Trenton, New Jersey
00:42
"I don't like this.""As you've made abundantly clear.""I mean the guy isn't even in the briefing folder. You know he's not in the folder right?""I made the folder Twitch" Bobbi was annoyed, which wasn't really fair. Sure Twitch was antsy, but she should've expected as much; breaking into a veteran's run-down apartment building without reason wouldn't look good from the outside.
"You shouldn't be doing this.""Yeah, you've said your piece. But I'm here now, and it's happening so I'm going to need you to shut it." Bobbi chewed the skin around her bitten nails and did another search of the studio apartment. The place was barren of personality, nothing more than a toothbrush, half-empty mustard bottle, and spare shirt to prove that anyone even occupied the space. It was enough when paired with the late hour for doubt to settle in. It'd been six months after all. But bad lead or not, it was all they had. Besides, Fortune was personal.
She sat on the bed, did an inventory check, then stood again in favour of pacing. Twitch had taken her advice and remained silent, leaving her alone to reflect on her hostility. She almost began feeling bad enough to apologize when a key rattled in the lock she'd broken.
Bobbi waited, barely breathing as the door opened inwards. Twenty seconds passed, then thirty, she managed a full minute before impatience got the better of her. Fortune was waiting with a pistol loaded and ready, but couldn't have anticipated her reflexes. She went low, ramming an elbow to the back of his knees as the shot went off above her head. He was tougher than she'd expected, and remained standing. All the more reason to keep hitting the asshole.
"Was that a gunshot? Everything okay?""I told you to shut up" Bobbi said through gritted teeth as she stood, shoving her victim's head into the door frame. That left him dazed enough for her to throw the gun across the room. She had him in a choke-hold by the time he was aware enough to resist. It'd been some time since anyone had actually challenged her strength, and Bobbi was surprised when his attempt to shake loose actually weakened her grip. She slammed his head again before pushing him into the studio's bathroom. He fell on his knees, leaving Bobbi just enough time to handcuff his wrist to the piping under the sink and take a step back. A few shouts and some panting cooled him off enough to speak.
"Always a pleasure 19." He grinned and motioned to her face, his chest still rising and falling rapidly with heavy breaths;
"Mask might hide your face, but that suit" He let out a low whistle.
"They really were doing you a disservice with those vests." Bobbi didn't bother hiding her disgust. She'd have to shower after just talking to the man.
"Delanden." Fortune wasn't surprised with her demand, and chose to continue his monologue.
"Say what happened to you buddy, the one I met last time. You know; dark hair, accent." She did hit him then, without restraint. The crack of his jaw on the impact granted her enough satisfaction to pull herself back again.
"You've had your fun. Where's Delanden?""Gave you all I had last time.""Horse-shit. Intel was bad an you knew it.""Intel was good. So good I sold it twice." The shit-eating grin returned, albeit bloodstained. Somehow that didn't make Bobbi feel any better.
"You're not going to goad me anymore. Tell me where to find Carl or I take you instead. God know's you've built up more than enough felonies to replace the old ones." Fortune spat out a wad of blood onto the tiled floor.
"As much as it pains me to say beautiful, your talents are better spent elsewhere." He sighed when she didn't react, and tried to adjust his admittedly awkward position.
"You're going to have five more mercs to deal with in less than a minute. I'd get a running start if I were you.""Don't believe you."Fortune shrugged.
"What do you think I was doing in the hallway?"It hardly mattered if he was telling the truth, she could take out a handful thugs. Probably. Sure enough, footsteps could be heard in the hallway seconds after his warning. Bobbi cursed and looked at the apartment again. The fight wasn't her greatest concern; it was Fortune making an escape. She took two steps outside the washroom to retrieve his gun from where it'd been thrown, and stared at him as the footsteps paused outside the door. He smiled back.
"Killing isn't what you do" He reminded her. The door slammed open the same moment Bobbi fired a single shot in Fortune's stomach. It was her turn to smile.
"Better hope I finish quick." She dropped the gun again and turned, drawing her battle staves just as the first two men took aim.
Twitch was screaming her ear off, but Bobbi ignored it. Her hearing was mostly gone after the first two shotgun shots went off anyways. Slow to reload, but some pellets embedded their way into her suit. She set her jaw against the stinging and discharged both staves into the first target. He fell without resistance, and her toys made the others hesitate just enough for her to disarm the second. She followed it up with a hit to the back of the neck.
The final three were still armed, but failed to make it the whole way into the room. Bobbi took cover behind the bed, just as a spray of bullets lodged into the dresser behind her. She thought of the abandoned pistol with mild regret. But Fortune had been right in that at least; she wasn't there to kill anyone. One of the mercenaries took a step forward, and Bobbi spun, throwing the blanket from the bed, and standing in the same movement. She gained enough momentum to bury her foot squarely in the head of the man with the full-auto. The other two were barely cleanup work. Before she could even catch her breath, Bobbi returned to the bathroom.
It was empty, of course. The pipe broken, and the window open. The crazy bastard had actually leapt three stories with a gunshot-wound and broken jaw. Bobbi wasted a full moment cursing before addressing the panicked voice in her earpiece.
"Twitch, Fortune's gone. I need satellite, street cameras, anything." "Mock there were too many shots, the police-""Anytime you want to start being useful let me know." Bobbi leaned out the window and tried to make anything out through the rain and dark. Nothing. With a deep, if not calming breath, she jumped.
Qia,
Master Crim,
Lord Wraith,
Ti,
BlackRoseSiren,
Fallenreaper,
Sep,
Retired,
Roman,
Hound55
