[i]More than an hour,[/i] Kieran repeated to himself in his mind the moment the words came from Aura. [i]Be concerned if it takes more than an hour.[/i] Kieran wanted to ask more, but he--like Aura--found himself quickly interrupted by the particularly rotund figure making his way down the spiral staircase. Loor. Scarlet red in the face from heavy intoxication, the man was known to have quite the binary personality. Getting on his bad sign was typically someone’s final, fatal mistake. As he locked eyes with Aura, he made himself scarce; ensuring his back faced away from Loor and Aura and towards the rest of the party-going crowd. He was security, after all. And yet, he couldn’t help but feel remorse as he turned away from her. His job was to protect her. Or rather, to ensure he honored his promise to her. And, his job was to foil the plot of her organization. And, the escape Apex once and for all. This evening yielded several layers of difficulty in ensuring his goals were met. What had happened so fast as to make him involved in so much espionage? This was not his world. Yet here he was. Watching, as Loor with Aura in loose tow made his way to the bar. Taking the opportunity to break away, he did so. [center]***[/center] Kieran kept a close but distant eye on Aura throughout the evening as he mingled about the festivities. He was able to snag a drink as he did so, after spotting several guards doing the same. Monkey see, monkey do. Sometime soon after Loor began supplying himself and Aura with booze, he slid upstairs--hoping to scope out the rooms from which the man had come. It was a risky venture, of course--he was relying on Loor to take his time socializing before retiring with Aura. But he found himself ducking into the hallway anyways, counting the seconds he was gone as he went. [i]One, two, three...[/i] In here, stationed guards waited outside many of the doors that adorned the curved hallways. Here the sounds of sex were thick in the air, as the men of bureaucracy and their unwilling paramours engaged in a fetid communion. Kieran grew nauseous as he continued his search for tells and giveaways. And as fate had it, he found his man. Or his room, rather. Loor’s door was a double-wide, guarded by a man that Kieran hadn’t arrived with who armed himself with a small pistol brandished freely in a loose palm. Kieran gave a nod as he passed forward into the restroom at the end of the hall. This man was very likely Loor’s and Loor’s alone. Purchased exclusively, and loyal to no one else. As he waited in the restroom for what felt as if it were the appropriate time, he began to think of some sort of plan to clear this hallway. The number of guards just wasn’t going to work. He could use his credentials to clear most of the men, but Loor’s man? He wasn’t going to move. He needed clearing out in a way that wasn’t going to be fun. As he thought, three loud raps came upon the door. “This bathroom is for guests only,” came a surprisingly tenor-toned voice. “Go to the basement if you need it. Come on!” Kieran froze, then waited, then anxiously waited. This opportunity may have benefited him. “I’m sorry,” he called out in a nasal tone, trying what he could to sound bashful. “I’ve got a, uh... well I seem to have made a bit of a mess.” A long silence. Then-- “The [i]fuck[/i] do you mean, a mess?” The door burst open then--left purposely unlocked by Kieran. “You see, it’s right over here--” he started, moving the guard behind him and closing the door. As soon as it did, Kieran took his shot. He punched--hard and fast--directly at the back of the man’s neck. He had one shot at this, and it seemed to have paid off. The man left out a soft [i]’guh’[/i] sort of noise as his legs buckled beneath him. He had clearly been concussed by his blow, and likely partially paralyzed as well. Kieran didn’t take any chances. He punched just as hard again at the spot, then grabbed at the man and lowered him gently. He tried not to think too hard about what he had just done. He took the pistol from the limp man, opened the door, and locked it from the inside before closing it up again. He took a few steps towards the remaining guards, before pulling out a black seal. “I’m gonna need this hallway cleared if that’s alright.” [center]***[/center] Kieran waited at the foot of the staircase after Aura and Loor had made their way upstairs. The night had already turned sour--as far too many people had needed his black seal for him to be able to get past. Not to mention the loose end currently unconscious or worse in the bathroom upstairs. The more he waited, the more he feared that the man still lived. But then again, few had taken that serious of a blow to the head and survived. He simply needed to hope for the unthinkable. And as he did, he heard rushed footsteps beating down the staircase. He had little time to turn before he saw Aura. His eyes quickly scanned her up and down. He had no need to ask how it had gone. It was loud enough for all the party to see. [i]We need to go now.[/i] “Come on,” he said, taking her by the arm and pulling her towards the staircase. They brushed past guests and quickly made their way to the basement door. As he opened the door, he heard footsteps above them, on the second-floor staircase, making their way down just moments after him. [i]”Fuck me,”[/i] he spat out. “This way.” He and Aura fled quickly down the lower stairs into the basement. Here, he desperately peered down the hallways in search of their absolution--the door outside to the tunnel beneath the earth. But all he could see were more doors and more halls each way he went. He could feel Aura just behind him, knowing he needed to think fast. But before he could, the door above them to the ground level slammed shut. At the top of the stairs, the guard from the bathroom stood. “Get behind me,” he said to Aura. The moment she was out of his path, he bolted up the stairs as the guard bolted down towards him. The two locked arms at their halfway point. The guard thrust an uppercut Kieran’s way, only to meet the concrete lining the staircase walls. He yelped in pain--covered by the pulsing sounds of the music above. Kieran moved next, lifting a knee to pelt the man below the belt. The guard saw it coming--clasping both his hands together in a tight fist and slamming it down on Kieran’s head. He stumbled back a few steps, before taking a second blow to the face, before losing his balance and tumbling the rest of the way down. Sharp, stabbing pain pelted Kieran along his legs, side, and left arm. Thankfully, he had taken no further hits to his head as he fell. He rose to his feet just as the guard finished coming down the stairs. He took a wide stance, driving his left shoulder in the man and lifting him in the air. As he did, he grabbed at the man’s thighs and drove down--swinging the guard’s head like a pendulum into the corner of the sharp, concrete stair behind him. A sickening [u]crunch[/u] erupted from the man’s head, and blood soon after that. Kieran stood over the man, before lifting a foot and stomping down--ensuring the guard wouldn’t follow them this time. He took three sharp, deep breaths, catching himself, before turning to Aura. In his adrenaline, he wasn’t sure if she was terrified, relieved, both, or neither. All he knew now was to run. He sprinted down the longest hallway towards what seemed the be the heaviest door. It ripped open easily, and a cold gust of air told Kieran that he had succeeded on his first try. He motioned for Aura to follow, and as soon as the two were outside, he shut the door behind them. Above them, they could hear the murmur of commotion. The party was beginning to become aware of what had just happened to Loor. No more time could be wasted. “In here,” Kieran spoke harshly, just above a whisper, and the two disappeared into the tunnels below.