was partly running on autopilot, she knew, but that's mostly because she didn't want to think or feel anything. She only had one obsessive thought. To get answers.

And to get even.

When the door opened, she was greeted by the same man she briefly saw at the hospital. He was tall, quite muscular, with long dark curly hair. He looked quite upset at being interrupted with whatever he was doing, from the sound of TV announcers coming inside, he may have been watching a sports game.

"What?" he barked out rather annoyed.

Beca took a deep breath, and as she slowly exhaled, it felt as though her heart that had gone into atrophy was replaced by an ice box. Up until then, Beca felt as though she had been stabbed in the chest with a very sharp knife, with the tip of the blade breaking off and left behind after that knife had been pulled out. Now, in that instant she felt hollow, numb.

"You took something from me," Beca replied coldly.

The man scoffed, "Oh, and what? You're here to get it back? Go home, little girl," he said, before looking at her from head to toe rather appreciatively. "Unless you're thinking of paying to get it back."

Beca laughed in response, but there was no mirth in that laughter.

It was cold, and chilling. Even she knew that.

It seemed to have affected the man before her too, scared at Beca's demeanor. His attitude quickly changed and he tried to shut the door as fast as he could, but Beca stopped him. Placing a foot a between the door and the doorframe.

"Unfortunately for you, what you took can't be returned," Beca calmly explained. "Which means you're the one paying for the damages you've left behind," she went on to say, pushing the door open and walking inside. The man, not sure of how to react, simply walked a few steps back. Beca pushed the door close behind her, once completely inside and locked the door. "The question is, will your payment be enough to placate my wrath."

The man gulped but then shook off Beca's intimidation. He was practically twice her size after all. It was only a given he would try to show reason to Beca through his own physicality.

Unluckily for him, that's what Beca wanted.

The man all but lunged at Beca with a raised fist she easily blocked. She might be small, but Beca was strong. She also knew how to use her size to her advantage and to use her opponent's strength against them. The lumbering man before her was far to easy to read, and far less sophisticated than most of the assassins she's had to deal with. She wouldn't even need the gun she had hidden under her suit.

Beca blocked his punches with ease. Growing rather impatient, she kicked him to the side of his shin. There was a loud snap, a fracture, and the man all but lumbered down towards her. Beca landed a punch to the gut that had him almost fainting before pushing him to the side. The man leaned on the wall for support, trying to gather himself, but Beca would not let him. She grasped the collar of his shirt with one hand and with the other unleashed a slew of punches to his face, leaving him swollen, bloody, and bruised as Beca broke his nose, hit brow, his eye, the sides of his mouth.

With each punch, Beca felt both despair and relief. Despair from having relieved the moment she saw the guard outside her father's room, unresponsive on the ground. From walking into the room and hearing the telltale flatline. From the bedside tray lying on its side on the ground, the sheets on his bed all but wrinkled, the metal rod holding his IV bags also thrown aside, some lines removed… the signs of a struggle…

From walking towards him with a heavy heart… from not being able to bear to look too long at the bruises around his neck… or the picture of them on the ground that suggested to Beca he was looking at before his final moments…

Despair from when Beca's legs gave out and she collapsed briefly on the ground at her discovery.

And relief, from being able to dish out that same hurt that possessed her. With every punch, with every blow… a temporary salve from the unbearable pain of sorrow and grief, of regret and loss.

Not satisfied with just bloodying her fists, Beca used her knee to kick him in the gut again. Adding even more spatters of blood from what he's been spewing out. He tried to grasp a nearby lamp to smash Beca with, but Beca managed to block him. It did, however, cause her to let him go.

The man collapsed on the ground and tried to take her down from the floor, but Beca was quicker and countered with a kick to his ribs. Judging from the amount of blood he spat out, Beca guessed she also managed to break a few of his ribs. Hopefully the injury didn't cause any of the bones to pierce through his lungs. She wasn't done with him yet after all.

The man started crawling towards the coffee table of his small living room. Beca grabbed the lamp he tried to hit her with and stalked after him. He seemed to be trying to grab the knife he used to eat his dinner with, the one left on the now empty plate on his coffee table. But Beca was faster and managed to smash the lamp on the man's head before he could reach for it.

He lost consciousness after that.

Beca checked his breathing and quickly rummaged around his house to find something to tie him up with. She found a roll of duct tape and used it to bind his legs together and his arms behind his back in such a way that allowed Beca access to his hands. She grabbed a chair and placed it next to him, before grabbing an empty bowl and filling it with all the ice she could get from his freezer and some water from the tap. She sat down on the chair and poured the ice water on his head.

She was getting answers one way or another.

"Well, are you ready to talk?" Beca asked, unfeeling.

"I don't know anything," the man grumbled through gritted teeth.

Beca sighed and fished for her lighter. She grabbed one of his hands and placed his thumb in between the igniter and the lid of her lighter. "I haven't even asked anything yet, how do you know you don't have the answers…" she said and shook her head. "I have all evening, so I suggest that you talk."

"Whatever it is, I don't know anything," he insisted.

Beca pressed down on the lid of her lighter pulled it away, the motion causing friction, and with the thumb pressed on the igniter, Beca not only scratched but also burned the pad of his thumb. He yelped in pain, and Beca switched over too the man's index finger.

"Don't be mistaken, just because you only have ten fingers, this doesn't end in ten," Beca stated matter of factly. "You don't want to know how many ways I can make someone talk. If I were you, I'd start weighing my options," she went on to say. "You were in a hospital earlier, and killed a man. That man is my father, so you can see, it's perfectly understandable for me to be very pissed right now. I can kill you fast, or I can take my time in doing it. Those are your options. You take your pick by telling me who sent you, and where they are. I have options after all, the woman who put him behind bars from a cover up or a foolish young man and his even bigger of a fool right hand woman. Well, which is it, who sent you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man still insisted and Beca repeated her earlier actions with the lighter. Once more, he yelped in pain. Beca moved on to his middle finger.

"You're just injured right now, with cuts, scrapes, and bruises. And I've only broken a few bones. Do you know how many bones there are in a human body? You can find out once I slowly brake them one by one," she said, rather monotonously. "I promise you, I'll keep you alive long enough to feel each one break. If you think you're going to get out of this situation alive, and that's why you fear your employers more than me right now, then think again."

The man looked thoughtful for a minute and turned his head, from where he was lying down on the ground on his belly, to face Beca. Whatever dark expression on her face was at the moment seemed to have done the trick, because the look of terror on his face was unmistakable. "Well?" Beca pressed on.

The man nodded his head as best as he can.

"I'll talk, I'll talk," he cried out.

Beca steeled herself and schooled her features to give nothing away. "I'm listening."


Theo stood by the glass windows that ran from the ceiling to the floor of the private room Chicago had book, his eyes admiring the view. They were in an exclusive private bar, one where you can book entire rooms for your own use. The place valued privacy, and security was top notch. Theo could see at least two dozen private security officers in the garden that stretched between the gated entrance to the isolated building they were in. The place had about ten small two-story buildings, with varying room spaces. Some occupied the entire building, like the one they were in, with the private bar on the second floor with the first floor dedicated to a kitchen and its staff for catering services. Because of the exclusivity and top-notch service, Theo knew that the place had booking reservations filled up for the next two years. Chicago must have pulled some strings to get in on such short notice to have their reservation set-up.

This meant that his brother's moods were improving. More than that, he was celebrating something.

The question was what.

Theo dreaded to find the answer.

He found himself sitting on the couch next to Pietro when the Kommissar finally arrived, Luisa sat on the couch opposite him and Pietro, Chicago sat in an arm chair in between, looking both amused and deep at thought. "Well?" Chicago asked as soon as the Kommissar had herself comfortably seated.

"It's done sir," Luisa replied with a triumphant smile.

Chicago clapped and cheered. "That's what I'm talking about!" Theo felt nervous. His brother was riled up, and given his string of failures, their cause of celebration must be something big, something important.

"W-what is, sir?" Pietro asked.

"We finally, finally, got her back. Beca Bella finally knows the bitter taste of defeat. Now she knows, now she understands, what it means to mess with me," Chicago declared with a wicked grin.

"Um, and how exactly did we win sir?" Pietro asked unsure if he should be celebrating himself.

But it wasn't Chicago who answered. He was busying pouring himself a drink, before shifting his attention to the tablet where they can place their order. Instead, it was Luisa who explained. "A person's weakness is their heart, and what they hold dear to them. We took what was dear to her. A sickly father she's busy taking care of in a hospital."

Theo's stomach churned, his face turned pale, and he slumped back down the couch as he heard it.

"You killed a sick person?" Pietro nervously asked. Theo knew better. Based on the conversation, he already knew the answer.

Chicago had Beca's father killed.

"Brother, what have you done?" was all he could mutter under his breath. Theo didn't even know where to begin, or how to feel. He wasn't sure if he should be scared of what's coming now or if he wanted to check in and see how Beca was doing. Because he did care. She made him care, and he didn't even know how or when, but Theo knew it to be true. In the short time he's gotten to personally know Beca Bella, the one thing he knew for sure though was that Chicago had not won anything at all. He had just kicked the hornet's nest, tempting fate.

"You're not about to go questioning my decisions now, are you?" Chicago replied, placing a hand on Theo's right shoulder, and giving it a tight squeeze.

Theo gulped, his mouth went dry. He wasn't sure how to respond.

"Well?" Chicago pressed on, this time turning to look at Pietro.

"N-no, sir… it's just… well… aren't you afraid of what she'll do in retaliation?" Pietro replied.

Chicago let Theo go, leaning back on his seat and grabbing his drink. "Let's just call it a mercy, that's all I did," he then said grinning. "If Beca's smart, she'd go back to Italy. She knows she's no god. I can hurt her. I won't lose to her. If she truly values the thing she loves, she should know to back off now."

"Besides, have some backbone, will you?" Luisa then added. "This is an important victory in our fight. Something needed to be done, and the two of you keep cowering back in fear. Or are you abandoning us now, and teaming up with the enemy?"

"Hey, watch what you're saying!" Pietro then exclaimed, surprising even Theo at his rising tone. It's not that the Kommissar was wrong, but she wasn't exactly right either. Pietro had his own skin to save, his own agenda. Theo just wanted to end this madness and do what's right for a change.

And because of that, he felt guilty. He should've seen something like this coming. Luisa and his brother were thick as thieves lately, obviously scheming and plotting.

He should have tried harder.

And now because he didn't, another person was gone, thanks to Chicago's scheming.

When will this madness end?

Pietro and the Kommissar went at each other in a heated argument after that, Chicago didn't seem to mind them, focusing instead on the tablet, humming a happy tune as he thought of what to get. Theo doesn't even know how he has an appetite left. But then again, his brother was a monster after all. He shouldn't be surprised about the things he'd do or the lengths he'd go.

Theo wasn't sure what to do or how to act. It was hard for him to even pretend to be pleased with the news of what his brother had done. He stood up, nervous energy getting the best of him, and walked towards where he stood earlier. He didn't know what his next move should be. His brother sickened him deeply, especially with the despicable thing he had just done. Theo didn't know much about Beca's father, he had all but assumed he would be a mafioso not an ill man in Atlanta. To have someone on their deathbed killed? To steal away whatever precious moments were left? How could Theo even pretend to be happy about that? Even if it's just a role to play.

It was during the time he was mulling things over that he noticed something strange outside.

The private security guards positioned in the garden and the gate. All of them were currently on the ground, barely able to stand. Some looked to be groveling in pain.

Theo barely had the time to react when a tall, bloodied, muscular man all but stumbled inside their room. Both Pietro and the Kommissar stopped their bickering and gasped, Chicago quirked an eyebrow at the stranger.

His long black curly hair was matted with blood, and his face was swollen and bruised. One ankle was swollen, and one leg bent in a way that Theo didn't know was possible. One of his bloodied hands grasped the side of his rib cage. This made him look at both his hands, both of which were bleeding from the nails, his fingers shaking and burnt. The man was coughing blood and winced in pain as he walked inside, stumbled for a few steps, collected himself again and begged for help from the Kommissar.

Luisa looked frightened for a moment, before adopting a confused and uncertain demeanor to mask the fear. She looked poised as if she wanted to command the situation, but that she didn't know how. It was clear to say that they knew each other. the stranger called her boss after all, but that she didn't want to acknowledge him.

If Theo were a betting man, he'd guess this was the henchman Luisa sent to do his brother's bidding.

The stranger tried to approach the Kommissar, slowly moving towards her, from the middle of the room.

But before he could reach them, a bullet passed through his chest. Once and then twice, coming from his back. The stranger soon collapsed on top of the glass coffee table.

All eyes were on him for a second or two before everyone shifted their attention to their other guest by the door.

And who else would be there, but one Beca Bella?

Beca walked in, a blank expression on her face. Her hair was sleeked back, blood spattered all over her cheeks. Her black suit was open, revealing a white button down, with the top three buttons unfastened. Blood stained the collar of her shirt, and were spattered here and there. Her hands were bloodied too, not that Theo believed for one second that any of that blood was hers.

Her eyes were cold, her expressions schooled to give away nothing, as she walked into the room. She placed on hand in her pocket, while the other still grasped the pistol she used to kill the stranger, a silencer attached to it. She was rather calm, given what Chicago had done, and Theo found that calmness unsettling.

The gun was very much pointed at Chicago as she walked in, before she shot the two lamps next to him, and then pointed it back again to him.

Chicago jumped in his seat before leaning back after the two warning shots. Luisa screamed and ducked down the floor, hands on her head, for cover. Pietro jumped over the couch to hide behind it, hand on his head as well. The shot surprised Theo as he crouched down, eyes fully studying Beca, never for even a minute scared he would be hurt.

Beca's eyes were only on Chicago after all. She spared Luisa a glance as she sighed, before scanning the room to find Pietro.

But never for a minute did she look at Theo.

Theo gulped, but he found that he wasn't scared at all. If anything, he was mostly curious.

Curious at Beca's changed demeanor. Cold as ice, and calm. Chicago scowled. Theo supposed his brother was expecting her to go wild, or breakdown. Either way, this was not what he was expecting.

Beca was efficient and unaffected if anything. Theo spared the guards outside a glance once more. They were alive but hurt. Beca took them all down by her lonesome it would seem.

Theo felt a chill go down his spine. The calm Beca displayed was rather unsettling, and it was clearly affecting Chicago was barely doing his best to mask his fear right now. Despite staring back defiantly at Beca, Theo could see his legs shaking, perhaps in anticipation, of what Beca would do in her anger.

Because Chicago's anger was explosive. It was wild fire.

Beca was a cool yet hot invisible flame. Theo wasn't the smartest person in the room, but he did hear someone once say that the hottest part of a flame was not the wild red of the fire, but the almost invisible core surrounded by the blue hues of the flame.

Beca took a deep breath and slowly released it. "You know," she said rather calmly. "I was going to let you live. You kept pushing the boundaries and testing my patience, but I still figured the best punishment was to allow you to wallow in your misery and defeat. That's what's really going to make you pay for your crimes. But you had to go and cross a line, didn't you?"

"Kill me, then," Chicago dared challenge with some false bravado that he could still muster. Theo wasn't sure, but even he could tell, that Beca had no intention of pulling the trigger right then.

Beca smiled lightly, amused by his challenge. But that smile did not touch her eyes at all. There was no warmth to it, no genuine emotion. It wasn't even sarcastic. No. Something told Theo it was the knowing smile of a predator playing with their food.

"Oh, I will," Beca said, matter of factly, while Chicago scoffed. Beca shifted the gun to point towards the Kommissar, then towards Pietro, and then back to Chicago. "But not tonight," she then added knowingly. "You don't deserve an easy death after all."

Chicago scoffed again and leaned forward. He was putting a defiant attitude on for show, a confident smirk on face. "You don't have the – "

But Beca didn't let him finish. Instead, she fired a shot at his right ear. The shock of it caused Chicago to lean back and flinch. The wound started to bleed, the bullet having left quite a tear to the lower half of Chicago's ear. Pietro cowered down lower, while the Kommissar looked like she wanted to rush by his side.

Beca spared her a glance and she cowered back down too.

She looked at Chicago amused. "I'll make you a promise," she said calmly. "First, I'll take away everything you hold near and dear. Everything important to you. Your allies, your wealth, your name, your tower… everything. Then, once you have nothing else left to lose, you beg me to kill you. Only then will I kill you. It won't be easy. You don't deserve an easy death, so don't worry. I'll make sure, you feel every excruciating minute of it," she went on to say before sparing Luisa and Pietro a glance once more. "All of you will."

"Just kill me now!" Chicago barked back before laughing. "Come on, do it, you coward!"

Beca replied by firing shots all over the room, not once pointing at anyone. When she finally pointed the gun back to Chicago and fired, no bullets came out. Theo guessed she probably counted each shot and knew that she wouldn't kill Chicago then. She looked amused enough to see his brother jolt out of his seat again before ducking down when Beca made a move to fire the shot his way.

"Patience," Beca told him coldly. "You'll see hell soon enough."

With that, she turned to leave.

Theo stayed on the floor for a minute or two processing the situation. Only Pietro and Kommissar got up as soon as they saw Beca out of sight to fuss over a frustrated Chicago and his latest injury.

Theo didn't know what to make of everything that happened.

As he watched his brother and the two lawyers in the room with them, one thing became clear to Theo.

Their days were numbered.

Chicago, Luisa… their actions had very well signed their own death certificates.

Because Theo knew.

The devil has announced the time come to collect was coming.

And soon this will all be over.


Chloe felt numbed.

She's been crying nonstop for hours now, silent tears staining her cheeks, quiet sobs escaping her lips, Aubrey was just about the same, Emily too, who they decided was best to leave behind in the office to let the residents know what was going on.

The two of them stood outside the room where they kept Dr. Mitchell in after preparing his body. Beca had asked them only one favor, to keep him company until she got back, and that's what they intended to do. But they do handle grief differently. Aubrey had sharp focus, already making the necessary calls to make sure everything was ready for Beca's final approval. If anything, to make things simpler for her, easier in some ways.

Aubrey had a need to be busy.

Chloe though, she was paralyzed by the pain she felt.

How could anyone be so despicably cruel as to kill an already dying man?

How could anyone be so heartless?

"I'll go on ahead," Aubrey suddenly said, taking Chloe out of her own reverie. "Take care of her," she added and nodded towards Beca's direction from the end of the hall. Chloe nodded, never taking her eyes off on Beca for a moment.

Her hair was styled back, her black suit and the white button down she wore underneath were both all wrinkled. Blood spatters stained the white shirt, as well as her cheeks. But neither Aubrey nor Chloe said anything about it.

Aubrey gave Chloe's hand a squeeze before leaving. She placed a hand on Beca's shoulder as they walked pass each other, something that Beca barely took notice off. It was like she was on autopilot. Her features schooled to give nothing away, but as she walked pass Chloe, she couldn't help but see the turmoil reflected in her stormy blue eyes.

Chloe didn't say hi or do much of anything, she had let Beca walk pass her, something deep inside told her she needed a moment to be alone and let it all out.

The doctors inside the morgue left her alone, stepping out once they brough Dr. Mitchell's body out. Chloe stood guard by the door. She wanted to give Beca her privacy, but also wanted to be there if she needed someone, anyone… her.

Chloe leaned back on the white-washed walls of the hospital basement the moment she heard Beca cry out loud for the first time. The pain in her voice was enough to break Chloe's heart all over again. She slid down on the floor and tried to keep the fresh wave of tears and sobs at bay, not wanting to make as much of a noise as Beca was.

She didn't have to guess the pain Beca was feeling, she knew it firsthand.

And hearing Beca go through it was like reliving the nightmare DSM and Babel gifted her not so long ago.

Soon, she crashes, the sound of metal trays and small equipment falling off the floor followed by a heart-wrenching cry of "Papa."

The way Beca's voice trembled, the way it crumbled, when she said it over and over again followed by apologies… Chloe never thought she would make such a sound. She never thought that she would ever witness the day that the ever so effortlessly cool, calm, and collected consigliere of the Bella family would fall apart like she did.

The noises quieted down inside, and soon Chloe found herself calming down too. She sat on the floor for a few more minutes, unsure if she should check in on Beca or not, but the need to hold her together, no matter how much both of them were falling apart right now – Beca more so than herself – won over in the end.

Chloe wasn't sure what she was expecting when she opened the door to the room, she just knew that she didn't expect to see Beca on the floor next to where Dr. Mitchell laid, covered in a white sheet, her knees brought close to her chest as she buried her head in her arms. She looked so vulnerable, son fragile in that moment, when for so long she looked so unshakeable and unmovable. She had been the one holding the Barden Tower residents together for so long, the one leading the charge to fight for them. And now she had paid the ultimate price for it.

Chloe walked in and in swiftly collapsed on the floor behind Beca. She wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close to her chest, Chloe burying her head on the crook of Beca's neck from behind her. Beca kept silently sobbing, but nevertheless welcomed her presence. Pulling Chloe's arms closer around her, and leaning back on Chloe. She wanted to say something to comfort Beca, but Chloe found no words to say. After a few minutes, it was Beca who broke the silence.

"Chloe… I… I can't keep my promise to you…" she said, in between sobs. A cold whisper in the even colder, barely lit room they were in. "I-I… I can't give them mercy…"

Chloe pulled Beca impossibly closer, thinking back to the day Beca visited her father's grave and the promise she made that she wouldn't kill anyone because Chloe asked her not to.

In a way, Beca had kept that promise to this day. Sure, she wasn't sure of what happened to the thugs they caught, the ones they captured and interrogated in the van. The ones who killed the family of Babel's victims. When she asked Beca what happened to them, Beca simply said she didn't let them go and asked Tommy and Justin to take care of things. That's all she said, and it was enough for Chloe to know that though she didn't kill them, she had at the very least she had signed off on their deaths.

She accepted it as it was. Beca was part of the mafia after all.

But this time? It felt like she was asking for permission to do the dirty work herself.

She could never quite wrap her head around the image of Beca killing anyone. She had always believed that if it were true, it would be like she was from another world. It felt like if it were true, then the distance between them were somehow greater, making Beca harder to reach.

But at this moment, Chloe knew that wasn't true. She was still Beca.

Chloe nodded, that was all she could give as a response. She pressed her lips on the crown of Beca's head and resigned herself to the only outcome left.

Babel had taken so much from them, and in return, they have given them so much grief, sorrow, pain, and loss.

"Do what you have to do to make them pay," Chloe then whispered.

Beca stirred and turned around. She pulled Chloe closer and wrapped her own hands around her, burying her head on her chest as she fully collapsed into her arms, allowing herself this moment to be comforted from the hurt and pain she had felt.

Chloe obliged and held onto her tighter. She didn't think much about what they just talked about. She didn't want to think of the worst or to judge either.

She had fallen in love with Beca Bella for all she was, both the light, love, empathy, and principles she saw in her and the shadows and darkness of the world she belonged in. Right now, she was in great pain, right now she had lost something very dear to her. All Chloe could focus on was to hold the pieces of her breaking heart together and be there for her.

As for Babel? DSM? Chicago?

They had all gone too far.

And Chloe knew she could no longer keep the devil on a leash.

It was time to unleash hell on them.


Chicago stood in the middle of his living room, ears still stinging from where Beca shot him. Hi eyes briefly landed on his reflection off the glass case that his model of the Babel Tower was kept in. The bandaged area a reminder of Beca's promise.

But Chicago was unfazed.

Beca can make her threats if she wanted.

Things were turning up for him, this is only the beginning of his era, his rule.

And soon he will squash those annoying residents, continue to watch as Beca Bella crumbles.

He's hurt her, wounded her.

She was mortal after all.

Chicago grinned and made his own silent promise.

He will end her once and for all, once he has everything he wanted.

He fully believed that he would have the last laugh.

But that's how it often goes with fools who bite off more than they could chew. Who failed to see past their ego.

Unbeknownst to him, a storm was brewing. One he helped create. One he failed to see and acknowledge as a threat.

A fury of a devil scorned.


A/N Pt 2: Who needs a hug? Raise your hand…

I'm following the main plot of the show it was based on, I'm sorry for the heartache. Unfortunately, the event that happened in this chapter was the catalyst for, uh, Beca's ultimate plans.

But yeah, the body count continues to grow… and it will keep on growing… No one's safe guys…

Especially now that Chicago has officially pushed all of Beca's buttons and Beca, who barely had her feet off the brakes, now has it firmly on the gas pedal.

Let the "fun" times roll!

UPNEXT: The Tenant Come Together! Beca Hijacks an Event! More Casualties?