M A S O N

Blood. It was all over her, coating her jacket and dripping onto her dress. My throat felt hoarse from yelling as I ran towards her.

When she fell onto the floor, her knees slamming at the impact, a part of me fell with her.

Sophie screamed and fired a bullet into my dad's chest. He gasped and fell back, but I couldn't look at him. Wouldn't.

If he killed her, if she died because of him-

No. I couldn't think like that, not now.

Sophie's girls rushed towards my dad, tying him up; they ignored his shrieks of pain when they pulled too tightly, choosing to duct tape his mouth instead.

I reached Avery, my throat tight. 

'Hey, love,' I whispered, pulling her onto my lap. I pressed my hand against her gunshot wound as it bled out. There was so much blood - I'd seen my fair share of wounds caused by bullets, but never one that hit the stomach or the chest. Never as bad as this. Avery's eyes flickered open. They were dull. No spark, no hint of laughter. I choked back a sob and smoothed her hair away from her face. 'I need you to stay with me. Please, love. You'll be okay, I just need you to keep your eyes open, okay?' My voice caught on the last word.

Sophie reached me, pressing a hand to my shoulder. 'We have to get out of here, Mason.'

I bit my fist to stop myself from yelling. Avery's head lolled on my lap, and her eyes kept flickering. 'Okay. But we have to get Avery out first. She's the priority right now.'

'I can hear you, you know,' she whispered. I smiled softly, and brushed a kiss on her lips. 

'I know. And you need to keep doing that, okay? Focus on my voice, love.' She nodded, visibly struggling with the effort of keeping her eyes open. The blood on her was becoming colder with each second as it dried, and the metallic taste of it was on my tongue. 

'Mason. We need to go. Now.'

I looked up at Sophie. Her stance was defensive, and as she was talking to me, her eyes didn't leave my Father, who was groaning on the floor. Blood seeped out all over his suit, and for the first time, I didn't care. The bullet looked like it had pierced his upper chest, close to his shoulder. 'What about him?' I asked, slightly fearing the answer.

I didn't know how I'd feel if he would die.

Sophie sighed. 'We've called the police anonymously, told them to come here straight away. They already heard about this whole thing from the news, but they were waiting on higher authority to give them orders to attack.'

'What if they don't believe you?'

'Already thought of that. I had Asa send a file to them through their interface with details about everything he's done. He's going to jail, Mason, and he's not coming out for a long time. Maybe even for life.' Sophie said the last part softly, as if to soften the blow.

I didn't feel it at all. I guess all I could feel was rage and anger and fear for Avery. I pressed two fingers against her neck and found her pulse to be strong, still beating hard under my fingers. 

'Son.'

I spun around to see my Father reaching a bloody hand towards me. 'Son. Help me.'

I swallowed thickly. 

'Please, son. You know I did all this for a reason. She had to die-'

'Don't you speak about her,' I snarled, stepping back. I raised a finger in warning, and realised that my own hands were covered in blood. 'If she dies-' My voice caught, 'If she dies, I will find you. So help me God, I don't care where you are, but I will find you and I will kill you.'

He had the nerve to groan again, and I spun away to see Sophie crouched over Avery, murmuring incoherently. 

'Let's go,' I said, 'Her pulse is good, god knows how, but I want to get her treated as soon as possible.'

Sophie nodded. I gestured to Avery, and she quickly ran to the other side, monitoring my Father and commanding her friends to carry the men out. I gripped Avery under her arms and heaved her into me, standing swiftly and walking towards the exit.

'Sophie!' I yelled, walking as quickly as I could towards the door, 'I need cover!'

She responded by running to walk in front of me, her gun out, scanning the area as she walked on. We passed through room after room, most of them trashed, millions of dollars worth of furniture broken.

'Someone's got to pay a high maintenance bill,' she muttered.

We sped through the building and up onto the roof, where the whirring of a helicopter could be heard from the stairs leading up. 'Is everyone there?' I asked, looking down worriedly at Avery. Her skin was turning pale and she seemed to rest her eyes for a few seconds before opening them up again. The blood on her side was clotting, and the bullet wound seemed to have stopped bleeding, too.

'Yeah, everyone's there. We need to hurry or the police will be on our tails.'

She bounded up the last few steps and pushed open the door, flooding the stairs with light. I hefted Avery up a little and took the last three steps in one jump, my heart pounding.

'Avery? Avery, open your eyes, love.' I said, jogging to the helicopter. She didn't speak, only groaned.

***

I sat in numb silence, letting Avery squeeze my hand as Sophie patched up the slash across her ribs - it wasn't a pretty job, especially as it kept bleeding, but with a little time and a shot of whiskey down her throat, we managed. 

'Shouldn't you be helping the bullet wound first?' I asked after half an hour, having lost feeling in my hand due to Avery's death grip. I smoothed back Avery's hair from her face. 'It could lead to some serious issue if the bullet gets lodged in a muscle or an artery. Right?'

Sophie didn't speak. She rubbed the back of a bloody hand across her forehead where her hair was plastered in sweat, and lowered her hands to Avery again. Her mouth was set in a grim line.

'Soph?' I asked, my voice breaking. She was scaring me. 'Will she make it?'

Her head snapped up. 'Of course she will. There are things you don't know, Mason. But I promise you she's fine.'

I blew out a breath, 'Fine? Her bleeding out in a helicopter nowhere near a hospital with a god damn bullet in her is fine? You and I have very different definitions of fine, Sophie.'

'Mason, you know what-'

'No, I don't know what you mean. I don't care either, because my girlfriend is bleeding out and she might now make it to a doctor. And now you won't even update me on how she's doing?'

Sophie's eyes were burning with annoyance. 'I love you Mason, you know I do, but right now you're being a huge pain in my fucking ass. Move away if you can't handle it. Let me do my job - I won't lose her.' She sighed, wiping a damp cloth over hands. The blood transferred from her skin to the cloth, and I gulped when she threw it away. 

That was Avery's blood.

'Beating yourself up over this won't help. You need to be by her side right now. She's stabilised for now, and I know she'll pull through.' Sophie smiled at last, and the pain in my chest eased a little.

I knew she wouldn't lie to me - if something was wrong with Avery, she'd tell me.

I hoped.

***

A V E R Y

Everything hurt. Every part of my body hurt, as if now that I was lying down and not running on adrenaline, all the aches and pains sprung up. I could feel the blood on my hands, covering the skin of my stomach, having seeped through my gear.

'Avery?' Mason's voice echoed in the confines of whatever place we were at, 'Hey, love, open your eyes. You're okay.' 

A warm hand smoothed its way across my face and over my hair, the scent of familiar cologne drifting over me. I leaned into his hand and kissed it softly, wishing I could hold him.

Mason chuckled. 'You can hold me soon, don't worry.'

My cheeks burned. 'Oh god,' I rasped, my throat dry and rough, 'I cannot believe I said that out loud.'

A cloth wiped over my hands and I sighed at the sensation of clean skin - the blood was beginning to dry and itch, and with the pain I was in, it would have been unbearable. 'Thank you, Sophie.'

Her concerned eyes popped into view. 'Hey, you. How's the pain? I gave you some drugs, but I don't know if it's doing anything yet. Did you feel me stitching your cuts up?'

I sighed. 'A little, but I'm okay. Thank you.'

Sophie rolled her eyes, blowing out a breath, 'Yeah, well, I thought you were gonna die. It looked real, anyway.'

I smiled. 'Yeah, I know.'

'What do you mean?' Mason's voice chimed in, his hand clasping mine. 'What looked real?'

I bit my lip. How was he going to take it? Well, no time like the present. I gripped Sophie's hand and pulled myself up, wincing at the dull aches and pains. Mason murmured a warning and gripped my arm, but I managed.

And when I took off my gear and pulled off the holsters strapped to me, his face screwed up in confusion. The bulletproof vest came next 'What are you trying to show me, love? Be careful, you'll damage the bullet wound.'

I shook my head. I was beginning to grow tired, and I at least wanted to explain myself before I winked out. So I pulled up my shirt, slipped out the blood bag and held it up, leaving blood dripping.

Mason gaped, his hands reaching for my unharmed skin, smoothing over the bloody skin. 'What the hell is this?' he whispered, his fingers leaving bloody trails over my stomach and side. 'I thought you got shot?'

I smiled, running my free hand through his hair and smoothing it over. 'No. We made it look like that. I provoked you dad into shooting me to get us out of there. I had the blood in my jacket, along with the bulletproof jacket inside.'

Mason was still looking alarmed as he blew out a breath. 'You're kidding me. I nearly died myself, love. You could've told me.'

'No way would we tell you. Your reaction had to be real, if only to convince everyone else.' Sophie said, throwing bloody bandages in a bag and tying it up tightly.

I nodded, 'We needed an excuse to get out of there and also to render your dad helpless. But Mason...' I turned his attention to me, kissing his cheek softly, 'He'll be going to jail. For a long time. I'm sorry to have done it this way, I really am-'

'No. No.' He squeezed my hand, 'You were right to do it. He needs to be put away. He's caused too much pain to be let go.'

I bit my lip. 'But you're okay?'

'I'm okay, love.'

Sophie cleared her throat. 'So. We have Avery back in one piece, Mason's dad is gone, and we saved the day. What next?'

I laughed, even as it scraped my throat. 'We go home. I, personally, want to sleep for a week and then deal with everything else.'

Mason chuckled, easing himself onto the makeshift bed and wrapping his arms around me. 'I agree. But what about GRAVITY?'

'What about it?'

'I mean, didn't you hand it over to my Father?'

I grinned. 'Nope. I switched it for the fake Asa made. Here, look.'

And when I pulled out my necklace, flipping open the little locket and letting the drive fall into my palm, I allowed myself to breathe.

We did it.

We won.

***

And that, my friends, brings us nearer to the end of this story. We have a couple more chapters left, and then it's over.

Stay tuned!

-M