The student council president looked around the room, then back to the page as he seemed to realize exactly what had happened. Ashe stood frozen in place, the crowd slowly turning to face her, and she was oh so tempted to storm the stage and demand to know how the hell that happened when she just happened to catch sight of Gray off to the side high-fiving one of his buddies.
So, that was his ploy.
Ashe had to admit, it wasn’t actually that bad of an idea, when it came down to it. It hit her in a way that would do emotional damage on a deep level, and wasn’t something that could be easily brushed aside. Worse, the kid up on stage looked completely out of his element now, which was either a spectacular act, or he had genuinely not known it was coming.
Crystal squeezed her hand tight, concern dancing in her eyes when Ashe squeezed back. If this had happened before the last three months, she might have even broken down over it. Ashe wasn’t that girl anymore, she was someone who had been forged by her experiences. She had been put through a crucible and came out stronger for it.
Jessica and Rachel had paused their approach with the announcement, but Ashe wasn’t going to let that stop them, if anything, she could spin this in a way that worked in her favor. Now that would be an amusing situation, Gray fuming as she thanked him for the opportunity.
Giving Crystal a quick hug, Ashe began to move through the staring crowd, shoulders set and head held high even as half the students began to laugh at the situation. She didn’t let that get to her as she walked right up to Jessica and Rachel.
“This changes nothing. Rachel, get in place. Jessica, follow me,” Ashe said, turning towards the stage. The student council president flinched under her glare, but that didn’t stop her from marching right up to him, Jessica now on her heels. He looked lost, so she just reached out and took the microphone from him and turned to address the crowd. “Well, this is certainly a development.”
Soft murmurs replaced the barely veiled laughter that had filled the room. Ashe scanned the crowd, spotting Crystal alongside Jason, Todd, and Rachel. She smiled at them, then continued her sweep until she arrived to where Gray was off to the side, scowling up at her. She smirked, then returned her focus back to addressing those gathered.
“I hadn’t expected to give this introduction, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Back in January, I was attacked on my way home. The three men who participated in that attack are all dead.” A few gasps rang out, the whispers grew louder. “The people who put them up to attacking me were dealt with in a more subtle way. One left town, another was taken. She is your prom queen, Jessica Stockton, the woman who sold me to human traffickers alongside her then boyfriend, Gray Watters.”
That set the crowd almost alight, the reactions spreading like flames. She looked back off to the side where Gray was watching, his eyes calculating as if trying to figure out how to discredit her. He could have done it easily enough, which was why she was originally planning on Rachel delivering this part of the speech, but hey, gift horses.
“Don’t take my word for it,” Ashe said, raising her arm to the side. “The woman of the hour should be able to speak for herself. Right, Jessica?”
Ashe stepped back, her focus now completely on Jessica who almost wilted at the sudden attention of the entire room. She might have once been atop the social ladder of the school, but even with her absence, she knew her reputation was only what it was because she had gone missing. The Iron Patriots had her disappeared for drawing their people into a failed venture. Gray was too important to just dismiss, but the implications of Jessica’s return were rather clear.
“Well, when the Patriots snatched me and passed me off to their traffickers, I never thought I would be back with the student body again,” Jessica said with a predatory smile.
More than a few people had been skeptical until she opened her mouth. Her voice was distinctive enough, and despite the haircut and dye job, she was still recognizable if one was looking for it. Well, the whole school was looking at her now, and Ashe could see realization blossoming across the room.
“I survived, and so have others,” Jessica continued. “It wasn’t just the Patriots however, they were working with the Viuda to move us at the behest of Alejandro. There was not one major power in the city at the time uninvolved in my predicament, each willing to sell out the others to preserve their own face. I plan to testify to this effect, and in a sense, I’m putting a target on my back by doing so, which is why this is being streamed.”
Rachel flashed a thumbs up from where she had the phone raised.
It was a gamble, giving barely the smallest bit of probable cause, but it was enough to get the thought into the public eye. The idea that the proud Patriots would stoop to selling a white girl to a group that was essentially a Cartel conglomerate, of which Alejandro was just a small part of… Well, it didn’t paint a picture that they would want. Better yet, it would put them all at one another’s throats.
Ashe needed their attention off of her, and this would manage it. Alejandro had tried to burn her, so she didn’t have an obligation to help. The Viuda wouldn’t be able to remain neutral. And the Patriots would need to do something to try and keep their reputation as clean as possible. That had been part of the deal she made with Silver Cross. He would make sure the Patriots were brought into the conflict. The rest of the deal… Ashe had to be ready to seize territory when the time came, which meant she too would eventually be drawn into the conflict, but she could pick the time and place within reason.
Edward Ellington wanted Crystal in a position of power, even if she wasn’t on the same side as the man’s legacy. He believed that an Ellington should always hold the reins of the city. Moreso, he didn’t believe that Theodore was the man to lead them into the future, not in Jericho. His desire to become president meant his focus wasn’t on their home, and that was a sin too great for the man.
So, they would have his help, and all it cost Ashe was one more line crossed that she would probably regret in the future, but for now, it would give her the reprieve she needed to avoid being squashed outright.
Burning Gray in the process was just a bonus, and it would undermine Theodore’s position politically to be linked to all of that given that Mayor Watters was endorsed by the man. It would lead to infighting, and Ashe expected Gray to either be sold out, or not survive the opening moves of whatever was to come.
Not that she would lose a moment of sleep over that. She had far more pressing demons keeping her awake at night.
“This is what lies at the heart of Jericho,” Jessica continued. “Corruption to the core. Children sold in backroom political deals. My own family sold me to avoid reprisal. I stayed away until I was eighteen just so they didn’t have any say over my life. Well, now I am my own master, and I am free.”
Ashe half expected what came next, she was already stepping forward, pulling Jessica back as she did. She had been keeping an eye on Gray as her former bully spoke, and was moving the moment he pulled his gun on his approach to the stage. The shot rang out, Jessica screamed, and red filled Ashe’s vision.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
They fell to the stage together, Ashe rolling to avoid predictive shots that might have followed. She had to trust Crystal to do her part, keep to the plan, even if this wasn’t the primary one. Contingencies existed for a reason, and this was one of theirs.
Well, it would make the next stage easier, if nothing else.
“Are you alright?” Ashe yelled, coming up with her own gun drawn while kneeling protectively over her minion. She looked across the panic stricken crowd, but couldn’t see Gray anywhere.
“The bastard shot me,” Jessica snarled, gripping her shoulder. “Fuck, how do you do this all the time?”
Checking Jessica’s shoulder, she had a shallow graze at worst. Still, any wound could be bad if left unattended. Rachel reached them and immediately pulled out a menstrual pad and slapped it over the wound. Content that Jessica wouldn’t bleed out without someone watching over her, Ashe grinned.
“Watch and learn.”
She hopped up, finally spotting Gray just as he ducked through one of the far doors and took off after him. It wasn’t until she reached the door that Ashe realized that Jessica had been asking about getting shot, not dealing with chaotic situations.
Shit, hopefully she didn’t jinx herself there.
The door was secured with an ID reader, which necessitated Ashe putting her gun away so she could get her own card back out, which she quickly pressed to the scanner. Just as the RFID picked up and flashed green, Crystal joined her with gun in hand. She had a frustrated scowl plastered on her face but her eyes were sharp and focused despite how ruffled her dress was. At least she didn’t seem injured, at least at first glance.
“Fucking people,” Crystal muttered as Ashe pushed the door open.
“Tell me about it.”
Ashe wasn’t sure which way he went, but from what she knew of the layout, going right would lead to the mass of people leaving the building while the left path led deeper into the building. She was fairly certain that the whole dead name ploy wasn’t the only trick up Gray’s sleeve, but she also had to imagine that several of his plans just went up in smoke when she didn’t break down and run from the building in tears.
Anyone who had been paying attention to things would have been able to tell him that plan wouldn’t work, not like it might have once in the past. Ashe had run out of fucks to give, and anyone with half a brain could tell at a glance that she wasn’t the same passive woman that she once was.
“This way,” Ashe said, moving down the left hall. “If he went right, we’ll never find him in the crowd.”
“You think he’ll skip town?” Crystal asked, jogging right on her heels. “I figured he would just find somewhere to lay low, let the heat die down.”
Ashe glanced aside, the myriad doors along the walls taunting her to stop and check each one. He could have easily ducked down any of them, which meant that chasing him wouldn’t be advantageous in most cases. Odds were better that the man ran away once he realized that he had opened fire on what technically counted as school grounds.
His public life was done, that much was certain. No doubt the police would be arriving any moment to take command of the scene and begin their manhunt. She knew that she should leave it to them, let her parents deal with the situation, but some part of her knew that he would get away with it all if she did.
No, he needed to be dealt with tonight, especially if he had been willing to go that far. Ashe pushed forward just a bit quicker than before, checking her corners before turning deeper into the facility. She knew the layout quite well now, far better than she had the first time through. She had a good idea for how he planned to make his exit.
Her phone rang at that moment, and Ashe paused. Crystal nodded and began to double check the area. The ID said it was from Todd, which was all kinds of concerning. She swiped to answer and brought the phone up to her ear.
“Todd?” she asked.
“Wrong,” Gray’s voice said. “Guess again, tranny.”
“Ah, the sackless chicken fucker,” Ashe said. “Let me guess, you have Todd and will kill him if I don’t follow your demands.”
An amused chuckle followed. “If anyone follows me, he’s dead. I leave here unhindered, that is my demand. You don’t tell those dykes shit, you don’t say a word to any cop, and I go free.”
“You’ve already flushed your freedom,” Ashe said, her voice hard as cold steel. “I suppose that it only makes sense you would sacrifice your life on top of that.”
“Like hell—”
“Counter offer,” she retorted. “Let him go, and find the nearest cop to surrender yourself. That’s the only way you’re leaving this place alive.”
She didn’t give him a chance to answer, and ended the call before quickly setting the phone to silent.
“That changes things,” Crystal said.
Ashe nodded. “That it does.”
She needed to hurry before he did something stupid, assuming he even went into things with a proper plan. She pushed forward at a jog, pausing at another corner, and Ashe was quick to check the corner, looking around it carefully to find another empty corridor.
“Ashe!” Crystal yelled, slamming into someone who was coming at her from the other side. The pair crashed against the wall across the way, falling apart as Crystal swiftly squared up with the suited man. Ashe was on her way to help when another suit clad man pulled a knife as he lunged at her.
Ashe grimaced and fell into a loose stance. The last time someone had pulled a knife on her, she ended up with a life long debilitating injury. It was why she had trained so hard with Eric on fighting when the knives came out. She watched the blade, then stepped to the side, letting the blade pass by her. Her hand snapped out, catching the extended arm by the wrist.
Then, Ashe demonstrated how she owned that arm by twisting, applying leverage to his shoulder, and drove him into the ground with extreme prejudice. The guy’s face bounced off the concrete floor with a heavy crack, and Ashe leveraged her position to place the flat of her palm against his elbow, and snapped the joint with a crack.
The kid screamed, the knife clattered to the floor, and Ashe dislocated his arm for good measure. She was panting, her heart hammering, the adrenaline of the moment hitting hard. A pained grunt from nearby snapped her out of her daze, and Ashe turned just in time to watch Crystal knifehand her own bastard under their chin while sweeping his legs and dropped him to the concrete hard.
The guy was out cold.
“Fucking hell,” Crystal said, wiping blood away from a split lip. “You good?”
Ashe nodded, then actually checked herself for injuries, especially her arms and hips. Thankfully there wasn’t even a scratch on her.
“Yeah,” Ashe answered, her breath heavy. “Well, at least we know where his goon squad went.”
Nodding, Ashe reached down and grabbed hold of the asshole’s dislocated shoulder, and hauled the now screaming man onto his knees. He was crying ugly tears, but she needed answers, and she needed them quickly.
“Talk, or I make the arms match,” Ashe snarled.
“F-fuck you,” the kid wheezed.
Ashe pulled on the man’s shoulder, putting all his weight on it. “Talk, I’m growing impatient.”
The kid, who Ashe now recognized as one of those she and Crystal had beat down months prior, spat on her face. She dropped him, letting him fall to the ground with a yelp and whine, then kicked him firmly in the ribs, a wet crack sounded from the impact of steel toes on bone.
Her eyes then flicked over to the one Crystal had dropped, whose eyes quickly closed. She was tired of their games, and didn’t have the time to be playing with them. Instead of playing rough, Ashe decided upon a more delicate touch with the next one. She grabbed his hand, the man’s eyes snapping open as he no longer faked being unconscious, then with a swift twist, Ashe snapped his index finger.
He screamed, and Ashe grabbed the next finger.
“Where is Gray? Talk or I’ll keep going.” The man geared up to spit defiance back at her, but she kept to her word and moved on to the third. “Last chance before I finish the hand and swap to your left.”
Lo and behold, he talked.