Lviii. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN II

The sky is a crisp blue. Decorated with the sporadic dash of clouds and paired with the light wind, this felt like the perfect spring day. I take in my surroundings: a row of six brick buildings stands separated by the distance of an alleyway. Skye pointed her gun to the head of a crying Agent Russo in the corner of the first building. The agents of both sides bristled, awaiting silent instructions.

I stare at Thirteen without backing off. He looks at me, smirking, and hiding the bulging gun in his jacket.

Ace fires the first shot. Seven bullets.

Thirteen anticipates this and dodges out of the way. He begins to pursue who he believes is his Queen, Agent Russo, relentlessly, as Skye runs across the buildings. Thirteen is gaining on her.

Chase tackles Katrina, who attempts to follow Thirteen. The two are locked in hand to hand combat with almost deathly precision. With my own eyes, I see what Chase spoke of: even when he shot Katrina in the elbow, she was barely affected.

"What the hell woman?" Chase screams. "You're like if the guy from Silence of the Lambs was a woman."

Katrina grins, then knocks him to his feet. "Well then you must be the girl who dies."

But before she can shoot him, a whizzing bullet hits her in the stomach, and she falls back. I turn to see its source from hundreds of feet away—Xavier.

"Thanks Xavier, but I had it under control," Chase winces through the earpiece.

"Thank me later, sunshine."

"You're being as annoying as Dora the Explorer—"

"Now is not the time," Daniel groans over the intercoms. "Ace, Octavia, go after Thirteen. Skye will need your help."

But almost in a rage like adrenaline-filled state, Katrina spits blood at Chase and gets back up. From this distance, I almost admire her dauntless nature. She narrows her eyes at him and continues to throw punches that will surely re-fracture his arm.

The other CIA agents and Thorned Kings agents all charge into battle, with the latter going on the offensive. The sounds of bullets being shot with suppressors rings out into the air. Metal hitting the concrete rooftop create a symphony of punches, gunpowder, and shouts of pain.

In the commotion, Ace pulls me ahead to run after Thirteen and Skye. "You need to stay with me, Cupcake," he gasps. I nod. He fires, shooting two dangerously close agents in the chest. Five bullets.

As we begin running, I see someone with a glock in each hand. I shove Ace to the floor as the woman fires recklessly in our direction.

"You're welcome," I pant. "I just saved your life."

"Reason two-hundred-and-eighty-six to date you," he smirks. His golden eyes then fixate on the woman, killing her immediately.

"So there's at least two-hundred-and-eighty-five more reasons to date me?" I muse.

"You two are finally dating?" Chase chuckle. Then I hear him shout after being hit again by Katrina.

"Whelp, I guess I owe Xavier twenty bucks," Daniel sighs. "And watch your four o'clock."

"So have y'all done it yet?" Xavier says bluntly.

"No—" I say.

"Not yet—" Ace laughs.

He fires, hitting someone without looking. Four bullets. "Can you two not have a couple's therapy session right now?" Skye screams. "Get your asses over here and come help me."

We run across the adjacent buildings until we reach Skye and Thirteen. The two are facing off in hand-to-hand combat, and streaks of blood permeate Skye's headscarf. She's limp, and Thirteen is about to shoot her. Ace quickly fires—Thirteen winces as his bicep is hit. Three bullets.

He turns his attention to Ace. In the distraction, I run over to Skye, supporting her and Agent Russo to the corner furthest from the danger.

"That's enough, Ian," Ace spits. "You're going to bleed out."

He sneers. "You wouldn't let me die. You've always been too weak. Instead, you don't think—just letting the agency dictate everything you believe in."

Ace lets out a humorless laugh. "Are you supposed to be the most virtuous? Killing innocent people all in the facade of love?"

"You don't fucking know what they've done to me. To all of us."

Thirteen runs towards Ace, throwing a punch in his direction. The spy ducks, grabs the assailant by the stomach, then slams him into the ground. Thirteen quickly leaps to his feet and kicks Ace's kneecaps. He falls, and Thirteen punches him squarely across the face with devastating power.

I take the gun in my hands and shoot. Two bullets.

I miss, obviously, but the distraction allows Ace to retaliate by punching Thirteen in the chest. The latter doesn't even seem to be that affected, more annoyed than anything.

"I've always been better than you," Thirteen says, throwing a punch. Ace's nose is bleeding, and his eye is swelling.

"I've always been stronger—" punch "—I've always been smarter—" punch "—and I've always been right, even if you just don't want to see it, you fucking Golden boy—" punch.

My heart stops. Thirteen was unstoppable. Ace was going to die if I didn't do something.

Ace slowly gets back up. "You've always been just evil, Ian. You've been greedy, selfish, and power-hungry. That's why mom had always loved me more."

Mom? They're brothers?

Ace twists Thirteen's arms between his shoulder blades to cut through to the wound. Thirteen backs up into the ledge, smashing Ace's back and spine against the concrete corners. Ace is limp as he slumps against the wall.

"You know nothing about what I went through for your ungrateful ass," Thirteen spits.

Even though Ace wasn't willing to kill his brother, Thirteen was. At least, whatever he went through changed the way he felt about Ace. I fire another bullet. One bullet left.

"Ian, stop," I cry. His focus turns to me with a sadistic grin.

"Do you know why I've kept you alive for so long?"

I swallow. With this last bullet, I couldn't miss.

He continues, "It's because we are so similar."

Tears blur my vision. As he steps closer, like a predator, the gun wavers in my hand. He smiles with amusement at my terror. "We are nothing alike," I shiver. "You're the definition of a monster."

"What, no more sassy quips? Shame." His green eyes seem to permeate into me. "Take out your contact."

I shake. How did he know? My hand is trembling, but I do as I am told.

"We are similar," Thirteen continues, "because we are both good. I'm doing something beyond even your comprehension. And it'll be good for you. It'll be good for everyone. I'm Prometheus, remember?"

"She doesn't love you," I whisper. "Look at your Queen. She's terrified—of you. You did this."

Agent Russo looks at him with wide eyes. Thirteen smiles maniacally. He steps close to me, closing the distance between us, as I'm frozen with absolute terror. "We both know that's not really my Queen. I hear you've gotten along well with my true Queen."

In one swift motion, he takes the gun from my hands and kills Agent Russo with the last bullet.

Immediately, Ace's scream pierces the air. He jumps on Thirteen to the latter's surprise, holding him down, and punches him repeatedly until his body goes limp. Ace looks at me, the gold gone from his eyes.

"I can't kill him, Octavia—I can't kill him. He's right—I'm too weak."

Chase and three other CIA agents jump onto the roof of our building. Chase supports Skye, who says a silent prayer when she sees what happened to Agent Russo. The other agents put Thirteen in handcuffs.

I take the spy's head into my chest, just holding him, as his tears stain my shirt. I press against him to stop my own shaking.

"It's over, Ace. Everything will be okay now."

Xavier: "What the fuck."

Octavia: "Wow you didn't hold back."

Sophie: "I'm thinking about renaming the book, maybe to Project Callister. If you have any suggestions, put them here! :)"