Peach had three days. She had three days to get her shit the fuck together and get as much information out of Miss Bianca about the Seal of Solomon that she could. The first day--she had come up with a plan.
The second day--she had spent the morning picking out an outfit. Something professional that wasn’t too serious, still fun and flirty, but which Bianca would take her seriously in.
Then, she had knocked on the woman’s door.
“G’day!” she chirped when the door opened. “I was just wondering if you had a minute? I got my first new syllabus from my teacher and I wanted to--ask you a few questions about it. Wanted to start planning some of my projects early.”
This was not surprising, for all of Peach’s ditziness, she was actually quite smart, and she did really enjoy school.
Peach had closed her laptop as soon as Phillip had left. Well, she waited two minutes, tapping her foot up and down rapidly, so that she wouldn’t run into him as she rushed out of the school. But, she threw her stuff in her bag, pulled her coat on and started down the hall, walking rapidly. She walked quick, quick, quick all the way home.
Except, she didn’t turn left towards her door, she turned right, towards Miss Bianca’s. Raising her fist, she knocked rapidly.
“Miss Bianca! Miss Bianca! Are you home?! The most amazing thing happened! I need help! Miss Bianca!”
This was going to be her First Official Meeting with her RAS agent assignment. She’d been debriefed (so fancy, she’d loved it and had taken copious notes) about Miss Bianca Gabor. She was Hungarian! (Awesome.) And Isreali (even more awesome). She was super duper pretty too, from the picture that the agent at the RAS Headquarters had shown her.
Peach had been stuck at those Headquarters for a week and a half before plans could be made to get all of Peach’s paperwork together. Her new identity all drawn up. She’d been very particular about it. At first the agents had been reluctant to let her create her own story, but she’d made the very convincing argument that she was going to be able to remember something she created much better than anyone else.
So, the story went: she had grown up with two loving parents in Sydney, Australia. Her mother was Rose DeWitt (yes, Peach had stolen it from Titanic but there wasn’t any Bukater on the end so no one would know) and her father was Percy Clearwater. (She’d stolen both of these from Harry Potter, but they were different characters, so it was fine.) Rose was a stay at home mother and her father had been a freelance artist-writer, who also had a fondness for gardening. They had died in a car accident on September 29th, which was the same night that Peach had seen the horrible monstrosity done in her neighbor’s basement. And now, she was coming to live with her closest relative, her mother’s (much older) sister, Jasmine’s daughter Bianca. Which made Bianca her cousin!
Simple.
The agents at RAS had been impressed.
And now that she was settled into her apartment (across the hall from Miss Bianca), and had been going to school for a full week, she was going to meet Miss Bianca for the first time. (She’d been kind of--not avoiding her per-say, but definitely scuttling as quickly down the hall as possible and being very quiet about opening and closing her door.)
Now, she was ready, though. She had even baked chocolate chip cookies! She hoped Bianca liked them. But, everyone liked chocolate chip cookies. When the knock sounded at the door, Peach was not nervous. She had banished those nerves very far away.
She flung open the door with a bright smile. “Hi! You must be Miss Bianca Gabor, from the RAS! I’m Peach--but I’m sure you knew that. Wow! You’re even prettier in person. No one will ever believe we’re cousins!”
Thankfully, due to his brain being to tired to come up with torturous scenarios to process he didn’t dream, he didn’t have nightmares. It was like that the first time too when he had woken up in that small Russian hospital they’d brought him to after passing out in the store. They would come later, though. They always did.
He sat up too quickly, breathed in with too much force, his head swam enough to send him crashing back into the mattress. His body had somehow gotten use to not doing this everyday. It had liked not hurting, not having to endure so much all the time at the hands of people who had never known the pain they were inflicting. Eventually he got himself out of bed, still in the same clothes and shoes, having stained the pillow case with a variety of blood and dirt.
Took him a long time to scrub everything away so the water going down the drain was clear, but soon enough he was cleaned up. Looked worse for wear, his skin showing that even the strongest wills could be bludgeoned, but alive. Somehow.
Orville was slowly making his way to the washer with his uniform wrapped in his sheets tucked in one arm while the other was holding him up via the wall’s help when he noticed someone else was in his house. After telling Bernard and Bianca that he wasn’t going to the hospital, he couldn’t trust anyone there now, and went round to his bedroom to sleep he’d thought they left him to his own.
“Bianca?” he asked, squinting at her as the bright lights of the sun coming in hurt his eyes. He looked around briefly for her partner, “What’re you still doing here?”
Heads Held High,Touch The Sky, Our Hearts We Pledge To Thee
@miissbiianca @bernardnewhart
Previously on The Rescuers + Orville: Bianca warns Orville of what’s coming, Orville tries to run away, and The Rescuers find Orville had been taken, again.
And now, The Rescuers do some rescuing.
tw: blood, mentions of past torture, violence, implied death, guns.
ORVILLE
Above is the sky where the Sun it still pondering whether it should take its leave. The other side of the world beckons to it as it hasn’t seen it in a few hours. The Moon and stars, while not able to provide the light or warmth, will keep this side of Earth company until the Sun returns.
Below is a house, larger than those in the surrounding area, though the closest one is acres beyond it. What’s closest is the land surrounding it, flat and fenced. There grass there looks a little overgrown, weeds sprouting up all over.
In this house are men and women who speak in Russian to one another. Things are scattered everywhere. Old dust is either coating every surface or floating around in the air from where it had been scooped off or blown away by a quick harsh breath to the surface it had been quietly clinging to for months while the house had been empty.
Behind the house is a barn. It’s quite a large barn, two stories, with an open layout. Where it once held tools and stored many other things it now sits empty. For the most part because below this barn is another room. Hidden under hay that had been left behind and not cleaned out is the door to a staircase and a hall that leads to a door. Two men with guns sit outside of it, talking back and forth with one another easily in the same Russian as those above and beyond in the house.
It’s a nice summer evening. The sky turns a soft shade of pink as it says goodbye to the Sun and greets the Moon for their nightly conversation.
Orville can’t see any of this.
All he sees are four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. Empty shelves surrounded him.A door is in front of him. The chair he’s tied down to. His badge for PrideU was off to the side.
Blood.
There was blood everywhere. Down his front, on the rope, on the floor where he had spit it out over and over, after taking hit after hit to the face.
This all blurs as tears, fat and hot, fall over the brims of his eyes. He hates to cry, but he can’t seem to help it, and there’s no one there to see it, either. They’ve left him alone for now with the promise of picking up in a few hours. Where it had taken him months to cry before, it’s only a day now.
Orville looked up at the ceiling and pretended it was the sky for a moment, regretting letting his last few moments with her be occupied with fighting instead of drinking it all in. Stupid to think he would have gotten away. Stupid to think he had escaped at all. It was only a matter of time before they had found him, grabbed him, cramed him back into his cage. He sighed through his nose, the dried blood there itching and he couldn’t even move to scratch it.
His chair had been tipped over on his side when he had been trying to break it, and paid the price when the door had opened. They hadn’t even had the decency to set him back up right. Nothing had changed at all, it would seem.
BIANCA
It was taking too long.
They had drove through the night, but there was just too much land to cover. When dawn had broken, they had been mostly lost, and she had no idea where the hell they had gone. The trail had gone cold, and so she had turned to the RAS in London to help her out.
They had limited intel, though. They told them to check the farm houses, and so that was the only thing for it. Park down the driveway, work upwards. Most were occupied, funnily enough, by farmers, going about their daily business. None of them seemed suspicious. None of them seemed to be hiding something.
It was as the sun was setting that Bianca found it.
She had procured a pair of binoculars, taking from the front seat of a truck she had passed on one farm; she hated to steal, but she convinced herself that she was only borrowing them. She would take them back as soon as she could. She pulled the car over at the bottom of the long driveway, and looked through the binoculars at the house, filled with people, lights on and moving around, though the farm itself looked abandoned. There was a barn behind it, and Bianca handed the binoculars to Bernard. There was no other farm for quite some distance around.
“What do you think?” She asked. It was already dark out, and so she could spot the lights on the horizon. “I don’t think it’s just a family. I think we’ve found where we need to go.”
BERNARD
After leaving Orville’s house Bernard had little to no idea what is was they were supposed to do. He was gone, the people who had taken him probably weren’t planning on shooting up a flare gone and hoisting a sign up in the air with an arrow pointing to his location. Bianca had said she didn’t know why they were here, but now it seemed pretty obvious.
The only thing they had, had to go on was the picture that Bianca had been sent of the people who had supposedly taken Orville, but that gave no indication as to where they were hiding out. If they were even hiding out. If they weren’t all the way in friggin’...where were they from again, Russia, right?
Although he’d been assured that if they made a move to get out of the UK the RAS would have known about it, so that really wasn’t the problem. The problem was the two of them trying to find a needle in a haystack. Out there in the farmlands with large stretches of land and plenty of places to be hiding.
And then when the found them? What then? He kept thinking about how the two of them could possibly take on however many of them there were.
That’s what was running over in his mind as he squinted through the binoculars, his glasses pressed against the lenses. She was right. Usually these houses had small amounts of people but he could make out more, all roughly adult looking figures. He shrugged, lowering the binoculars down to look at it from a distance as if that would help him. Could just be a family reunion. Or a party.
“I-I think it’s worth a shot,” he said, pulling his eyes away to face her.
BIANCA
She didn’t exactly want to go in, but she didn’t think that they had a choice.
In fact, she knew that they didn’t. Orville could be in there, and if he was, she was going to get him out. She was going to keep looking - she would search every farm house, she’d search every inch of land, she’d follow the, back to whatever Russian hole they had crawled out of, but she wasn’t returning to Swynlake without Orville in tow.
And Bernard would be coming with her, because Bianca was long past worrying about whether or not he still wanted to be here. She needed a partner for this mission; someone to have her back. She trusted him to be that person.
“Alright,” She said, taking the binoculars back and peering through them again. “We can start with the barn - there seems to be less people there. If it is them, then we want to go as unnoticed as we can, for as long as we can. Don’t shoot unless it’s an absolute necessity.”
She left the keys in the ignition, and the doors unlocked as she slipped out of the vehicle, keeping hold of the binoculars for now. “We’ll go around the back. There might be another way in. If not… we’ll need to take out the guards.” Probably not too hard - so long as they didn’t know they were coming. “Follow me.” She hissed, dropping her voice to a whisper as she climbed over the fence and into the field behind the barn, moving forwards through the overgrown grass.
BERNARD
He listened to her intently, trying to ignore the sound of his heart as it sped up in his chest. It was distracting and not what he needed to be paying attention to right now. He glanced back and forth between her and the house, the barn, the scene just beyond the windows surrounding them. Bernard made a face at the don’t shoot comment because no, he didn’t want to shoot unless there was no other choice. That hadn’t even crossed his mind until she had handed it to him hours earlier but. Oh hell.
Bianca was opening up the door and-.
This was it. They were getting out of the car. They were going to go look around. The mission was in motion and Bernard was there for it because someone, a sort of friend of his and friend to Bianca, was in danger. As was the rest of the town, potentially, if they didn’t stop them. There was no turning back, this is what he had signed on for.
With one final breath in an attempt to put himself at ease he pushed open the door on his side, and quietly shut it behind him so it didn’t make too much commotion. Bernard followed after Bianca, as she instructed, pausing as he watched her gracefully clear the fence. While he knew he couldn’t do that he also knew he couldn’t just stand there because they’d get separated in the dark so Bernard moved forwards.
It was not as graceful or quick but he did land on his feet instead of his face so he was going to call it a win. He adjusted his glasses when he stood up straight, looked back to the barn in a very, that wasn’t so bad, fashion, and then jogged to catch up to his partner with his back bent a little as he went.
BIANCA
It was like stretching a muscle she hadn’t exercised in a while; the memories of how to do this were still there, but it had taken her a little while to truly get into the swing of it. Now, though, as she moved through the grass towards the barn, crouched down low to avoid being spotted, she felt… oddly comfortable. She was worried about Orville, about the town, she was angry that the VTM were there, but it was sort of exhilarating. After almost a year of mostly sitting behind a desk, it felt good to stretch.
The barn wasn’t too far, but it still felt like it took forever to reach it. She flattened herself against the wall, the wood rough against the back of her neck, but that wasn’t what was on her mind. She waved Bernard forward, and after a moment, she looked around the corner.
“Two guards this side - I don’t know about the other.” She said. “Looks like most of them are still in the house. We sneak round, we incapacitate them - I’ll take the left, you take the right. Okay?”
BERNARD
This was kinda weird for Bernard because normally his eyes would be looking down, thinking too much about what they could be stepping on, what could be hidden in the grass that could potentially trip them over. Thinking about how he was getting his trousers and shoes dirty, about the grass brushing against the backs of his legs like slithery creepy creatures. Instead he was thinking about what was ahead of them, about keeping up with Bianca, not the little things that might kill him but more of the big picture.
He held back once they got closer to the barn until she motioned for him to join her. He closed the distance again, stepping up beside her against the barn’s side while trying to stay as small as possible to not draw attention to them.
Bianca’s plan was sound. It would all come down to the execution of it, but he knew if he hesitated or back tracked or over thought it then he was going to fail and all this would be done before it even began. And that just was not an option for anyone here.
“Okay, I’ll see you on the other side,” he said, nodding, and moving around to the other corner as he was having to go the long way around. Bernard looked back to her for a moment, and then disappeared around the barn.
BIANCA
Bianca had considered the notion that what they might be scurrying up to was just a normal farm. She had considered it, and then immediately dismissed it; the people lingering outside looked too much like your stereotypical Russian gang for them to be any old farming family. The two outside the barn, the two she had plans to incapacitate, were prime examples: tall, broad, crew cuts, wearing all black.
Bianca was quite pleased at having the opportunity to knock them out.
And that was what she did; moving around the wall of the barn she shifted to keep in the shadows. She could only hope that Bernard would be careful, that he would be fast; they would need to do this seamlessly to avoid alerting the others.
She snuck up on the guard, digging her knees into the backs of his to buckle him, and then using the butt of her gun, she smacked him over the head, smiling just a little at the thud he made as he hit the dirt.
She waited a second before appearing from the shadows, only emerging once she had heard another dull thud. “Nice work,” She said to Bernard, smiling ever so slightly still. “Inside,” she hissed, nodding for him to follow as she flicked on her torch. “See anything?”
BERNARD
He stood at the corner of the barn for a few seconds, swearing to himself under his breath as they were facing in a direction that if he were to step out they would see him coming and all Bernard had was the element of surprise on this guy. He wasn’t sure what to do, willing to just take the risk of getting shot or the guard to yell out for help and expose them but there was a small sound of something hitting dirt that caught the guard’s attention.
Bernard didn’t question it, didn’t think about it. He crept forwards and caught the man around the neck. It wasn’t the most perfect technique on a headlock, but he did manage to get his other hand around the man’s mouth and nose and hold on for dear life as the guard struggled against him.
There was a little bit of a fight, the guard pushing them both back into the wall of the barn so Bernard’s back hit against the side, his arms coming up to hit at Bernard’s arm, his face, bumping his glasses out of place.
When Bianca found them the guard was knocked out due to oxygen deprivation, slumped up against the wall, and Bernard was breathing heavily as he re-adjusted his glasses. Unable to speak, he tiredly pointed at the guard, blinking at him as if he couldn’t believe he just did that by himself, then looked up at Bianca again. But she was already gone. He sighed and followed in after her.
“Uh,” he squinted, trying to get his eyes to adjust the much darker air under the barn’s roof. “No. You?”
BIANCA
She was proud of him, as it happened. She just didn’t have the time now to tell him, to really let him know; she would tell him later, once all of this was over, and her friend and the town were safe again.
Looking into the barn, Bianca shone the torch around, looking for something — what, she wasn’t entirely sure, but something. She shook her head, her frown deepening. “No.” She said. “Nothing.”
The barn looked the same inside as it appeared from the outside: abandoned. Sort of dilapidated. Nothing special, and thus, the perfect place to hide a victim.
“Look around,” She said, “There has to be another door, a hatch, maybe. They wouldn’t send guards to look at stand by an empty building - there has to be something here.”
BERNARD
Bernard had really been banking on Orville being in the barn so it was disappointing to find the place empty. And by empty, it was really and truly empty. Nothing but the structure itself and the air that hung around inside it growing old. No kidnapped janitor tied up somewhere like some kind of horror movie. Which was both a bad and a good thing. Mostly bad, considering they hadn’t found him and the odd of him being in the house with the rest of these people was growing in size.
But Bianca was right, it wouldn’t make any sense sense for them to just be hanging out by the barn standing watch over the exit if there was nothing to be guarding inside. Or maybe they were keeping something from getting out.
His head was tilted upwards trying to see upwards at the upper level of the barn. Bernard had to take a few steps back in order to see over the edge of the balcony. Maybe they were hiding some kind of weapons up there, or-.
Not looking where he was going Bernard tripped over several pieces of discarded wood. He fell hard on to his back, his hands reacting and sticking out behind him to try and catch on something but there was nothing but the solid ground.
So solid, in fact, that it gave of a more metallic sound that echoed instead of the grass and pact dirt that only gave off soft reverberance. He winced, shutting his eyes tightly against the sound until it faded away with the rest of the evening’s sounds. Bernard cracked one eye open and looked around, waiting for some kind of negative consequence, but when none came he turned himself over in order to push himself to his feet via the help of his knees and hands.
“Sorry,” he whispered, “my bad. I didn’t know they uh, made barns with met-metal floors.”
BIANCA
She had been turned away when she heard the noise, and she had about jumped out of her skin, whirling round to see what the help was going on, already reaching for her gun—
And then her eyes landed on Bernard getting to his feet, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
She quickly looked out of the barn, but the noise had seemingly gone unnoticed; Bianca came back inside, narrowing her eyes a little, shaking her head. “They don’t.” She answered, moving closer, setting the torch between her teeth so she could look.
She had to sweep away some dirt and dust, but the metal glinted beneath her palm once it was clear. She looked at Bernard for a moment, and then looked back at the hatch, setting the torch on the ground now so that she could fiddle with the latch. It was old, rusted, but not locked.
Bianca lifted it, slowly, the hinges creaking as she did so. She looked briefly behind her, to make sure no one had heard, but at this point she wasn’t sure she cared.
The inside was dark, and even dustier than the door had been; when she shone her eyes torch down into it she could see steps, stairs leading down to… something.
Orville, maybe. Probably. Hopefully.
Bianca looked once more to Bernard, and then began to descend, torch clasped in one hand and gun in the other.
BERNARD
Bernard looked at her in confusion because, well what else could it have been? Just a sheet of metal lying on the ground? Maybe from marking the roof or something the owners had just forgotten?
He watched carefully from off to the side where he had moved to get out of her way. Her hands brushed off the debris and he wasn’t even thinking about how dirty it was, just about how there was a trap door in the ground. When she looked up at him Bernard gave her a little shrug and frown as if to say, ‘I dunno.’
It could have been nothing, it could have been a coincidence, but as Bianca set down her flashlight so its light was less concentrated he could see around the door where it had been in use as of recently. The indentations in the dirt, where the excess hay had been moved around from where the door had rested back.
His eyebrows rose when it opened to reveal stairs. Bernard didn’t even think about protesting when she started down them into the dark and scary nothingness down below. He followed instead. Hand touching the wall as he went in order to keep his balance. Expecting dirt when what he got felt smooth, almost like concrete.
When they touched down from the stairs the ceiling was a whole lost closer to his head but the width of it was enough to where he could stand next to her and not be touching. A little ways in was another door, this time standing up right. He moved forwards first, her hands both occupied, and took hold of the padlock that was keeping an obviously newly installed latch closed, its metallic shine was far brighter in comparison to the rest of the door. Bernard looked back at Bianca, the question of what now? on his face.
BIANCA
She was surprised to hit another door, and Bianca brought her free hand up to touch her, her brow furrowed ever so slightly. It had been used lately, she could tell by the way it glinted in the light, and the tracks through the dust on the floor. This is what they had been guarding - there would be something behind this door that was valuable, or illegal, or both.
She waited for Bernard to open it, and then looked at the padlock with a sigh.
Further proof that the door had been used recently, but a hindrance to them both. She thought about it for a moment, weighed their options, and then handed him the torch, shifting the gun in her hands. “Keep the light on the lock,” she instructed. “And I’m sorry about your ears.”
Bianca took a deep breath in, aimed, and then exhaled, squeezing the trigger. The small chamber exploded with noise, a noise Bianca could only hope hadn’t been heard by the people in the house, but when she stepped forward, ears ringing, she found the padlock broken in two.
Hanging onto the gun, she reached out one hand to push the door open, slowly and carefully. If there was anyone in there, they could be about to rush them - she kept her arms locked, gun pointed in front of her as she edged into the room.
There was only one person waiting, though.
“Orville!”
ORVILLE
The sounds just outside the door had not been lost on Orville. He had been trying, and failing to sleep when he heard the creaking that usually meant they were coming. He had watched on in anxious anticipation from where he was, tossed over onto the ground. His breathing had sped up, his chest straining against the ropes tied there as he tried to get his lungs to full capacity, gearing himself up for either finally being moved or for another session of torture and pain. There were footsteps, and had he been in the right state of mind he might have noticed how they weren’t as heavy as the ones that usually trampled down the stairs and the little hall to get to him. They were softer, like they didn’t want to be heard at all.
He flinched violently at the sound that he knew to be gunfire, shutting his eyes against it. Orville struggled against his bindings again, his wrists raw, his legs barely able to move at all. He couldn’t really feel his feet as the ropes were so tight they were almost cutting off the circulation. Why they were shooting in the hallway he didn’t know. Could only guess they were here to kill him. Or put a bullet somewhere they knew wouldn’t and leave him down here until he did while they made their escape.
And then the door was opening, and someone said his name. It sounded familiar, but--
His eyes opened, squinting against the bright light as they kept him in the dark until they’d bring in lamps to see what they were doing to him, so all he could really make out was two dark figures. He tried to scramble back, the foot closer to the ground kicking to get away. Though he knew it was pointless. He wasn’t going to escape them. He was never going to escape them.
BERNARD
He took the flashlight from her, but didn’t catch on to her meaning until she was cocking the gun. Bernard jumped out of the way and held the light on the lock, looking back and forth between it and her. He shot her a confused look because? What? His ears? Why would he-?
Then she pulled the trigger and his eyes closed, shoulders tensing up. He blinked after a moment, opening his mouth slightly to move his jaw round as his ears rang. Right. He had forgotten about how loud that was since he usually wore the ear muffs that blocked it out for the most part.
Bernard followed in after her, letting out a relieved breath when he, too, saw Orville. He shined the light on him, bringing his other hand to clap over his mouth at the sight of the other man. Tied up in a chair looking like he’d had the life kicked out of him. Even more so when he tried to shrink back away from them. Just to see what kind of pain these people had inflicted was horrifying. They needed to get him out of here, get him some medical help because there was blood all over his face.
Only he didn’t look like he was happy to see them, and he didn’t know how to approach something like that. With him struggling he didn’t want to go cutting at his binds. He glanced at Bianca, unsure of how to approach without anyone getting hurt.
BIANCA
There were many things that flashed through her mind in that split second, the light turning to Orville, illuminating him in the darkness.
The first was the mere fact that he was there. That they had found him. She hadn’t left him this time, she hadn’t let him go so easily. Then, of course, there was the blood. And the blood was everywhere - the smell of it, metallic, copper-like, mingled with the smell of the mold from the walls and the dust in the air. It was down his front, on the floor— but he was alive, squinting through the light, and that was enough.
“Don’t point the torch directly at him,” she told Bernard, moving forward slowly. “And keep a look out for anyone coming - they might’ve heard the shot.”
In all likelihood they had, and that meant that Bianca needed to move quickly. She moved over to Orville, at first kneeling beside him, careful and gentle as her hand met his shoulder. “Orville, it’s me. It’s Bianca. I’m going to untie you, okay? Then we’re going to get out of here. No hanging around today.”
She made no false promises, didn’t tell him that it would be okay, or that they would all get out just fine. Orville wasn’t stupid, and neither was she, nor Bernard; all three knew that this was going to be ugly. But getting Orville untied, getting him to his feet - that was a good start, at least.
Bianca took the Swiss Army knife from her pocket, flicked the blade into place, and got to work cutting the ropes.
ORVILLE
The light moved away, blue and black dots blinking in his vision instead. His hands had curled into fists, trying to wriggle away from the chair’s arms, his feet doing the same where they were pinned against the legs. Why he still continued to fight was always a mystery. Even to himself, he wished he had the self awareness to just stop. Yet no matter how many times he told himself to give up, that this was his life now, he always tried to fight back. As if he had to prove he wasn’t going to go down so easily.
Didn’t really matter though. In the end, he was already dead.
His eyes were still adjusting to the change in light so when someone touched his shoulder he reacted violently, jerking his shoulder at much as the restraints would allow him to try and get away. He didn’t want it dislocated, he didn’t want it impaled with anything, didn’t want the barrel of a gun pointed into it to tear it apart by a bullet. His breathing was still heavy, coming in and out through gritted teeth.
Then the voice came again, and he turned his head to look at who was speaking to figure out why they sounded so familiar. Finally his vision stopped swimming, he was sure they’d given him a concussion within the second hour he’d been here, and he focused in on their face.
“Bianca?” he whispered, because his throat had been scratched up from all his screaming and attempts to silence his wounded noises. He didn’t believe in what he was seeing, hearing, because it couldn’t be her. He had told her he was leaving. That she shouldn’t look for him after, and that had been the end of that. For a moment he thought he had finally gone mad. Dreaming of escaping shouldn’t have been until a few weeks had passed by, at the least.
It wasn’t until he felt the ropes give under her knife did it click that this was really happening because it hurt for the ropes to let go of him, for his limbs to move out of the positions they had been forced into for hours. Normally in dreams he couldn’t feel the pain.
BERNARD
As soon as Bianca said something he moved the light, feeling terrible for having probably blinded the guy. It was just such a shocking sight to see someone like that, hear the ragged breathing. No amount of training or reading or research could have prepared him for it. He knew the risks, and he had heard stories of past missions, but it was something entirely different to see it with his own eyes. Especially when the only other times he had seen the man had been when he was smiling, or scowling, or poking fun. Not tied up to a chair with blood and sweat and dirt stuck to his face.
But he couldn’t get emotional right now, couldn’t get too into his own head right now, there would be plenty of time for that later when they made it out of there.
Bianca was a sobering presence. He took a breath, nodding, and turned back to keep look out from the doorway. He kept the light just above his head tilted down to imitate what a lamp would do for the room, casting a wider net so he could see while also allowing Bianca and Orville that luxury, too. Bernard glanced back and forth between the two scenes, cursing the people with how much rope she was having to cut through.
He had known going in that these people were bad, it was only now that it clicked just how ruthless they were. It fueled him with anger, with the need to take these people down once and for all. He may not have had as big a stake in this as the two agents in front of him, but Bernard didn’t like bullies. People who thought they could get away with hurting someone else for their own gain, whatever it may be, and that’s all these people were.
BIANCA
Bianca cut him free, removing the bits of rope and tossing them aside. “I’m going to help you up now, okay? It’s going to be hard, but we have to go. We have to go right now.”
She knew he would know that already, but as if to punctuate her statement, there was a yell from outside, garbled, gruff Russian that she couldn’t decipher. “We need to get out of the room.” She said, looking to the stairs and back again. She could let Bernard handle it, but she would feel a lot better if she did it herself.
“Bernard,” She called, a little more hushed than usual. “Help him out. I’ll go first.”
ORVILLE
When the tension on the ropes released he flopped with a lack of grace, his jaw clenched as he pushed out air at the pain from moving unexpectedly. He just wanted to press his face back down into the dirt and sleep for the rest of his life. There was no end to his exhaustion, no relief came immediately. It was only more anxiety, more nerves. He felt like he was going to be sick, surprised he hadn’t been already.
He wanted to leave, he did, and he was screaming internally at his limbs to move, god dammit, move already. But they only did so in a sluggish fashion, stiff muscles trying to come back to life while the flair of pain kept other parts from wanting to be quick about it. His skin didn’t even feel right, warmed to an uncomfortable temperature without relief and tight. Dried blood had crusted over, making even his facial movements uncomfortable. Orville sat up, moving out of the chair. He was leaning to one side heavily as his muddied brain tried to catch up with the rest of him.
The sounds of the people who had done this to him gave him a sudden jump start, adrenaline kicking into his system once more. Using the chair he got himself to his feet, an arm coming up wrap around his middle.
“Bernard?” he repeated because, he knew that name, too. He followed Bianca as she went until it passed over to the other man’s movements, squinting at him as he came closer. “Hey, aren’t you--?”
BERNARD
His eyes shot up at the sound of people approaching. Their time was up, they needed to move. Now.
Bernard was already moving before Bianca could finish her suggestion. It only made sense, she was the better shot, the better fighter, and Bernard was more cushioned for someone to lean on. He gripped the flashlight with one hand, moving around to Orville’s side so he could get his arm wrapped around the man’s back, and get Orville’s arm draped around Bernard’s shoulders so he could take most of the weight off of him. Ideally he would have just thrown Orville over his shoulders and carried him out of here like all the heroes in the movies but he didn’t have that kind of strength. Instead he held on tightly to Orville’s wrist with the hand still holding the flashlight. He glanced up from what he was doing as Orville looked at him in confusion and held his stare.
“Yeah,” he confirmed, already knowing what Orville was thinking despite the words not coming out quite yet. “No time to explain, come on.”
Using his legs for the most part he pushed both his weight and Orville’s up, having to bend his back forwards slightly to compensate for the other. He walked forwards in short and choppy steps to keep them from tripping over one another.
BIANCA
Bianca was more than ready for a fight.
And she had the advantage of surprise; the man who had yelled was the first to come looking, and by hiding in the shadow the staircase Bianca managed to punch him in the nose and knock him back against the wall, which was all well and good, if he had been the only one.
As it happened, he was just one of many.
“Follow me,” Bianca called behind her, expecting Bernard and Orville, by extension, to do what she said. “And stay close.”
It was the last thing she said before she charged up the staircase, tossing up the lamp the Russian had been carrying to illuminate the dark and dusty barn. There was someone just in the doorway, half-lit by the lamp he carried, too, and Bianca grit her teeth. It was always going to end in a fight, wasn’t it?
ORVILLE
Orville starred at the other man in complete disbelief, wanting to ask how he got wrapped up in all of this, and a few other million questions, but then Bernard was moving them forwards and he could do nothing but follow along beside him. They’d left his legs alone at the least, having paid too much attention to smashing his hands and trying to get his face into something that wouldn’t be recognized.
He watched on as one of the men came down the stairs, as Bianca made contact. An unexpected, ‘oof,’ came out of his mouth as he heard the sound the man’s nose made, his own scrunching up to which he regretted because it had taken several hits now. Orville hadn’t seen her in action in years, and not that he doubted her abilities, but she was just as impressive as he remembered. Himself on the other hand…
As they followed her up the stairs he was coming to terms with the fact that they weren’t going to make it out of here alive. Not like this. One person fighting who knew how many men and women while the other two were sat back watching her do it.
Didn’t matter how hurt he was or how much his brain was reacting as if it were made of scrambled eggs, the only way they’d make it was if they all held their own.
“Us, too, then,” he said, patting a hand at Bernard’s chest to indicated that he should let him go. “Can’t let the lass take all the credit should we somehow make it out of here in one piece.”
BERNARD
He only had time to blink before Bianca had the guy who came looking for them was knocked into the wall. There wasn’t any time for him to stare in awe because he was having to carry himself and Orville up the stairs after Bianca.
Orville’s thinking was similar to Bernard’s. There was no way they were going to be able to outrun these people. They couldn’t even make it out the door because of the whole scary group of trained kidnappers and killers standing in their way. And because he was having to keep Orville standing he couldn’t help his partner.
It was a terrible situation, one he didn’t know what to do in. Orville, though, made the call for him with the hits to Bernard’s chest. He turned to look at him, feeling the other start to pull away.
He didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to put him in danger again after all he had just been through, but Orville was right. If he wanted to help Bianca, and if they wanted to make it out of this barn tonight they were going to have to work together.
“Do we have a plan?” he asked, stepping up next to Bianca with his eyes focused on the people at the door..
BIANCA
Her fist was aching, but she was doing her best to not to show it.
Did they have a plan? She was thinking about it. Calculating it just as she stood there, looking at the door, at the mob gathering behind it. There was only really one plan: fight.
“Give Orville your gun,” she said, her voice low and her words fast. “We’re all going to need to fight. Just keep pushing forward - make it to the long grass and keep running. And if you see Evgeniya?” She paused, looking between the two of them. “You leave her to me.”
ORVILLE
He shuffled forwards to Bianca’s other side, looking between her and Bernard. He was right there with her, there was no time ta sit around the table and work out a plan. Sometimes the only thing you could do in this line of work was grit your teeth, throw a punch, and hope to God it landed.
Orville kept his gaze on Bianca when she said that name, eyes narrowing as she let it linger in the air against the movements going on outside. Her finishing statement caught him by surprise, eyebrows pulling together.
“Bianca,” he said before she started off he grabbed onto her elbow, pulling her back. He paused, too, letting out a breath. There were a million things he wanted to say to her, but they’d run out of time for any of it. So he settled on what mattered the most, “Thank you.”
BERNARD
Bianca gave instructions and, you know, Bernard wasn’t really the one to question her since this wasn’t her first rodeo. No pun intended. But trying to fight their way out seemed like a terrible idea. He looked around for a moment, trying to see if there was any other exit from the barn, while Orville spoke to Bianca.
When he saw no alternative, as the other two had already long figured out, he pulled the gun from the back of his pants and then moved forwards, holding it out for Orville to take.
Not even a second after the gun was out of his hand someone yelled something and several men ran in. Bernard, not really thinking passed the whole we’re all going to need to fight moved first, turning to meet him before he could get to the other two, his arms coming up to wrap around him, dipping his shoulder into the guy’s middle and pushing him into a wooden beam. Both of them let out grunts upon impact.
BIANCA
It would probably take a lot for them to bring the ring leader out amongst the rabble, but Bianca meant it - if they saw Evgeniya, she was going to be the one to engage. She was going to be the one to put an end to her, lock her up or take her down, whichever. It was entirely personal, for many different reasons, most of them selfish in some way.
Yet, when Orville say thank you, it didn’t feel too selfish. She gave him a small smile, a nod, but she didn’t have time to speak; their time was well and truly up, as it happened.
With Bernard taking out the first goon that had ran after them, Bianca moved for the next one, grabbing his wrist and twisting until their gun skittered to the ground and she could bring her other elbow up, into his face. She had seen Bernard fall, but she had no time to react; just as soon as she’d dropped the first man to attack her another one charged, and Bianca reached for her gun - she didn’t want to use it, no, but she didn’t seem to have much choice.
ORVILLE
He turned to Bernard, his hand on the barrel of the gun at the same time Bernard had his on the grip to exchange it when the fighting started. It seemed as though the opposition had made the decision to fight, too. Orville watched on, as he was a bit stunned as the man, who was usually a soft spoken, took the first hit, followed quickly Bianca. When he looked up there was someone running at him, too. He was slow to his reaction time, the only thing he was able to do in the split second was raise his arm up in defense, bending down behind it to protect his head as the man tackled him around the waist
Being smashed to the ground and a large weight landing on top of him wasn’t the most pleasant of things, especially with his torso was already in enough pain from prior damage. He brought the hand up that he’d gripped the gun with up to take aim but the man was already sitting up. Seeing the movement from the corner of his eye he knocked the gun from Orville’s hand sending it sliding across the barn floor out of range
The man landed a few hits to Orville’s chest and face, and he yelled out at the pain. Knowing he couldn’t take much more of it, his brain getting antsy from being pinned down by the weight, Orville waited until the man pulled back to wind up for another punch. When he saw it coming back down he moved his head at the last second letting the man’s hand come down into the ground at full force next to his ear. The man pulled back, clutching his hand to his chest, and Orville rolled them over. They landed and Orville moved until he was on his back so he could smash his elbow into the man’s face.
The man went limp and Orville got to one knee, looking in the direction the gun had went off to. When he went to stand someone was grabbing him by his hair and pulled him backward to throw on to his back against the ground.
BERNARD
Bernard and the guy he’d pushed into the wooden beam slid to the ground. The man because the back of his head and spine had taken a hard hit to the wood and Bernard because his weight had been depending on the other guy to hold him up.
Both of them had a moment to pause, taking panting breaths as they rolled away from one another, groaning. Bernard looked up at the commotion behind him, both Orville and Bianca in their own altercations. He pushed himself back to his feet in order to help.
But only got as far as one step in their direction, mainly in Orville’s because he looked like he was having far more trouble than Miss Bianca, before someone caught him by the ankle and pulled his leg out from under him. He fell onto his stomach, his chin bouncing off the dirt. Bernard looked back to find the Russian he’d grinning at him. Then he reached forwards for Bernard’s calf, yanking him back. In a panic Bernard’s other leg came up and he kicked at the man’s face. His heel landed hard on the man’s nose, making his head snap back and hand let go of Bernard’s foot. Bernard rolled over onto his back and kicked again, getting him in the throat.
BIANCA
A shot in the knee, not lethal by most standards but hopefully enough to keep him down - or maybe not. As he fell he lunged at Bianca, fists flying, catching her as she dove to the side and landed heavily on the concrete floor. The punch to her ribs and the impact jarred her right down to her bones, and the hesitation that followed gave him ample time to reach for her ankle, trying to pull her along the ground towards him.
Thank god for the jacket; without the leather she knew her skin would have been raw, something else to distract her. Bianca twisted at the waist, bringing her other leg up to kick at him, hitting first his shoulder and then his ribs as she was drawn closer. She had dropped the gun when she fell, and she was too far too reach it now; she flipped herself over, his grip on her ankle slackening as she knocked her knees into his chest to wind him.
She wrenched herself free as soon as she could, head turning to assess what was going on - more people coming, Bernard seemingly handling himself, and Orville being dragged to the ground. Bianca went to help but there was that hand on her ankle again, pulling her down. She only narrowly managed to avoid smacking her face off the concrete before she was being turned over, hands grappling at her face, and then at her neck, squeezing…
ORVILLE
His hands came up in reflex, trying to claw away the hand pulling him by his hair and keep the tension on it loose so it didn’t rip the chunk they had ahold of from his scalp. They didn’t let go at his nails digging into their skin or the heel of his hand driving into their wrist over and over. He went about thrashing around, kicking his legs, tilting himself from side to side as he was dragged along the ground. Nothing was working, and he was panicking.
He looked around in his frantic state, one hand darting out to snag on one of those wooden beams, clutching onto the corner of it. The man pulling him jerked to a stop, releasing his grip on Orville’s hair. He turned around, getting up to face the man. Orville shoved his had under the man’s chin so his head was forced to tilt back as Orville moved forwards, making him stumble back in sync. The man reached around to get his gun from its holster at his waist. And Orville latched onto his wrist as he pulled the gun out. Seeing no other option, both hands occupied, he head butted the man’s hand which forced him to drop the gun. Then came back up to land a firm punch to the side of his head.
The man fell limp to the floor, and Orville turned back, seeing the man on top of Bianca. He moved forwards, but was caught around his shoulder and chest. Orville used the momentum to turn the both of them and drive the person into the ground with his shoulder digging into their sternum, something cracking loudly in the person’s chest when they landed.
BERNARD
Finally the man let go of him and Bernard turned over to get up. One knee pressed into the ground as the other was bent, his foot ready to push him up so he could be standing on his feet once more. But he was panting, trying to get his breathing back to something normal and had to pause for a moment, his elbow against his thigh and looked ahead of him.
His eyes locked in on a man looking down at Bianca, his hands wrapped around her neck. Before he knew it he was on his feet, running full force into the man on top of her. It was nothing graceful or with any technique, just Bernard throwing himself at the guy. His hands grabbed at the fabric of his clothing as he made contact to ensure that he would come with him as he kept moving.
They landed on the ground, Bernard on top of him. The pair paused at the initial pain, then the man looked to the side. Bernard followed his eyes to find the gun that had been knocked from Bianca’s grasp. They looked back at one another, thinking the same thing, and reached at the same time. The man grabbed a hold of it first and Bernard took hold of his wrist, knocking it into the ground to make him let go. They both tried again, reaching for it, fingers only just brushing against the handle now.
BIANCA
She just needed to get her knees up. Knees up and push them into his chest, sending him sailing backwards. Hopefully that would be the end of it, and she could go, help whoever needed helping, but it was a lot easier said than done. She pushed at his face, fingers scrabbling at his eyes, at his neck, trying to gain some distance—
And just like that he was gone, and Bianca lay back against the concrete for just a moment, catching her breath. “Az istenit,” she groaned, pushing herself first to her knees and then to her feet. She looked at Bernard and the stubborn bastard who wouldn’t leave them alone, and then snatched the gun from both their reaching hands. A second to aim and another to pull the trigger; Bianca really, really had wanted to do this without the guns, but he hadn’t given her much choice.
She glanced to the entrance of the barn. there seemed to be a gap, a sudden stop in the flow of people coming in from the house. Now was their chance - it had to be now, and they had to be fast.
“We have to go,” she called, looking back at the two of them, lit dully by the lamps inside the barn. “Now! Come on!”
ORVILLE
He rolled off the man when he was sure there were no sign of the man getting back up to fight since he was too busy groaning at the pain that consumed him with every breath he took. Orville wanted to lay there and do the same, let the aching and the sharp jabs take over until he passed out. But it wasn’t an option. He knew as soon as he gave into feeling it that he wouldn’t be able to get back up.
The gunshot that fired off and it was the wake up call he needed. As was Bianca’s voice that sliced through the ringing in his ears. It sounded like she was talking behind a thick layer of glass but he got the gist of it. Go and Now. He got to his feet, swaying until his shoulder bumped into the beam to keep him on him up right. Orville blinked widely to get the black dots coming in and out of his vision to stop.
He pushed himself away from the beam, touching it until it was out of range, and started off towards the exit of the barn. At first at a slow, limping walk, until he worked his way up to an alright running speed.
BERNARD
Just as Bernard watched the other man’s finger catch hold of the gun the shot rang out making him flinch, eyes shutting tight. Below him the man went limp which made Bernard open his eyes slowly, turning his head to look down at him. Blood was pooling around him and he paused for a second before standing up slowly. His chest rose and fell in large movements as he breathed in deeply. A hand came up to brush against his forehead to wipe the sweat that had formed. He kept his eyes on the body for another moment until Bianca said they’d better get going because, yeah, he wasn’t arguing there.
Bernard searched the barn with his eyes, relieved to see that Bianca on her feet again and that Orville was alright. With one last glance down at the man he followed the other two to the doors.
BIANCA
Bianca took the lead, pushing through the overgrown grass. It would be easy to trip, to fall, but she kept her sight set dead ahead, on the car that subtly glistened in the waning moonlight.
Thank god no one had noticed it. Of course, maybe they had - they could have slashed the tires, taken the keys, and she would never have known from that far away.
But once she got there, tearing the door open and looking inside, she found the key just where she had left it. There were shouts from the barn, far-away sounding now that they had put some distance between them and it, and they only increased Bianca’s sense of urgency. “Come on - get in. Before they notice the car!”
ORVILLE
The first thing Orville did when he got out from underneath the roof of the barn was look up. The sky was dark, a few clouds running by, and it was possibly the most gorgeous version of it he had ever seen. The fresh air going in and out of his lungs ached yet he couldn’t seem to get enough.
He had no idea where they were going, he was just following behind the other two blindly in the hopes that they still knew what they were doing. They had gotten him this far and that voice in the back of his mind that usually told him to not trust anyone, especially those involved with the RAS, was quiet. Silenced by the louder voices trying to tell him to not look back, keep running, just a little further, almost, almost.
Orville, clumsy man that he was in his right mind, couldn’t come to a halt when they led him to the car, so he allowed it to do that for him. He hit the back door, grabbing hold of the handle as he bounced off so it would open with his movements. It slammed shut behind him.
BERNARD
He only managed to trip the once half way back to the car, but he’d kept his feet. Just a little stumble through the tall grass, up and over the fence, and there it was. Waiting for them to get back so it could drive them back to town and away from this place.
After a little bit of struggle against the door handle, because his hands were shaking and sweating and all of a sudden a very simple task of opening the car door turned into the most difficult thing he could possibly be doing in that moment. But, finally, despite the shouting and the sounds of grass moving against the people surely chasing after them, he got it open and sat down in the passenger seat.
And then he began the struggle with the seat belt as he watched the beams from flashlights moving through the grass towards them.
BIANCA
She didn’t wait for car doors to shut or for seat belts to click into place; as soon as everyone was in the car Bianca threw it into gear and pulled away, leaving the shouting and the flashlights in the rear view mirror.
She didn’t have a plan from here on out; drive until they could lose them, and then return to Swynlake, maybe. Get in touch with the RAS in London, tell them to go and investigate the farm - it was the beginning of a plan. She glanced across at Bernard, and then in the mirror at Orville. “Is anyone hurt? Besides the obvious?”
ORVILLE
For the most part, Orville still really didn’t believe that he was free. And he wasn’t. Wouldn’t be. Not until the VTM were permanently disbanded or he was actually dead. But for now he guessed he would be alright. The tight confines of the car weren’t even enough to stress him. Then again, maybe he was just too tired to notice.
Finally it seemed like he was in the presence of people who didn’t make his heart spike in paranoia or fear. He felt settled. Safe, almost. Something he hadn’t felt in...years. Orville smiled tiredly at her question, chuckled even though it hurt like hell. But everything hurt so it didn’t make all that much of a difference. Leaning into the door heavily with his head propped up by the window, his eyes closed. All the exhaustion and pain muddied up his mind, got caught in the gears to make them come to a slow crawl. Didn’t matter, he was fading too fast to be thinking about anything.
BERNARD
Bernard finally got the seat belt to click and sat back against the seat and just breathed, eyes closed, arms laying limply wherever they fell at his sides. One eye opened to look at her sideways as she asked that. He heard Orville’s laugh and, after a second of looking at him over his shoulder and then resettling facing forwards, Bernard smiled, too, because, hey. They did it. They actually did it. They were riding in a car, not dead, and with Orville in the back seat. A bit battered, but still kicking.
“I’m okay,” he nodded, pushing himself up in his seat and turning to look at her. “Are you okay? I mean is your-?”
He squinted at her neck, touching his own out of sympathy.
BIANCA
She quietly cataloged her own bruised, her own injuries. She had been hit a fair few times, her ribs protesting when she reached for the gearbox - maybe fractured, maybe just badly bruised. She wasn’t sure.
Her neck— it was dark in the car, but Bianca could already see the bruises forming. Thick, long bruised which would no doubt be bright purple in an hour or two.
“I’m okay.” She assured Bernard, giving him a small smile. “I’ll drive until I’m sure they aren’t following, and then I’ll take us home.”
The first time his phone rang he hadn’t gotten to it because he had left it back in the janitor’s closer while he screwed a door’s hinge back into the wall and he had missed it as he was opening the door to the room.
The second time his phone rang he was there, and he had glanced over it at but did not answer. He didn’t recognize the number. He never answered if it wasn’t the University or one of the other custodians asking him if he would mind taking their shift. Not even the weird texts that came through with the most insane opening lines.
The third time his phone rang was right after the second, it being the same number, he still didn’t answer. Nor the next. Or the next. The seventh, or maybe it was the eighth he didn’t look, he turned his phone completely off and left it once more while he went out to go check on a said-to-be flickering light bulb.
He waved good bye to the professor’s whose office he was looking at, wishing them a good rest of the day and watching the door close completely behind them before looking up at the actual flickering light above.
Orville set down the box of new bulbs on their desk, looking around for something to stand on since he had forgotten his ladder and was not feeling like going back to tote it all the way there just yet, when the door opened back up.
“Forget something, then?” he asked, looking up with a smile as he expected the professor to be standing there. His smile faded as he stood up straight when he saw who was actually standing there. Orville sighed, shaking his head, and already moving on to get back to work. The best course of action here would be to ignore her like he had been saying he would do every other time. Just ignore her and maybe then she would finally leave him alone.
