The following morning wasn’t exactly a field of flowers. The tension caused by Bloom was still very present.

Jane had come back from a very long crying session and woke her best friend up. Normally, he would have shoved her face on a pillow for being awakened in the middle of the night but he could tell she was extremely upset about everything and needed him with her. They both slept on the couch again.

The blonde herself didn’t bother talking to anyone. The only other person who kind of saw her was Crimson but no words were exchanged.

Hawk only arrived early in the morning with no one having hopes he would share his whereabouts. His usual talking to Samuel was lively despite the atmosphere.

He was apparently in the middle of a rant. “So not only I have to calculate taxes, I also have to pay them myself or else, the feds knock on my door. That’s stupid.”

“You don’t have to do the counting yourself, you know?” The man in black points out, relieved he didn’t have to cringe while thinking about the death glares the shortest in the house was sending him.

In fact, she has been doing this since she woke up and he was starting to get annoyed by it.

“As if I would pay an accountant.” He scoffs. “They are the real thieves.”

“Them and some, let me tell you…”

The conversation keeps on until Deck comes. He, as usual, says nothing before attacking the kitchen. “Alright, everything’s set. After Beol, we’re seeing our gear.”

“Took you forever.” Jane finds it in her to comment. She wasn’t as shaky about everything as last night.

She does immediately regret saying anything as he uses the opportunity to wink at her, making her grimace.

The rest of the morning is uneventful. Everyone sticks to their own things until their personal trainer arrives, properly whipping them into shape once again. And much like last time, Hawk is the only one somewhat unfazed by the session.

With that over, everyone showers and goes to the designated location: an abandoned warehouse.

“Real creative.” The blonde’s first words are full of their usual sass.

Deck shrugs before remembering something. “Heads up: I wouldn’t upset him if I were you.”

Without much else to add other than confused glances, they all enter. Inside, they see what is essentially an underground gun store.

Full auto rifles, sniper rifles, all sorts of handguns, hand grenades, and even shotguns are a few of the items on the list.

And taking care of said list was an older, tough-looking man who had greasy gray hair and plenty scars across his arms, exposed thanks to his tank top.

“Oi, punks.” He half greets, half backhands them without really addressing any of them. “Touch nothing without me permission.”

“What’s up with all this?” Jane asks. She never saw so much in one place. “Are we going to war or something?”

“With who yer up against, I fare ye are.” Their host seemed worryingly aware of their situation, maybe more so than themselves.

“Got everything I asked you to bring?” Deck asks, which apparently offends the older man.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Ye taking me for a punk? Yeah, I brought everything, you wanker.” He pushes the lazy man back. So much for a short fuse. “All of ye can choose but I don’t want to hear a single bullet fired.”

All the girls go check the handguns first. Hawk, as expected, aims for the big boys. Samuel opts for more standard equipment, taking immediate interest in an assault vest nearby.

While he was occupied with that, Bloom, who hadn’t taken her mind out of him, scowls. Seeing him made her sick and uneasy.

It reminded her of him.

...

Half an hour later, everyone settles on what they want to take with them. The greasy haired man seems annoyed. “Goddamn forever to pick some guns. Now scram, I need this clean before the feds kick me door down.”

Everyone had at least a knife and a pistol. The girls all went crazy with the ammo while Samuel latched onto a submachine gun. The biggest in the room was content with an assault rifle.

There was also a box full of ammo, supplements, and the like coming with them.

While almost everyone else was already heading towards the exit, not wanting to spend another minute near that crazy man, the uneasy feeling welling inside the blonde’s stomach didn’t go down. Looking at Samuel still boiled her blood.

Angry at how he had Jane in a way she couldn’t.

Angry at how he was a man.

Angry at how he was standing between her and Jane being a happy couple.

Angry at how he reminded her of her brother.

She aims forward, taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t ever see it coming and she could always play the victim. Enough gaslighting would convince someone like Jane, she thought to herself before readying the trigger.

And right as she was about to fire, a hulking arm raises her aim high. The suddenness of the movement scares her into pulling the trigger, alerting everyone to her unmistakable intentions.

Hawk, who was watching her every move, came in clutch. He then grips her wrists, forcing her to throw her gun away. She also yelps in pain.

“Let go of me, you freak!” She struggles to try and break free but it doesn’t do anything in time to stop the bigger man from using his free hand to choke her.

The second this happens, all poise and sass in her face vanishes and is then replaced by fear and despair. Jane recognizes the PTSD kicking in, which, in turn, gives her an anxiety attack. She tries to hold onto her friend’s hand but he is too busy trying to not burst a vein.

“Hawk, take it easy.” Samuel, who was barely holding the anger of the fact he almost got shot in the back, tries to calm the situation down. “We still need her.”

“We don’t need a backstabber.” With each word, his grip tightens.

“This is a mission for five and Deck won’t have the time to find someone else.” He sighs, which helps with his anger management. “And besides, you don’t want her blood on your hands, do you?”

By this point, she was legitimately changing colors. A vein was throbbing through his forehead in unbottled rage.

Jane was struggling to breathe.

The man in black taps his colleague’s shoulder. “Hawk!”

Being called one last time actually makes the bodybuilder let her go. She falls like a wet noodle, choking and crying as she tries to wiggle away from them.

“I guess that does it well for ye, punk.” The oldest in the room says as he hoisters his gun back. It was loaded and very much ready to fire a round. “I don’t need the feds on me ass over some dead girl.”

Feeling like the world was now against her, the blonde hurries outside, taking her bike with her as she runs away, tears in her eyes.

Deck sighs. “Goddammit, not this early.”

Jane, who was still trying to even her breathing, notices what he said. “This early?”

Right on cue, as Samuel lunges on her, giving her a hug that quickly puts her to ease. She reciprocates the hug even more intensely.

“Yeah, I figured she would lose it eventually, just not this early. I really didn’t want it to happen before everything was set.”

“That punk aside,” Deck’s contact asks. “Who’s paying me?”

Crimson, who had seen everything, wasn’t that surprised, all things considered. What she was impressed by was how collected the man in black seemed to be despite everything.

She also found his relationship with Jane to be cute, though that was a very minor thought in her head right now.

As for the blonde herself, she was heading to any bar she could find, a place she could drink herself to sleep, all while ignoring the many honks of the cars she was speeding through at dangerous speeds.

In her mind, she cursed herself for allowing herself to be near the very kind of people that hurt her in the first place.

Never again.