Oh right, there's a cliff hanger in the last chapter… I should start this update addressing that, shouldn't I?
Only 11 more chapters to go, things are going to start being neatly tied together, can't afford any lose ends after all.
I don't own pitch perfect.
"That's how it happened," Theo concluded, clutching on the wound on his arm. He was currently in a private room of the hospital, surrounded by Chicago, who sat on a chair near the bed both seething and in disbelief, the Kommissar, who stood at the food of his bed, clutching on the footboard, incredibly frustrated, and Pieter, who had resorted to pacing all over the room, clearly nervous.
"So, you're telling me," Chicago then said, head in his hands, that Beca Bella somehow got wind of our trap, brough her own men to surround the Interpol agents with her own snipers hiding up the stands of the ice rink, and had them shot dead. All of them."
Theo nodded, scared. "That's when she had the two police detectives with them and me abducted and taken into an empty shipping container by the shipping yard," he went on to reiterate. "She warned the two detectives not to interfere with her business again, and then shot me in the arm, like how she shot you in the ear as a warning," Theo went to say, pointing to the stitched-up rip in Chicago's ear
"What I don't understand is how did she know?" the Kommissar asked, fuming before glaring at Pieter.
"Don't look at me, this was my plan. If she found out I'm behind it, my life is going to be in mortal peril," he reasoned.
"To be honest, I don't think she cares," Theo then said, shaking and sobbing. "She-she said the only reason she's sparing me right now is because she's prepping for a more painful death."
"This is bad," Chicago then said. "You don't think she now has a mole in the police department do you? After her stunt with the approval event?"
"Well, the CIA did claim she was their asset," Luisa then remembered. "We have to be more careful next time."
Chicago nodded and stood up. "I suppose I should be glad you're still alive, you did your best, brother," he then said towards Theo before ushering the Kommissar and Pieter out to strategize their next move, leaving Theo alone.
Theo slunk back on his bed and pulled the covers above his head, his body shook as he sobbed, reliving the traumatic event.
Or, at least, that's how he sold it, in case Chicago bugged his room.
The truth was that he was trying to stop himself from sniggering. Their plan had worked.
What plan? Well, the one he hatched with Beca of course.
Naturally, when he heard of Pieter's trap, the first order of business for Theo was to warn Beca. That's how they hatched their latest scheme, one that Beca used to her advantage.
Emily Junk, the paralegal in the Beale and Posen law firm, was an expert stage props artist. She placed a bag of fake blood underneath Beca's hockey jersey, one that she can remote control trigger in time for Theo to shoot Beca with a blank bullet. Was Theo nervous as heck? Absolutely. But Beca was convinced that it helped sell his act better. They timed the shooting just as the Interpol agents and the police detective arrive to witness their scripted dramatic exchange.
One of the agents skated towards Beca to confirm her death, something Beca predicted well. That's when Beca managed to out maneuver and disarm him of his gun. Beca pointed the gun at the agent while Theo pointed his at one of the other agents. On cue, some of the tower residents – the Trebles, CR, and Jessica, appeared from the upper decks of the rink with toy sniper rifles. The agents and detectives fully believed them to be the real deal. Emily even set-up a few laser pointers in the rafters to make it appear there were more of them.
The agents and detectives laid their weapons down, believing they were surrounded. Jesse and Lilly skated onto the ice, Jesse showing his CIA badge to state that Beca was their asset helping them with a few cases while Lilly handed the Interpol agents a golden flash drive.
"I'm making you a deal," Beca had said. "That drive contains all the evidence you'll need to put Paulo Bella and his associates, including some members of notorious mafia families, behind bars. I'm sure if the detectives agree to help, that you're all going to be looking at promotions and career advancements. In exchange, you'll forget about the events that happened here today and retreat quietly back to your bases. That, and the Bella family is off limits. They're completely legit now after all. Only Paulo and his men are still behind nefarious deeds. Like my CIA friend here said, I am there asset after all. I'm only here to help."
The agents agreed, and so did the detectives.
On their way out, once the whole affair was over, Theo asked Beca to shoot him cleanly in the arm, to really sell his act to his brother. Beca was hesitant at first but Theo was insistent. Eventually she complied.
That's how he fainted. He was apparently found by Pieter at a shipping yard. He assumed Beca and Lilly took him there, as that was where Beca had initially wanted to drop him off.
Theo smiled to himself contentedly underneath his sheets.
Things were going all according to plan.
And he even got to flex his acting chops.
Maybe he should consider going into acting?
Beca sat patiently in silence as she and Pieter, who invited her to a dinner at a steak house, waited for the food to be served. The two of them were the only people in the closed-off private room on the second floor of the restaurant. It's usually reserved as an events space, but Pieter seemed to have either pulled some strings or paid a lot of money for them to be allowed to use it with just the two of them.
Pieter looked nervous. His reason for the invite was to extend an olive branch to Beca, possibly avoid being on her list. Beca agreed, seemingly buying his reason, but in truth she was more alert than ever. Lilly waited outside in case she needed back up. This could very well be a trap after all.
Beca griped her steak knife tightly as the food was served, staying vigilant.
"Well, first off all, we'd like to apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused you," Pieter then started saying, still too nervous to eat. "I still believe that we can come to an agreement."
"You have nothing to offer that I'm in desperate need off," Beca answered cooly before she let out a chuckle. "To be honest, I thought you called me here to beg for your life. A little birdy told me that the plot with the Interpol agents was your doing. Quite sloppy planning in your plan, really. If the FBI and CIA didn't work, what made you think this would succeed?"
"Hey now, I'm still your elder, show me some respect. Besides, you don't even know what I have under my sleeve. I might just offer you a deal of the lifetime."
"I'm not interested," Beca replied adamantly.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Ms. Bella," Pieter then said, snapping his fingers. Ten guards then came in, all armed with their own handguns, all equipped with silencers. "I hope you understand, I have to prioritize taking care of myself. I'm done with all these threats. You can walk away with your life, have a good meal with it too, if you agree to my terms.
Beca laughed in response.
"Take me seriously!" Pieter demanded, slamming his fists down on the table.
Beca had to admit, she was curious about what Pieter thought he had as leverage, but she has had enough of his farce. He was playing at being intimidating, but other than his height, he had nothing else going for him.
With one hand, Beca flipped the table over, causing a brief second of confusion, and used the steak knife to stab at the hand of one of the guards Pieter had hired. She had stolen his gun, shot him in the foot, and proceeded to shoot down about four others at the foot, ankle, or knee. The other five were knocked unconscious by Lilly who had stealthily snuck in the room.
Beca calmly walked over towards Pieter who was about to stand up his chair, gun pointed at him. He quickly sat back down with a whimper. Lilly behind her had unsheathed her katana, ready to strike at anyone who would attempt to even look at Beca from the guards still conscious and injured.
"I'll be merciful this time, considering I should thank you for your stunt. You gave me a golden opportunity to capitalize on and get rid of my brother," Beca then said, placing the end of the silencer attached to the handgun against Pieter's forehead. "I'll let you choose, which will it be? A bullet to your heart?" Beca asked, briefly pointing the gun on his chest, right above where his heart would be, "Quick but bloody, or should I blow your brains out?" she went on and added, pointing it back to his forehead.
Pieter was sweating in his seat, visibly gulping, hands raised up. "P-please… you don't wanna do this… We're it a private room of a public restaurant. Are you really going to try and get away with killing someone in a public place?"
"You really should have done your research then," Beca replied. "Come on now, at least I won't have you begging for your death, considering you're really testing my patience here."
"T-think about this, Beca Bella, I mean… Ms. Bella… I could still be of use to you… If-if you don't kill me now… I-I can be your mole inside Chicago's team. Give you intel."
Beca chuckled. But this was yet another golden opportunity for her to capitalize on, if anything, should Chicago start doubting Theo, she can serve Pieter on a silver platter to protect a tried and tested informant. "You can live," Beca said, lowering the gun, "For now at least. But when I call, you better answer and give me what I demand of you."
"Y-yes… just… I'll give you all the info you need, j-just spare me…"
"I'll think about it," Beca replied, emptying the magazine of the gun. She handed Lilly the magazine before completely dismantling the handgun. With that she turned to leave with her body guard.
A smirk played on Beca's lips. Chaos was descending down Chicago's camp. It was prime time to make her move.
Time to play with the prey.
Stacie propped open her laptop. They were all gathered in CR's restaurant for their daily lunch meeting. Not wasting much time, as the trial for Barden Tower draws near, Beca wanted to make sure that everyone knew their assignments well.
They were all dressed to impressed, the Barden Bellas were getting straight to work after their meeting was done after all.
Stacie sent the video to everyone so that they'll have it ready. She sent herself a copy as well, for easy access on her phone. "Done, consigliere," Stacie then said to confirm her work was done. The chiming of various ringtones filled the place, everyone at the table confirmed receipt of the video.
"Good," Beca then said and thanked Stacie before addressing everyone. "We already know how much our opponents play dirty, and how they'll resort to any and all underhanded tactics available to them to ensure this trial doesn't even go through to begin with. Kimmy Jin is giving us a hard time, but Aubrey is doing what she does best to ensure we get a shot at a trial."
"And it's our job to make sure it's a fair one," Chloe then added and Beca nodded.
"Be confident. Be unshakeable. The people you're about to meet fear no one because they think they're untouchable. But you're going to remind them the power the people have. They think their victims are all too honorable to ever play the game the way they do, and you're going to show them that while you all are honorable, there's a time and place when honor in the battlefield no longer applies. All bets are off. Don't be scared of them, because you're the ones who they should be afraid of. The ones who will shake the uneven scales of justice, the ones unafraid to move forward and fight for the truth, no matter how dirty you get. Because you're fighting for a cause."
"Yes, consigliere," everyone replied in chorus.
Beca smirked. Chloe looked mighty impressed by her speech, Aubrey too.
Stacie would be lying if she said she wasn't either.
It's time they took a stand.
CR held her phone up for the head of the state assembly, Yoko Shinra, to watch a video of herself hurriedly ripping the contract she signed with Babel apart, chewing, and swallowing the document. The video was obtained from the event, of course, all thanks to Stacie who was sat in the opposite chair across from Yoko Shinra's office.
"That's quite impressive ma'am, were you a goat in your previous life?" CR then asked after the clip had finished playing.
"What do you want?" she asked rather apprehensively. "How did you even get that video?"
"Hotel security," Stacie simply replied. "Not that it matters."
"What matters is," CR then said, taking over, "you understand that this video isn't the only evidence we have with your corrupt dealings. The Barden Tower trial starts soon, and you can be rest assured that it will go on. We wouldn't want this video slipping out in the public, right? We're quite considerate to your office after all, that we're even volunteering to keep the trial behind closed doors."
"But all it takes is one slip of a finger…" Stacie then said, before showing the next video of Babel's allies, including Yoko, accepting golden toad statues as bribes from Chicago after the disastrous events, as dated in the video.
"What we want is simple, don't interfere with the trial, and refuse to help Babel," CR then said.
"Don't even worry about their chairman, the devil's already taking care of him," Stacie then said knowingly.
"Let's just say, his soul is now forfeit. You wouldn't want to risk your life or career for a forsaken man, now would you?" CR concluded.
Yoko Shinra didn't even argue, she simply agreed. She even signed a legal statement that Chloe prepared beforehand, one about Babel's intended corrupt dealings that she so refuses to comply with.
CR smirked. It was mission accomplished for them. Here's to hoping Denise and Flo were being met with the same success.
Denise was quite amused and chuckled. The chief of the state construction office, Rudy Reno, on the other hand was the exact opposite, as he sighed and placed his head between his hands as Flo played the clip for of him down on his knees promising to abandon Babel and stuffing his mouth with a crumpled piece of paper.
"Pretty embarrassing if you ask us," Flo commented as she pressed play on the second video of him accepting a bribe. "On the other hand, that one's pretty damning."
"A suppose you're showing me this for a reason?" Rudy asked.
"You're dirty little secret with your affair with Babel is safe with us," Denise then explained. "If you can keep to your promises, abandon them and not interfere with the trial."
"Pretty simple if you ask us," Flo added. "If you ask me a far more terrifying punishment is necessary for you working with monsters."
"But we'll be satisfied with just what we've asked," Denise continued. "Don't even think about doing anything hilarious and making any other deals or moves. We're not ones who bluff. Our boss ain't one to do so either, and she's already very pissed off."
"Yeah, I wouldn't piss her off even more," Flo agreed.
"Alright, alright, you got it," Rudy then said. "A deal then?"
Both Denise and Flo nodded. Denise, for her part, felt might proud of herself. It was smooth sailing for them. She wondered if the others were having an easy time too.
She knew for a fact that Jessica and Lilly were up against probably the hardest man to intimidate in the bunch.
Here's hoping they pull it off.
Jessica had practically shoved her phone to the face of the chief of police, Winston Biggs, showing himself straight up swallowing entire swathes of papers for the documents he signed with Babel before falling down on his knees and begging for his life.
He looked pretty pissed at the moment, but Jessica wasn't fazed.
"Wonder how your men would feel when they see this," Jessica noted.
Chiefs Biggs glared back before looking behind him and slinking down his seat. Behind Jessica was Lilly, and unbeknownst to her, Lilly was exuding some pretty scary energies. Enough to make a grown man cry, whimper, and beg for their mothers.
"Well?" Jessica pressed on, turning up the heat.
"What do you want from me?" he grumbled before looking behind Jessica again. He visibly gulped, before adopting a softer tone. "I mean, if you're concerned about Babel, I already denounced them."
Jessica then played the next clip of him accepting bribes.
"That was just reckon mission, do you want me to give you the toad statue to submit as evidence by your legal team? If you need additional witness testimonies, just let me know."
"O-okay then, good," Jessica then said with a triumphant smile before looking back at Lilly herself. Lilly had just about sheathed her katana and looked away by the time she turned her attention to her.
Jessica gave Lilly a thumbs up and Lilly nodded.
Even the chief of police was no match to them. But Jessica wasn't worried about it either.
The only ones she was really nervous about was the men Ashley and the reformed Trebles were after.
Egoistic rich politicians who think they're gods. Worst scum of the earth.
Boy were they about to have their bubbles burst.
Ashley pulled up a chair around the table where a handful of state senators were seated for a private lunch. They all looked at her with disdain but chose to say nothing, what with Donald and Uni standing behind her, with a look of intimidation in their eyes. Bumper procured a tabled and pressed play on a video of them at the event, eating documents they signed with Babel, and then a video of them accepting bribes afterwards.
Needless to say, the senators were outraged. Not that Ashley cared. They can stay outraged if they liked, so long as they do as they are told.
"I don't think those videos are gonna do you favorably in the next election cycle," Ashley then said.
"Of course, we can keep things hush hush if you do us a simple favor," Bumper added.
"Don't interfere with the trial for Barden Tower, and keep to your word of cutting ties with Babel," Ashey continued.
"Or else," Bumper then said knowingly, followed by Uni and Donald making a slicing action with their thumbs across their necks. "Our boss isn't one to be trifled with, we don't think you'd want to call the bluff."
The senators looked at each other uncertain but nonetheless nodded and agreed. The trebles handed them documents to sign, sworn statements Babel and all that, to make things legally binding.
Ashley smirked, mighty proud of their work.
They might have a future in the mafia after all.
With their friends' missions completed, it was Benji's turn with Jesse and Luke.
Benji took a deep breath and steadied himself. Their assignment was probably the most difficult and the riskiest of all, that's why Luke was there to supervise and help them out.
In a count of three, Jesse broke the glass on the sliding door of Chicago's home, the one that led to his pool. It was the middle of the night, Chicago was already asleep in his bedroom based on their surveillance.
The sound of braking glass, triggered the alarm. The three of them fore black clothes and ski masks to conceal their identities. While they heard Chicago rushing down stairs, the three of them ransacked his living room.
Chicago was in his designer sleepwear, that pompous prick, and as soon as Luke raised his baseball bat and Jesse rushed towards him, the coward started running out of his own house.
Which was fine for Benji, they needed to leave soon anyways before the cops arrived. They chased Chicago for about two blocks before they lost him. Benji wasn't sure if that did the trick, but the plan was to scare him and make him paranoid that Beca's coming for him. That she's sending people after him.
Here's to hoping that their first scare succeeded.
Benji was definitely looking forward for more.
Flo was rushing up to stairwell, on her way to CR' restaurant where they've been having their weekly Barden Bella lunches. She was doing her duty of informing anyone and everyone in the building of any new developments and strange visitors. She had just gone to tell Amy in her temple about the tall, dark, and handsome Italian man with short-cropped hair, who knocked on her canteen's closed doors, looking for someone who can point her to the direction of Beca Bella.
They had to be on guard after all, especially after the Interpol incident. But the man, who barely spoke English and had to use a translator app to communicate, didn't seem like he was there to arrest Beca or intimidate any of them.
Amy, while curious about the visitor, had to decline snooping around. She had a sack like backpack on, and excused herself claiming that she needed to go beg for alms. With their business places temporarily shut down – a sign of their resolve – Flo assumed that Amy had fallen on harder times than usual, and thus need to do some extra legwork. Flo asked if she needed help and Amy declined. While she was keen on helping Amy out, Flo had to be honest and admit she was thankful that she didn't.
Whatever it was that Amy was carrying seemed to be literally weighing her down, for one. Two was that she was mostly interested about the Italian man.
By the time Flo reached the restaurant, she had seen all the residents form a line to kiss the man on his cheeks and welcome him. Flo quirked an eyebrow and Denise immediately explained that Beca greeted him that way. He also greeted Lilly that way. It would seem that he knew Lilly too.
"So, what's his name?" Flo then asked Denise.
"Giacomo," Denise replied.
Being the last on the scene, Flo rushed towards the end of the line and greeted Giacomo similarly.
"Eh, consigliere?" he then said after Flo welcomed him. Beca simply shook her head and shrugged, amused by their antics.
"We're also part of the Bella family, Barden branch," Bumper took it upon himself to explain.
Beca looked at them confused, "Ignore them," she absentmindedly said.
"Ah, well, uh… consigliere can uh, we speak private? Riguarda la famiglia," he then said to Beca and Lilly.
Beca nodded. "Family business, excuse us," Beca then explained to everyone. Chloe offered the law firm for their use, since they'll all be at CR's restaurant for lunch. Beca thanked them and soon left with Giacomo and Lilly.
"So, uh, why is Lilly going with them?" Ashley then asked. Flo was curious herself. Lilly seemed to be a formidable ally to all of them, but she couldn't figure out why Beca would pick Lilly to go with her instead of anyone else.
Aubrey sighed. "Right, you guys don't know, Lilly is Beca's undercover bodyguard."
"WHAT?!" everyone chorused before a symphony of follow-up questions ensued. Flo didn't ask anything, however, as Aubrey's response seemed to make perfect sense.
They arrived right after the other, Lilly ahead possibly to secure the place for Beca's arrival. She was the strong and silent type, and ever since Dr. Mitchell's passing, she's been closer to Beca, doing her bidding more frequently.
What's more intriguing to Flo, however, was whatever Giacomo wanted from Beca and Lilly. If he flew all the way from Italy to seek them out, then it must be serious.
Luke was alert.
He just got back to Barden tower with Jesse and Benji after staging another fake attempt at Chicago's life. All part of Beca's plan. This time they drove a white van and started shooting at his car. All fake guns, and the sound of bullets being fired were from a recording they played form a loud speaker as they chased after Chicago's car. His security was quick to cover him and usher him inside before driving off.
Jesse and Benji had gone on to report the progress of their mission to the ladies at the law firm while Luke headed on to the neighboring parking deck. He was still a family man after all.
But when he got to his car, his tires where slashed.
Luke went to check the nearby parking spots for anyone hiding, ready to strike in case someone would jump him. He did not expect a black van pulling over behind him and multiple hands grabbing onto him subduing him. The last thing he noticed was a black bag over his head and the smell of chloroform.
When Luke woke up, he was in some dingy room of a beatdown apartment, tied to a chair. The thugs who took him threw a few punches to rough him up and "prime him for the boss" as he heard on of them say. His mind raced as he endured the beating. The thugs don't sound like they were from the Hangers. At the very least, he didn't notice the tell-tale tattoo the gang members wore on their arm.
It didn't last long however, as a well-dressed man entered the room. Luke recognized him to be Rufus Tseng.
He smiled at Luke. One of the thugs handed him a brown envelop. Rufus checked the contents and threw the pictures he had snapped of Luke's family in front of him. "I'm going to make this simple. I know who you are, you may know who I am."
"R-rufus Tseng…" Luke replied and he nodded.
"Good. I take it that you know I'm a man of my word," Rufus then said. "So, let me cut to the chase. No harm will come to our family, if you deliver me what I want, the guillotine file."
"Sorry mate, but I don't know anything – " Luke started to say before being smacked in the face.
"I know you worked for a man named Wan Shi Tong. And I know he was the one who managed to steal the file from the CIA. Wan Shi Tong was the previous owner of a residence tower that belonged to you… and then Babel… I've heard rumors he buried his treasure there. Gold, and possibly the file. All locked up in a secured safe impossible to break into. That's all I know. I tried digging info on all other people involved, someone easier to bribe. See, this isn't really my style. I prefer the easy way of doing things. But I'm not opposed to violence when my hand is forced."
"What do you want then? Your imaginary safe is impossible to get into, as you said. I'm not exactly an expert safe cracker."
"Everyone who can get me inside is dead," Rufus said. "Although I heard a rumor that one of the hackers who built the electronics and program of the security system simply disappeared, possibly alive. I have a few files on potential leads, and you'll help me identify who I need to get into that safe."
Luke watched as Rufus was handed a folder. He brought out a few files from inside, with profile pictures of persons of interest and their info. One of them happened to be Stacie Conrad. "Well, will you help me? Or must I get a bit more persuasive? Should I invite your wife or daughter?"
"I'll need time to study those files," Luke then said through gritted teeth. He can buy time, hopefully Beca would realize something was wrong if she doesn't hear from him soon.
And here's to hoping she has a few aces up her sleeve when it comes to protecting the gold and the file.
Chloe sighed as Lilly took out Beca's luggage and handed it over to Giacomo. The two of them were dropping her off at the airport.
Things were heating up, as the trial for Barden Tower was just around the corner, but Beca's attention was needed elsewhere. Thanks to here deal with Interpol, Paulo was now a wanted man on the run, along with some of his associates. Based on their family's sources, Interpol was closing in on him, and it wouldn't take too long before he was apprehended. The status quo was thrown in disarray, with some of the families in Milan moving in on their turf. A war of the families could be brewing in, and Giacomo insisted that only Beca could solve it.
With no other choice, Beca agreed to return to Milan for two weeks, and be back on the day of the trial. She was confident she could solve matters by then. She decided to leave behind Lilly to ensure that everyone was well-protected, most especially Aubrey, Emily, and Chloe. If their enemies catch wind she was leaving, they might get a bit audacious, after all.
Beca gave Chloe a soft light smile. "Are you worried about me? Is that what the frown is about?"
Chloe shook her head. "I can't believe we're losing our ace, that's all."
"Only for two weeks," Beca reassured. "I'll be back before you know it."
Chloe nodded and pulled Beca close. "Just don't forget about us, in that short time. We need you, you know? I need you."
"And I suppose you'll miss me?" Beca teased as she wrapped her hand around Chloe too. "Don't worry, Chloe. About me, or the future, or anything else. I promise you, I'll always be by your side."
Chloe smiled. Deep down, she wanted to ask if Beca had meant that for the trial. That she'll be by their side until all of it was over.
Or if she meant something else. A different kind of promise.
"No goodbyes, okay?" Chloe then said, pulling away.
"Then how about goodnight?" Beca replied. The sun had just set after all.
Chloe nodded, "Goodnight," she uttered and watched Beca follow Giacomo inside the airport terminal.
It was only temporary, but watching Beca go and leave hurts.
But saying goodnight instead of goodbye eased her feelings a little.
Goodnight promised the coming morning, a new day when the sun will rise again.
A day that Beca will come back and return.
And she hoped, when all this was over, that the same could still be said.
Oh, did Chloe hope.
A/N Pt 2: It's about to get interesting as we check in on Beca's treasure ;)
UPNEXT: Tying Up Lose Ends Pt 1! The Vault!