A'ight, now it's a race to the finish line and time for characters to start dropping like flies. The chapter title is explained in the chapter.
TW for death, murder, and mentions of suicide.
I don't own pitch perfect.
Things were falling into place.
Aubrey never imagined winning to be this sweet of a moment. CR gave her the champagne bottle for her to do the honors as the Barden Bellas celebrated their triumph against Babel. Barden Tower was preserved, with the judge ruling in favor of the residents. The ownership was returned to Luke and the person he represents, that is, Beca Bella, and Beca in turn signed over the tower to all the residents, promising to take care of the legal fees, taxes, and all.
Every one was in high spirits, cheering and renewing their promise to do everything in their power, now more than ever, to make Chicago and his allies pay.
Because while one battle has been won, the war wasn't over.
They still need to seek justice, for all of Chicago and Luisa's victims. For the Babel employees, the whistleblowers, their family members that they murdered. For Uncle Chris, and for Dr. Mitchell.
"Where's Chloe? And our favorite consigliere?" Stacie asked as she joined Aubrey's side once the party at CR's restaurant was in full swing.
"They're doing their own celebration," Aubrey replied truthfully.
Stacie quirked her eyebrows and smirked. "Oh?"
Aubrey chuckled and shook her head. Of course, Stacie's head went to certain places. "They visited their fathers, calm down and don't get ahead of yourself. Mind out of the gutter."
"Oh," Stacie replied, tone still rather flirtatious as she snaked her hands around Aubrey's waist. She pulled Aubrey close and whispered in her ears. "And here I was thinking about doing some of our own celebrating ourselves."
"What am I gonna do with you," Aubrey replied with a sigh, not really putting up much of a fight as Stacie slowly stole her away from the party to sneak off.
It was important to properly celebrate their wins, after all.
Chloe watched as Beca crouched down in front of her father's gravestone. They had visited Chloe's dad first, leaving a simple flower arrangement at both. Beca didn't say much or do much other than briefly reach out to trace her father's name on the marker. Chloe figured she was having a silent conversation with him, the best she knew how. It was a little unlike Chloe, who had chatted on and on in front of Beca, as if she was still talking to her father.
In some ways, the two of them were so alike that she had forgotten all about their differences as well. But Chloe supposed that it was those very differences that had allowed them to complement each other so well, working hand in hand in achieving their goals.
After a few more minutes of silence, and Chloe trying to converse with Dr. Mitchell in her thoughts, Beca finally got up and stretched a little. She turned to look at Chloe, her expression showing her unshakeable resolve, and gave her a nod. The two of them soon walked side by side back to the carpark, talking about lighter matters, Beca mostly asking whether they should stop at some place for food before heading back to the tower and celebrating with their friends.
"That would be nice," Chloe noted. "And I suppose we can also do a bit of early planning with what comes next. We still need to get Chicago out of jail, and accessible, right? Do you think Judge Smith will do as you had him promise?"
Beca nodded. "He will," she replied with certainty. "He values his life a lot more than anything else. I have to say though, I'm surprised to find the level of corruption I've found here in the States. I thought America was supposed to be all about freedom and democracy, not all this filth with power and wealth. I didn't think I'd have to put so much effort with trying to set things in order, but the greed and ambition of everyone we've dealt with has far surpassed my expectations. How can people accept this?"
"They don't, not really. Not everyone at least. A lot of us just feel completely burnt out and tired of it all. It's hard to fight when every side you can choose to help set things right are filled with people with their own agenda. As for those who do, well, they're willing to accept anything and overlook things as long as those they choose to be in power would echo their ideals and speak to their beliefs."
Beca shook her head. "Well, at least we can help take out a bit of the garbage they call as politicians, prosecutors, and business men. This is just a start."
Chloe nodded before stopping in her tracks as Beca continued on. Beca eventually halted and looked back, taking note of Chloe trailing behind. "What's the matter?" Beca asked.
"Well, we've secured the tower… and you're gold…" Chloe then said, melancholically. Her thoughts circling back to the one thing that has troubled her the past couple of weeks. "All that's left…"
"Does it bother you?" Beca asked, and for the first time in the past couple of weeks, Chloe sensed her tone falter. "What I have to do next?"
Chloe shook her head. "It's not that, it's just, with what you have to do… Once everything has been said and done, you might not be able to come back for a while…" she went on to say, swallowing the bubbling heartache and sadness. Beca had become such an integral part of her life since they met, since all this started, that she couldn't really imagine facing the coming days without her. Chloe took a deep breath and tried to smile with best smile she could muster. "I want you to know, even if… even if you leave for good, you'll be more than a simple memory to me… I… well I…"
Beca crossed the distance between them, pulling Chloe in a tight hug, not letting Chloe finish her sentence. If she were being honest, she very nearly let slip those simple words, the ones that carried all the weight of how she felt for Beca. Chloe settled into her arms, and wrapped her own around Beca herself.
"I'll come back, I'll find a way," Beca said. "How can I not?"
"Right, I still have your gold after all," Chloe teased, trying to make things more lighthearted.
"Everything else in this world is transitory, Chloe, but you, you're permanent to me," Beca then said, keeping a serious and sincere tone, pulling her closer in her arms. "The sun and moon are separated by night and day, as the earth keeps turning on its axis and completes its revolution. But still, the sun and moon meet, they find a way, during an eclipse, proving that nothing is impossible," she went on to say before finally releasing Chloe, and looking her in her eyes. "I'll come back, you'll see."
Beca smirked and let her go, leaving her speechless for the moment. She felt her grab her hand as they walked back to her car, Beca changing the topic to where they should go to eat.
Chloe nodded along absent-mindedly, wondering if she was the sun or the moon.
But it didn't matter in the end.
The world can keep turning, spinning, as the days go by.
She'll keep looking forward to the eclipse, and perhaps, on that day, Beca wouldn't find a way to stop her from telling her how she felt.
Perhaps that day can come, when saying won't be followed by a tearful goodbye, or end up being a distraction for a mission that was yet to come.
The party was in full swing. Beca stood outside the fourth-floor bar and restaurant that was all the rave these days in the popular mall in the city. The place wasn't too busy that night, it was the middle of the weekday after all, and the weather had been all over the place the past few days. It only stopped raining an hour ago, with the winds still blowing strong. Tonight felt like the perfect night.
She adjusted the black gloves she wore, made sure the black sleeves of the all-weather jacket she wore covered her wrists well and overlapped with her gloves. Her hair was neatly tied back and she even wore a cap to hide most of her features as she stood outside in the patio of the restaurant. They didn't bother fixing the chairs for outdoor dining that day, but there were still a few of the guests who would come out to smoke every couple of minutes or so. They didn't last long however, the wind too much for them.
Beca wore a black surgical mask as well, coughing every now and then as if to provide an excuse to why she was wearing a mask and not rouse suspicion, but for the most part, she kept to the darker corners of the terrace and made her presence feel small so that no one would pay her any mind. She kept her eyes on the only big party dining in, the team in the prosecutor's office of Kimmy Jin's district, mostly her juniors in the department, celebrating her promotion. This was their send-off party to her, at the end of the week, she would be moving on to greater things.
Or so they thought.
As the evening went on, the customers dwindled down, until it was only Kimmy Jin's party left. The group kept on drinking, asking for another round after another. They even got Kimmy Jin to deliver a passionate speech about never giving up and fighting for truth and justice, standing up for the little people, and all that. Beca scoffed at the irony of it, given her recent actions, while the rest of the prosecutors cheered.
Eventually, while waiting for another round of drinks, Kimmy Jin left the party for a smoke herself, unknowingly joining Beca on the outdoor patio, enjoying the view of the city with a smile.
"What a good speech, I wonder if you ever truly still believed in those words," Beca said, walking up to her and bringing her mask down her face to at least let Kimmy Jin know who she was.
To say that she was startled was an understatement. Kimmy Jin dropped the cigarette to the floor as she slowly backed away. "What do you want?"
Beca sighed and shook her head. "Did you forget? I promised you, didn't I? That once you get all you want, that's when I'll come to collect," she stated, matter-of-factly.
Kimmy Jin made a show to cry for help, or at least, tried to, but Beca didn't come alone, she had Lilly with her, and Lilly easily knocked her out before she could do anything. Sliding from out of the shadows she was hiding from, quick and efficient as always.
With Lilly's help, they managed to carry Kimmy Jin up to the rooftop of the mall. It wasn't that hard to gain access and get through undetected from security with someone like Stacie on their team. Lilly waited from the shadows as Beca propped Kimmy Jin against the safety railing on the ground, waiting for her to wake up.
When she did come to, Beca was quick to grab her by the collar of her shirt and raise her up, pushing her against the railings, lifting her up ever so slightly so that her bottom was practically sitting over the ledge.
Kimmy Jin tried to break Beca's grasp, clawing at nothing but the smooth surface of her jacket's sleeves. "Come on now, at least yours will be quick. Don't make this more difficult on yourself."
"You think you'll get away with this! This is murder!" Kimmy Jin argued.
Beca hummed. "Technically it will be suicide," she noted. "Tomorrow's headlines, I can imagine it now. Newly promoted chief prosecutor commits suicide during her celebratory party. They'll probably wonder why you would, I suppose people will fill in the blanks with what they think your reasons were. I can of course release the info I have on you, and all the dark deeds you've accomplished with Babel lately. Bending justice to the rich and powerful, but I'd rather leave your daughter with a pristine image of you as a career woman. Sure, she'd be heart broken losing you, but you're barely home anyways. It's her dad who's always been there for her. It's better this way, your daughter wouldn't know anything about your own corruption, and she wouldn't try to go on a misguided attempt of seeking vengeance when your hands were stained with the blood of Babel's innocent victims because you decided to work with Chicago instead of putting him behind bars. Lives lost… like my father's…" Beca said, trailing off.
Sometimes a simple yet selfish act can have big consequences. She could look the other way, she could let Kimmy Jin slip by. But she lived by a code, and it would be far more dangerous to let someone like her, someone who can't see beyond their own beliefs, who have convinced themselves that they are the heroes, the good guys, that they are just despite their self-serving methods, their greed and ambition, their corruption ruling their actions. Kimmy Jin fancied herself to be a champion of justice, a white knight, when in truth her armor hid the rot and decay of her so-called ideals. She justified to herself she was still right, when she let someone so dangerous as Chicago roam free and his power uncheck for the sake of advancing her own career."
"Good people, heroes, don't do this, this isn't justice," Kimmy Jin argued.
"I'm no hero, I never claimed I was," Beca replied. "Besides, this is just me taking out the trash."
"The only piece of trash here is you," Kimmy Jin then threw back.
Beca sighed, there was no saving her, or making her see the error of her ways. Not even until the bitter end. "Things could have gone differently you know, we could have ended this much sooner as allies, and you could have still advanced your career," she then said, looking at Kimmy Jin in the eye as she lifted her by the collar of her shirt, managing to lift her partially over the ledge of the railing. Kimmy Jin tried to kick at Beca, but as she briefly loosened her grip, she realized she might topple over the wrong side if she did and stopped.
Instead, Kimmy Jin held on tightly on Beca's arms. "Please, have mercy."
"The time for mercy has been long gone…" Beca replied. She steadied her stance as she tried to push away Kimmy Jin's hands on her arm with one hand, the other still steadily holding Kimmy Jin as best she could, but she knew she couldn't hold out for long, especially with how the prosecutor kept struggling to hold on to her. "Goodbye, Prosecutor Jin," Beca then said, releasing her grip with one final shove.
Kimmy Jin didn't even have a moment to react.
She fell straight down, landing on top of a moving car passing through the side of the street from where she had fallen. Beca didn't bother looking down, if the fall didn't kill her, then Kimmy Jin would have died from the cardiac arrest she would experience from the sudden feeling of falling. She wouldn't have survived the height from where she fell.
Beca heard cars screeching, some distant shouts, as she adjusted the cap on her face and slid into the shadows the night with Lilly.
That was one down.
It was time for the next.
Chicago was highly amused.
This was the second time that Beca Bella had graced his presence with a visit. He briefly wondered what she wanted, or if the glass wall that separated them bolstered her confidence to gloat. He had heard about the results of the trial, he even heard about Kimmy Jin's apparent suicide.
So, perhaps, the purpose of this visit was to get under his skin. She could try all she wants, but it wouldn't work. This was just a minor hiccup.
He's not going to be a sitting duck waiting for her to strike.
If anything, his time in isolation in prison has allowed him to reconnect to his most ruthless side.
He was ready to stir things up.
"What do you want this time?" he asked after taking a seat.
Beca pulled out her phone and showed him pictures of the Babel Tower's model in his house with a smirk on her face. Chicago wanted to try and break the glass between them right then and there, but he held himself back and kept his cool. She came to gloat after all.
"Enjoy your victories while you can," he said through gritted teeth as he forced himself to smile. "I've been too kind to you and your friends, I might have gone soft through the years. But my time here just reminded me of who I once was. You don't want to hear the stories I have of my youth."
"You mean killing your classmates?" Beca asked, remaining unfazed.
Chicago chuckled. "Ah, so you already knew the rumors were true," he said, leaning closer to the glass. He looked at Beca's wrist and eyed her watch. "I'll get out of here eventually, and when I do, you best be prepared," he said. "That's a nice watch," he then added with a smug smile. "Maybe I'll add it to my collection," he concluded, thinking back to his little collection of trophies from his earlier victims.
Beca laughed. "You do that then, and keep playing to my hands," she replied, but Chicago paid her words no mind. He wasn't going to let her get in his head, he won't fall victim to her mind games.
"Is that all?" Chicago then threw back. He wasn't afraid of her, no not at all.
"Il gatto sazio ha un fame," Beca replied.
"What?" Chicago then remarked. "You know, just because you can speak Italian doesn't make you intimidating or mysterious."
"The sated cat is hungry," Beca replied. "I am now a hungry cat," she reiterated. "I've had my first meal, but it wasn't really satisfying, I wonder what I should have next?"
Beca smiled as Chicago glared back at her. She was undoubtedly stating what was obvious, what Chicago had already suspected from the news. She killed Kimmy Jin.
And one of them was next.
Chicago scoffed as he watched Beca walk away.
No, he wasn't going to be intimidated.
This was far from over, after all.
But first, he needed to get out of prison fast. It was the only way he could make his counter attack, and come at Beca Bella with something unexpected.
I accidentally wrote a short Staubrey moment? lol
And Kimmy Jin bites the dust, wonder who's next…
The next chapters are more action and less convo though…
UPNEXT: The Kommissar makes a move; Amy and Beca have a moment; Chicago begins his counterattack