I ignored him. We were less than ten minutes from her location, but almost an hour has passed by now. Natasha's a brutal killer. There's no doubt in my mind about that. She's smart and stubborn. She's not going out easily, but something in the back of my mind made every nerve in my body set fire in a rush to go help her. I tried to convince myself that I hated her. She thrives on everything I despise in the world. I should hate her. I don't even know her to care, but I do. The thought of her dying upsets me.
"She's okay," Alec said to me. I guess what I feel is on my face at the moment. I made a sharp left into the sand-filled lot of the building she was in.
Dead men lined the left side of the building. Something tugged in my stomach as we all hurried out, strapping ourselves with guns. Within seconds, we were in formation and stormed into the building. Three men lingered against walls, their guard's being down, making an intense surge of rage run through me. They pulled their weapons up, but I fired quick shots into their heads. The bodies dropped to the ground like dominos. The three dropped, but another thump of a body hitting the ground flicked our sharp gazes down a hall, guns up. A redhead man groaned on the ground and we moved in. Our lights flashed over his bloodied face. Alec pulled me back as another body smashed against the wall to our left and a stream of bullets ripped his body open. Panting came from the room they both flew from. I moved forwards but stopped remembering her last words to us.
"Nat?" Luis called out.
The redhead groaned louder and moved to lift his head before her foot smashed into his face and she put two bullets through his eyes. Her distraught state made my stomach turn. Her clothes are ripped, nothing but small pieces of her top covered her and her pants are ripped near her sex. My grip tightened around the gun as her shoulder bled harshly. How long was she bleeding like that? The side of her head had a gash, a bullet nipped her, and she needs stitches.
No one said a word as she panted harshly, her glare down at the man pooling on the floor with his blood and brain bits. Finally, her heated look raised to us and so did her gun before her eyes rolled back and her body collapsed. I caught her. Her body was icy in my arms. Even with my layered clothing, I could feel it. I looked up at the guys and their expressions shared the same.
"We need to get her to a hospital" Luis stepped forward, grabbing my gun as I lifted her up bridal style. Her beautiful features rested stiffly on her face. I propped her upper body on my chest and moved her hair so I wouldn't pull against it as she lay in my arms.
"August!" Alec snapped loudly at me. I turned to him, startled. Were they talking to me?
"We can't take her to a hospital for obvious reasons and I'll be damned if we take her back to the Agency with those bastards still there, so what do we do?" He urged. I took a steadying breath to focus. I could feel the blood leaving her body. She was as stiff as a dead bird in my arms. When I breathed, I could smell and taste her blood. My mind was having trouble.
"The girl that gave her the phone, those are her people. Or at least people that don't want to kill her. We'll take her there. We can fix the bullet wound and give her stitches" I began to leave, stepping over the bastard's bodies.
"What if she has something broken?"
"We'll figure it out" My gaze stayed on her as we left out. "Damnit Nat," I whispered down at her as they started the jeep and got in.
.
We climbed over the fence in their backyard, carefully lowering her over into my arms. Joey and Luis went to knock on the door. It opened, and they startled a little girl to step back to close the door.
"Wait please" Luis gently stopped the door. The girl's father pulled her back with a hard look on his face. We came into view and as he looked into my arms it softened and fear rushed over it. He called out for someone as he rushed us in. I hurried and follow his instructions to take her to the door to the right of the living room and lay her on the bed. I carefully placed her down as he followed in, washing his hands quickly and coming to her side.
My eyes looked up at him as he scanned her. He had a father look to his gaze like he was looking at his own child, soaked in her own blood.
"I need to stop the bleeding, wash your hands and bring me the thread and needle right there," He ordered. I didn't think twice as I followed the man's instructions. Although my head whipped to him as I heard the sound of him cutting off her clothes. His eyes lowered to her pants and his jaw clenched, as mine did. The same darkness on his face directed at me as I carried the tools to him.
"What happened?" his cold voice asked as he began to work. I opened my mouth to explain, but a young girl's voice cut me off.
"It was me," she whispered from the door frame. I and her father turned to her, his eyes softened but in a parental way. It still held anger but comfort at the same time. He turned back to Natasha as he began cleaning her wounds. The girl looked on the verge of tears as she looked over Natasha's unconscious state. It made me wonder if she really did have someone besides her brother and father. His voice broke me from my thoughts as he began to sew her would up.
"How is this your fault, Kara?"
Kara hesitated, eyes just like her father's shot at me. Like a plead for help to a stranger, I felt bad that I couldn't. She tucked her brown hair behind her ear as her teary gaze went back to Natasha. She inched closer.
"I asked her to scare someone for me" Her voice was shaky. My eyes went to her father as he stopped for a second, fear maybe disappointment, flashed on his face.
"Why?"
"Someone did something to Ciara, and I knew that the police wouldn't do anything since he did it to people before and you wouldn't because it wasn't me so-"
"Stop," he sighed, cutting the thread off her shoulder and moving to her head wound. He took a glance back at his daughter, who was crying. "It's okay, kara. I understand. And I'm sorry I made you believe I wouldn't help your friend" He frowned to himself as he fixed on her gash.
"But he's just some high school asshole! How did this happen to her" Kara pointed an angry finger. Her father looked up at me as well. My turn.
I stepped to her still face, brushing my finger along her jaw as I crouched down by her head.
"So you're the assassin?" He huffed. I couldn't stop a small lift in my lip.
"You're the asshole that put a collar on her like a damn pet" She glared.
"Kara" Her father shot her a glare, and she stepped back with a frown.
"It was needed. She went to do what you asked and she would've been okay if the agency didn't send people after her." My tone hardened.
"Your people" He glared. I met it but a part of me knew I couldn't really defend much.
"They weren't from our base. Someone higher than our boss ordered those men to kill her. I and my team went to help her"
"Seems like you did a hell of a job," he hissed, tightening the stitch as he cut the thread. I looked back at her.
"Actually, we got there late because we had to find her first. She took out damn near all of them. There were only three really left that we handled before she passed out"
"Of course she did," Kara declared admiringly. I frowned at it.
"How did you know to bring her here?" He covered his stitch with a bandage as he moved to check the rest of her. I stepped back to give him more room.
"Your daughter" I nodded to her. She looked a mixture of emotions while her father looked pissed.
"So what assassins are going to come for my family next?" He spat at me, the worry behind his eyes made me soften mine.
"I promise you will not be bothered again. Their goal is to kill her. It failed. They won't waste any more people after they hear of what happened. We just want her back" My eyes fell on her.
"What, to be your own personal weapon," He spewed with disgust.
"You know her father is probably rolling in his grave hearing you speak like she's an object"
"with all due respect, she is a serial killer"
"And you're not?" he folded his arms.
"We kill the people who give us no other option. To keep people like you safe," I argued. He scuffed.
"you wear that like a police badge, son. Let me tell you something about this serial killer that the paperwork you probably have on her won't" He sighed, sitting in a chair at her side. He rested a hand on hers and a caring gaze.
"When my wife passed, I had to adapt to our surroundings. She was the one keeping us safe. She was an officer. We lived a straight, narrow lifestyle. In a neighborhood like this, you need protection. I adapted, became someone my beautiful wife would've put away in a heartbeat." His gaze went to his daughter, who had a soft smile on her face. "But it wasn't enough. We'd be attacked, stolen from even beaten. Because of who I was married to. I provide for this neighborhood in a way and they didn't care enough to stop the brutality they showed us, but we survived"
I was struggling to see the point of this.
"Until one day a boy and his little sister came by needing something," His eyes went back to Natasha. "Off the second we made eye contact I knew that little girl was different. At first, it scared us, like it would anyone. But I watched the way she interacted with Lee and not just looked, but I watched her smile and laugh. I watched the kid in her show when she was around him. It reminded me of my daughters and how they were with their mother. So every time I saw her again, I reminded myself of that. She and her brother came and stayed with us for a night or two, and this group of men came by. The same group that harasses and steals and beats. And this time they wanted to kill, to get rid of me and take everything I had to offer right in front of my girls. I put up a fight, but I wasn't that good and I ended up on the ground with a gun to my head. Then there came that little girl flying from off the stairwell onto the man. And within minutes, she got rid of all of them." His eyes met my indifferent ones.
"She and her brother felt like they had to run and hide because of what she did. She didn't, not from us. She saved me and my daughters. Lee explained what I saw, and I explained what they did. And even though she didn't feel much, she knew what happened to us was wrong, and from that day on. I watched her grow and yes, cause hell in every room she stepped in after her brother was killed. But who wouldn't in her case? From the day she killed those men to even now she has been our protector"
"The sob story doesn't change the fact that innocent people have died because of her" I frowned, crossing my arms.
"It's not supposed to change the facts," He glared. "It's supposed to get you to a realization that you people don't save us. People like her do. Yes, she's done terrible things and yes, she belongs in prison for it. But regardless of what any test shows you, she's just as human as any of us. So before you people try to belittle that remember who pulled her out of that prison to kill again but for them this time" He glared. His hand ran over her hair, which was sticking to her forehead.
"And besides," Kara spoke up, I forgot she was here. Her gaze was hard and on me. "Don't you people do the same thing? Fight bad with worse. Be happy you have her on your side"
"oh but she hates our boss" Joey leaned on the door frame as he looked over to check on Natasha. Kara glared at him.
"Not your stupid Agency. His side." She nudged her head at me. "From what I heard, without him, all of you would've been dead by now and the people that actually care about her would have had her back by now," she sent a glare my way before leaving. Her father sighed, standing.
"You're welcome to stay until she's back up. But if any of you try to take her while she's out. I'll kill you, assassin or not," He gave me a warning look as he followed his daughter out.
.
I sat on their back porch and watched the sun peek from the trees. It's been a while since I had a chance to sit and just watch in peace. That was cut short when Kara came out of the house with a mug in her hand. She watched me for a second before clearing her throat and handing it. I took it with a smile and directed my gaze back at the sunrise.
"Dad says she'll be okay. A couple of bruised ribs, but they broke nothing except her pinky," her quiet voice relayed. I nodded, sipping the hot chocolate. She looked over at me with skeptical eyes.
"Do you care about her?" the question brought my eyes to her. I tighten my mouth, but she just nodded and turned away.
"So you just went to get her back then"
"I don't want her to die," I spoke up.
"Me either. She might not feel the same, but she's like a big sister I've never had and as messed up as it sounds, she's my safe space" I met her gaze, and her lip tugged. "I understand that look. It's the same one my father gave me when I said I wanted to be like her one day"
"You want to be a serial killer?"
"no" she deadpanned. "I want to be fierce and strong. Someone who can protect at any level needed" She looked down at her hands. I noticed scars from picking at her skin and a breath left me.
"There's this kid back where we work. We call him D. He also looks up to her like that. It scared me to have her around him because I didn't want him to get hurt. But they're both stubborn people and they made a bond, anyway. I know now that she wouldn't hurt him. Not on purpose, at least. She protected him when I couldn't"
"That's what she does. She may seem like this moral less woman, but she has a heart. You just have to be the right type of person for her to feel it around" She smiled.
"How do you do it?" I looked at her. "Ignore all the terrible things she's done?" Her face hardened.
"I don't. In fact, every time I see her, she makes sure I remember what she's done" she rolled her eyes, but a smile came to her face. "but that's the thing with her. She's not all murder and rage. She's hurting every second of her life and because of that and losing everything she truly loved, she doesn't have a reason to care"
"That's not an excuse"
"It's not. But if you're going to keep a person like that out of prison, don't surround her with hate because then you'll all be hypocrites"
"I'd tried to hate her. I hate what she's done and how she can be so nonchalant about her crimes. But after seeing her around D and how you all talk about her, it's frustrating when those things slip in the back of my mind"
"Have you seen her art?"
"Yeah"
"It's beautiful"
"Yeah"
"so is she?"
"Yeah" I froze and looked at the smiling girl. I glared as she stood.
"If you can't get over how she is, then get over how beautiful you think she is" she patted my shoulder, leaving me on the porch. I scuffed, looking down at the mug.
.
"There will be a group looking for us sooner or later," Alec said as we sat around the table with the family. They ignored him as we looked at his indifferent face. "We need to go back"
"I'm not leaving her," Luis countered calmly. Marcel looked up at him.
"She's still going after west, and she is definitely in no shape to do that, not by herself," he continued.
"I'll stay with her," I announced.
"I think I should. You're probably the last person she wants to be stuck with right now"
My eyes narrowed at his tone. Everyone looked up from their plates at us.
"I'm a better fighter than all of you, so I'm what's best for her, rather she wants it or not" My tone held some command behind it. His challenging gaze met mine. He looked down and shoved eggs in his mouth without a protest, but I could see one in his eyes.
"If you two are going to fight over her, at least make it more interesting," Kara muttered from the head of the table. Her father sent her a look.
"We're not fighting over her," I objected with a dismissive chuckle, but Luis gave me a look that, for some reason, made me want to take it back.
"Right," she gave us looks. "I think-"
She ended her next sentence with a small yelp as I caught a knife coming straight at my head. We all stood alert, covering the family as we looked in the direction it came from. A small tug came as I met Natasha's angry glare.
"Nat," Luis beamed before he dodged another knife coming at his head.
Marcel moved from behind us. As I tried to grab him, he swatted me away with a glare on his face. He stepped in front of us and pointed a finger at her seething body in the hallway. She pulled the last knife back. How did she get that without us noticing?
"No!" he ordered. "Put the knife down now, Natasha. You know the rule," he demanded. I looked at him like he was crazy, as her angry glare hadn't left me yet.
"They tried to fucking kill me!"
"Girls Upstairs" he ordered. They protested, but listened to their dad and passed her. Kara gave her a kiss on the cheek, which Natasha didn't react to as she ran upstairs. "now let them explain what happened V" he gave her the parent voice but she didn't falter. She took a step closer and with that, Marcel turned to me.
"Don't break my damn house," He sighed, stepping to the side. I frowned, but it went away quickly as Luis yelled out as the knife went into his leg. By the time I turned to her, my head whipped in the other direction with a sharp pain as her fist connected.
"We went to help. We just wanted you back safely," Joey tried to explain to her. They moved from the table, I spat out blood as I looked at them.
She gripped a hand full of my hair and made me face her. Nothing but rage in her eyes.
"You want me? You got me" she spat before her fist flew into my face.
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