"I'll Buy You New Ones" - The Wick Family (Later Years)
Okay, so this is set after the current Wick Family story. It's set between Celestial's last year of high school and early college years, not sure exactly where. I've been thinking about this for awhile. It spawned from the thought of John killing someone with a a high heel shoe. 😅 And then this happened.
Hope you all enjoy it. Let me know what you think and if you wish you be added to the tag list for the main Wick Family story or to the Wick Family Later Years posts. (The gif isn't mine)
Warnings: mild cursing, angst(?)
"Cel!" John shouts as his current opponent grabs ahold of John’s tie, trying to pull it tight and cut off his air.
"Kinda busy here!" Celestial returns, ducking a swing from her opponent.
"Cells! Your shoe. Give it to me." John pulls the man off balance and slams him against the guardrail.
"What? No! I kinda need these to walk around." She blocks another punch before lashing out with a jab to the man’s abdomen.
"Cel." John manages to slip his fingers between his throat and tie and jerks it away and out of the man’s hand. The man punches John in the gut before grabbing ahold of him with the intent to throw John over the rail.
"Find something else!" Celestial decks the man in the face with her right fist and he crumples to the floor. He lays there for a moment before beginning a slow struggle to his knees.
"Celestial! Now!" The command comes out as a roar.
"Oh my god! Fine!" Celestial quickly unhooks the little buckle and takes the sleek black heel off her foot. She throws it up at her father before driving her fist once more into the face of the man on his knees in front of her. He collapses.
John catches the thrown heel, the platform slapping against his palm. He flips it in his hand and drives the stiletto into the man's eye. The man releases his hold on John and screams in pain. John slams him back against the wall and drives the heel deeper into the socket until the man stops screaming.
Celestial slips off the other heel, no reason to keep it on now, and holds it securely in her hand, facing off with another man intent on ending her life. "You know this wouldn't have happened if you stayed out of it!" The angry accusation directed at her father.
John's gun flashes twice and another man falls. "What was I supposed to do?" John growls back, fear laced adrenaline moving him forward to engage another target. John rolls as the man fires at him. John's gun flashes three times as he pops back up and the man falls to the floor. "Stay home while you do the job alone?" He stands and looks over the balcony in time to see her club a man over the head with the platform of her shoe.
The man crumples at her feet and she looks up at him, her hair flipped out of her face and anger in her eyes. "Yes! That's exactly what you were supposed to do! I had everything under control until you showed up and started making a mess!" She points the shoe at him accusatory.
John scans the bodies on the floor around her, counting six to his three, and his eyebrows pull together. He makes his way around the balcony and down the stairs. "Well I'm here now, so deal with it."
Celestial grinds her teeth and heads towards a hallway leading out of the room. "How the hell did you find out about it anyways? You were supposed to be taking Y/N out for dinner." She glares at him as he catches up to her and takes the lead in front.
"You got a letter. I was putting it on your desk when I saw the file." John keeps a tight grip on his gun as they continue down the hall. "Don't you know how dangerous this man is? You shouldn't-"
"Yes. I do in fact know how dangerous the guy is. I also know his son. And he's the one who invited me to the party, dad." She puts a full dose of teenage attitude into the word dad. "And it was supposed to be a retrieval job. Quick and quiet and easy. No one was supposed to die! No one was even supposed to know. Can't hide it now, can I?"
He glances over his shoulder at her, a deep frown on his face. "You know I don't want you in this world. I don't want you to have the blood on your hands that comes with this life."
"Holy- ugh!" Celestial practically snarls with anger and impatience as she forcefully grabs her father's arm and pulls him back, stepping around and in front of him so she can lecture him properly. "I don't have any blood on my hands! I don't kill people! All the men I dropped back there," she points back down the hall with her shoe, "will live! They'll wake up with concussions and killer headaches and giant ass bruises, but they will live! Because that's what I do! In and out, like a ghost. Retrievals and blackmail, that's what my job, and people might get hurt but they don't end up dead. And I take those jobs to keep you from taking jobs, and to keep you out of this world as much as I can!" She taps him on the chest when she refers to him. She takes a step towards him and he takes a step back. He's never seen her this livid before. "And I don't need my father running in without knowing what's actually going on, thinking he has to save me from danger while I'm at a fucking party. You didn't even give Y/N a chance to explain, did you!? No! You probably just bolted out of the house cause you were convinced I had gotten in over my head and didn't know what I was doing and was going to get myself killed! Well guess what dad! I do know what I'm doing, and I'm fucking brilliant at it and the boys and I have been doing this for years now. So why don't you calm your tits, reign in your self destructive tendencies for a bit, and let me do my fucking job and get us out of here!" She taps him with the shoe once more for emphasis before turning around and marching down the hall.
John blinks at her, stunned for a moment. "Celestial-"
She turns to look back at him, pointing her shoe at him threateningly. "I swear to god, if the next word out of your mouth is anything other than okay or yes ma'am I'm going to throw my shoe at your face."
John straightens his shoulders and let's his face fall into blank professionalism. He gives her a slight nod. "Yes ma'am."
"Good." She turns back around and leads the way down the hall. "I can't believe you used my heel to stab a man in the eye. They were a gift you know. From Peter." She mutters to him as the approach a corner. They can hear the faint sounds of the party now.
"I'll buy you new ones." John's reply comes in a low rumble.
"Damn right you will." Celestial presses her back flat against the wall and listens for a moment. They fall quiet as they hear footsteps coming towards them. As the footsteps get closer to the corner the person starts to hum and Celestial holds up her hand to John, signaling him to hold his fire.
The source of the humming rounds the corner and the boy jumps at the sight of them. His hand jerks towards a concealed weapon out of reflex before he presses it against his heart. "Shit." Peter shakes his head and steps farther into the hallway. "You two scared the hell out of me." Peter looks them both up and down, nodding to John. His gaze stops at Celestial’s bare feet before he looks back up at her, eyebrow quirked up. “What happened to your heels?”
Celestial shoots a glare at John, “He happened to them.”
Peter nods. “Ah. I see.” He shrugs. “I'll buy you a new pair. Is it done?”
Celestial pulls a flashdrive on a chain over her head and hands it to Peter. “Yea, it’s done.”
Peter takes it and tucks it away in one of his suit pockets. “Awesome.” He looks her up and down again. “You can’t go back to the party like that, it will raise red flags.”
Celestial rolls her eyes. “Yea, I know. And he can’t be seen.” She nods towards John.
Peter nods and puts his hands into his pockets. “So, what’s the plan, boss?” He keeps his eyes on Celestial and John's brow furrows, his confusion deepening.
The quiet footsteps approaching the group go unnoticed until the blond boy turns the corner into the hallway. His eyes flick up from the ground at the sight of the three of them and he visibly flinches. “Holy shit!” John’s gun locks onto the boy and he raises his hands in surrender.
Celestial puts a hand on John’s gun, lowering it. “Oh for fucks sake. Put that away and move back down the hall.” She grabs one of the boy's raised arms and pulls him along. “Come on Marcus.” The four of them stop a bit farther down the hallway where the shadows would do a better job at hiding them. Celestial turns to the boy, Marcus, but he holds up a hand, stalling her.
“First, I’ve got to know.” He points at John. “Is he here to kill me or any of my family?”
Celestial shakes her head. “No.”
Marcus points his finger at her instead. “So you’re the one on the job then?”
Celestial nods. “Yea.”
Marcus puts his hands in his pockets. “Cool. Next question. How many funerals will we have to arrange?”
Peter raises an eyebrow. “Really? Cool? That’s it?”
Marcus shrugs. “My dad is an ass. He deserves whatever is coming to him.”
“Fourteen.” John grumbles.
Marcus winces.
“There are seven unconscious and stable. Probably have concussions and will be out for awhile.” Celestial adds on.
Marcus nods. “Right. Did you get whatever you were here to do done?” Celestial nods. “Great. You need to get back to the party. You can’t leave until after the bodies are discovered. Otherwise people will be suspicious.” Celestial gestures down the front of herself. Marcus quirks a smile and takes the pocket square out of his suit pocket. He then takes the shoe from her and glances at the size. “My sister has a similar pair upstairs that she’ll never miss. I’ll get them for you and get rid of this. In the meantime you and Peter should go get you cleaned up in the bathroom. Steve is looking for you by the way. And I will escort Mr. Wick out of the building so he won't be seen, or drop anymore bodies. Cool?”
Peter and Celestial shrug. “That works for me.” Celestial looks at her father. “We will continue this at home.” She leads the way down the hall to the bathroom, Peter following behind.
“It’s a good thing your dress is black.” Peter murmurs.
Marcus turns to John. “Please follow me Mr. Wick.” John narrows his eyes but nods and allows himself to be lead in the opposite direction down the hall. Marcus tosses the shoe into the chaos of the fight scene before leading the way out of the building. He holds the door open for John. “Have a good evening Mr. Wick. I’ll make sure Celestial makes it home safely.”
John gives the young man a nod before disappearing into the night.
~ ~ ~
“You know, she has a right to be angry with you, right?” Y/N says as she sips her glass of wine from her seat on the couch. John glares at her from across the room. “I’m just saying, if you had let me explain everything, she wouldn’t be pissed. And neither would you.”
“How long?” John growls.
Y/N shrugs. “A year, maybe two. She was helping me on small jobs at first.” John’s expression darkens. Y/N rolls her eyes. “Oh don’t be like that John. You know what I do. I was training her in recon and surveillance. Stuff she’s going to need if she’s going to be a cop in this town and you know it. Besides, you’re the one who has been training her to fight since she could walk.” She takes another sip.
“So she could defend herself!” John raises out of his chair, fists clenched and eyes blazing. “I wasn’t making her into a weapon!”
“I know John. And you’ve given her plenty to work with. So trust your instincts and trust that you’ve trained her well enough to take care of herself. Now sit back down and try to calm yourself. You know she’s not going to talk to you if you’re a big ball of rage. You did good John. And Celestial is good at what she does. And she does it so that you don’t have to come back to us broken and bloody.” Y/N keeps her voice quiet and gentle. She's not trying to stoke the fire but to calm the blaze.
John’s hands loosen as that thought sinks in and he begins to tremble. He more collapses than sits back in his chair, head in his hand as his whole body shakes. Y/N sets the glass down and walks over to him. She sits on the arm of the chair and rubs his back, trying to give him what comfort she could. “Hush now, baby. It’s alright. She’s okay. Trust me. I wouldn’t let her go out if I didn’t have full confidence in her. And she’s never alone. I promise.”
John’s trembles turn into barely controlled sobs. “I… was so afraid. I… I couldn’t…”
“I know John. I know.” Y/N coos, continuing to rub his back as the front door opens.
Celestial walks into the living room, fully prepared for a shouting match that she was going to win damn it, but she stops in her tracks as she sees what waits for her. The anger leaves her as she takes in the sight of her father hunched over and shaking with tears. Understanding settles in and she takes a breath. She sets her newly gifted heels down on the carpet beside the couch and makes her way over to her father. Y/N stands and heads out of the room, taking her glass with her. Celestial puts her hands on her dad’s shoulders and he raises his head to look at her.
“I…”
“I know.”
John drops his head back down and Celestial pulls him up by an arm. She wraps her arms around his waist in a hug that he returns. They cling to each other tightly as John gets his tears under control. His trembling slows and he whispers into her hair, “I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” She returns and pulls away. “Come on, old man. Let’s get you to bed.” John lets her lead him to the stairs and leans on her as they begin to climb them together. “You still owe me for those shoes.”
John chuckles. “I’ll buy you a new pair.”