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I told you this was gonna be easy, you worried for nothing."
"We're not out of the woods yet, love."
"I'm just saying, if getting in was this easy how hard can it be to get out again?"
"Jus' 'ave a bad feeling about this is all." his eyes were scanning the room from corner to corner even as he closed the door behind him.
Tangerine couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with this job. Not necessarily if it was a trap or not, although he wouldn't discard that option entirely. He and Lemon had been in a lot of dangerous situations, he wouldn't be able to count them all if he tried, but something about this felt wrong.
Maybe it was the fact that you were currently infiltrating one of the most dangerous organizations on the planet apart from the White Death's. The three of you were tasked with stealing an envelope which contained important letters regarding Girardi Ludano, the boss. They didn't ask what was in it or what it would be used for, but it was safe to assume that the goal was to destroy him and his reputation.
You had been going on jobs with the Twins for a while now. You weren't officially a trio, but you were with them more often than not. However when presented this particular one Tangerine has asked you to stay home just this one time. Ludano was known for being ruthless, he didn't care who he killed even if they had been by his side for years. If he found out you were fucking him over you're a goner.
He was also known for being careless with women, Ludano thought himself above them and with him most of the men that worked for him. Hence the reason Tangerine had asked you to stay put. Unfortunately you wouldn't listen, no matter how hard he tried to convince you, saying that you didn't need protection from a bunch of pathetic men.
Tangerine knows you could handle yourself, he really does, he just didn't want to take any unnecessary risks if he could avoid them. After a long and exhausting argument, Tangerine realized that you were not gonna let this go and decided to bring you along anyway.
It was a fancy gathering, all the most important people in the cartel were invited as were their partners. Small blessings he thought, because that way you wouldn't stick out as the only woman in the crowd. He wanted to get out as quickly as possible, because sooner or later someone was going to notice that there were a bunch of strangers among them. He held onto your waist the entire time, keeping you close to him, away from those lingering eyes. In return he could feel your hand on his back, trying to calm his nerves by drawing circles.
Ever since the two of you started dating his urge to protect you has grown immensely. If it was up to him no one else would ever lay a hand on you again. And that went both ways. He remembers one day where you'd told him that if it came to it, you would take a bullet for him. It started out as a laugh, but turned serious quite quickly.
"I'm serious, Tan, I would."
"Yeah, well, before that happens I'm already not gonna let it happen, so don't even think about it, love."
And Tangerine was intent on keeping that promise, no matter what it took. He doesn't know how to do this life thing without you, not anymore. He was pulled away from his thoughts by your voice.
"Mhm?" he mumbled. He could hear her voice in front of him but none of the words held any meaning as they flew in through one ear and out through the other.
"I asked if you're just gonna stand there the entire time? This would go way faster if you actually helped me look for this fucking thing."
"Right."
After about a minute of searching you spoke up again. "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing." he mumbled as he scoured through some documents.
"It's never just nothing with you."
"Just keep looking, alright? The faster we find this thing the faster we can get out of 'ere."
"Fine, keep your little secrets." Your tone was playful, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't help calm his anxiety, but he did find a small smile creeping up on his face.
Tangerine was looking behind the clothes in the man's closet next to the door when he heard a 'eureka' coming from the other side of the room. "Tan, I found it!"
Just as he was about to turn around the door to the office opened. Tangerine instantly went for his gun, only to recognize the man as his brother.
"Lemon, the fuck are you doin' in here? You're supposed to be fuckin' look out."
"Oh excuse me for trying to save your lives here, I'll just get back at it then." Before Lemon could turn around again Tangerine yanked him back into the room by his arm.
"The fuck is it?"
"Oh, now you wanna know?"
"Just fuckin' spit it out, would ya." Tangerine was already high strung from this fucking job and Lemon just playing around was not something he was willing to put up with right now.
"He's coming this way." Lemon stated.
"Shit." you cursed from the other side of the room.
"You couldn't have fuckin' led with that information?" If Ludano found them in here, they were dead fucking meat.
"I wanted to but you were being an ass about it."
"Okay fuck, we need to hide. Fast." His eyes scanned around the room and finally landed on closet he was just searching. He was sure that would be big enough for the tree of them.
Tangerine fully opened the closet he was previously searching and urged Lemon inside of it before joining him. He gestured for you to join them, but before you could make it to the other side of the room the door opened. Lemon instinctively closed to the closet, keeping the twins out of sight from the cartel leader.
"Fuck." His voice was low, only audible for Lemon to hear. This was exactly what he had been so afraid of, why he asked you to stay home where it's fucking safe. Now you were trapped in a room with a fucking psychopath who degrades women and all Tangerine can do is watch. He has to let it play out until it becomes too risky, which is an understatement because this whole fucking job was a risk since they walked through the fucking frontdoor.
"Can I help you?" Ludano asked you as he slowly closed the door behind him, his strong Italian accent filling the room.
The man was clearly startled to find someone in his office who is clearly not supposed to be there. Tangerine trusted your ability to get yourself out of this, you could sell hay to a farmer with that mouth. The one he didn't trust was Girardi Ludano. Tangerine knows the man wouldn't hesitate to kill you at the slightest suspicion that something was off or hell, even just for the fun of it. He could feel his heart beating in his throat as the watched the interaction through the shutters of the closet.
"I was looking for you actually, I'm a big fan of your work, sir."
"Who let you in here?" Ludano was cautious, almost hesitant and he had every right to be. As one of the biggest cartel leaders he couldn't trust anyone but himself, not even his own people. Right now though it was working to their disadvantage and Tangerine had to stop himself from just stepping out this box and shooting him point blank.
"The door was open actually, I got curious I guess, but I see that might not have been very proper of me." Your hands were behind your back, trying to shove the letter underneath your dress before he could see it.
"Step away from my desk please and show me your hands."
Tangerine was able to see the gun on the inside of the man's jacket as he walked closer to you. Apparently Lemon must have seen it too, because he placed a hand on Tangerine's shoulder, wordlessly telling him to calm down. "I'm sure you understand I have to be cautious with people who break into my office when there's a perfectly enjoyable party downstairs."
"Of Course yes, although technically I didn't really 'break in' if the door was open, you know?" you quipped, stalling to safely hide the envelope without him noticing.
"I said show me your hands." Ludano reached for the gun inside his jacket as you quickly stashed it and threw your hands up for him to see.
"What do you want?" his voice was firm but not especially demanding, still not sure if you were completely innocent or not.
"Like I said, I just really wanted to meet the big man behind the organization." You smiled innocently at him, as if you were truly just here by accident. It even threw Tangerine off.
"Anyways I know I overstepped and I apologize." You gave him an apologetic smile and walked past him and his still pointed gun to the door. Relief flowed through Tangerine when your hand reached the doorknob, turning it over and slowly opening the dark wooden door.
At least until Ludano walked over and pushed it shut again. He was now leaning over you, trapping you between himself and the door. "I've never seen you here before, think I'd remember a pretty little thing like yourself."
You were squirming under his piercing brown eyes, trying to think of a way out. In the meantime Tangerine thought of all the painful ways he could kill this man when they got out. "Which of my men managed to win you over?"
"My husband is just downstairs, but I don't think you know him, he's fairly new." Despite the situation, you held yourself together pretty well.
"I know everyone here, darling." Tangerine was crawling in his skin, desperately trying to get out of it as he watched Ludano move even closer to you.
"Just like I know when someone is trying to steal from me." His hand slowly slipped up the back of your top and snatched the envelope from underneath it, holding it in front of your face.
"Wait, I can-" Before you could finish your sentence, Ludano pressed his gun underneath your chin, forcing you to look up at him.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Tangerine reached for his own gun, this fucker wasn't going to lay one more hand on you. Until suddenly Lemon stopped him, placing his hand firmly over his brother's. Tangerine looked up at him, giving him a questioning and irritated look.
"The fuck are you doing, she needs help." he whispered as aggressively as he possibly could.
"If you go out there guns blazing he'll not only kill her but you too or worse." For a second Tangerine considered the 'or worse'. If he was honest he couldn't care less if he died, what would actually kill him is having to live without you. But Lemon had a point, if he just stepped out now he might not just kill you but take you hostage or some shit. He could only imagine the things Ludano would do to make you wish for something as sweet as death. No, he wouldn't let that happen, but he couldn't just step out there without a plan.
"I'll just fuckin' shoot him in the head through this door, end of story." Tangerine said bluntly, trying to get his hand out of Lemon's grip.
"His entire fucking organization is here, no fucking way we would make it out alive after we killed their boss." Tangerine's eyes keep flickering between Lemon and the scene outside the closet, not wanting to miss anything that may happen. He could only hear small fragments of their conversation over his own with Lemon.
"Well the fuck do you suggest we do then, eh?"
"I don't think there's anything we can do." Lemon admitted. His eyes held a look of sorrow and pity for him as if he seemed to have already made up his mind. Tangerine couldn't believe his own ears.
"You just want me to stand here and let him do whatever the fuck he wants to her?" his eyes were comically wide as he stared at his brother in disbelief.
"I won't let you get out there, you'll only make things worse for both of ya."
"I couldn't give a rat's ass, I'm not just gonna let her die." No way he was just gonna sit here and watch, completely useless.
"If you go out there, she's surely dead." That shut him up.
Even though Tangerine knew deep down that Lemon was right, he didn't confirm or deny anything. For now he decided to listen to his brother and wait. He knows you, you've got this.
Both brothers turned their full attention back to the situation at hand. Ludano was still looming over you, only now instead of the gun he had his hand wrapped around your neck, the rings on his fingers no doubt leaving marks on your skin.
"I'll ask you one more time, and think carefully before you answer, okay?" You nodded slowly in response.
"Is there anyone else here?"
"N-no, just m-me, I swear." your voice was raspy from the lack of air flowing through your lungs.
"And no one knows you're here? No knight in shining armor coming to save you?" Not trusting your voice anymore, you decided to just shake your head.
"Good. Good girl." Everything they had heard about this man was true. He was a real sick fucking bastard. Tangerine wanted to rip his fucking arms off as he moved a strand of hair behind your ear. He needed to get you out of here as soon as possible.
"What am I supposed to do with you then, huh?" His voice was scaringly playful, as if he wasn't deciding the fate of your life at the moment.
"Just let me go, I'll forget everything, this never happened."
"As much as I'd like to, I don't think I can do that." Fuck.
"Why can't we just forget about this?" You suspected that he wasn't just gonna let it go, but some part of you had still hoped he would.
"Why?" He laughed at you. "Because you tried to steal from me with the intent of ruining my reputation and my organization and then lied to me about it."
"I promise you'll never have to see me again, I'll be as good as dead to you." You pleaded with him.
"See the thing is, now I just can't trust you anymore." he released his grip on you entirely and took a step back. You could see the hold on his gun tightening. "But you are right about one thing."
The cartel leader took a deep breath before raising his gun, pointing it directly at your chest.
"You will be as good as dead." Your mind was yelling at yourself to do something, anything as he removed the safety off the gun and rested his finger on the trigger. But nothing happened, you were frozen with your back against the door.
Alarm bells were going off in Tangerine's head. This wasn't happening, he wouldn't let it. But before he could even think about doing something he felt two arms wrap around his waist, holding him back. "I swear to god, if you don't let me go right now-"
"Then what? You wanna go out there and let yourself get killed too? I'm not losing both of ya today." With this the grip on his brother tightened.
"Goddammit Lemon, I can't just let her die." He tried to work himself out of Lemon's hold but it was no use. Lemon had more weight behind him, making it impossible for Tangerine to get loose without giving themselves away.
"She's gonna think we fuckin' abandoned her, Lem."
"Why do you think she told him she's alone, huh?"
"I don't care."
"Because she wants to protect us."
"She shouldn't have to, Lemon, I'm supposed to protect her." Tangerine was still trying to get free from his brother's arms, but his eyes were glued to you. He could see you shaking in fear, but making no move to get away. He wanted to scream at you, tell you to at least try to save yourself, but nothing came out.
Every word died on his tongue as Ludano slowly walked closer to you, the gun in his hand never once leaving your form. He leaned over you, leaving no room between the two of you, and pressed the gun against your abdomen. "Don't scream."
Tangerine trashed harder against his brother, it was now or never. But as expected it didn't work. He could see your eyes darting around the room, finally landing on his, only where Tangerine could see you through the shutters, but you couldn't see him. You couldn't see the tears already threatening to fall down from the corners of his eyes or the way he was still fighting to get to you. But as you were looking at the closet, not knowing if he would be watching, your lips curled into a small smile.
At that a tear rolled down his cheek and he stopped moving. You were about to give your life for him, but even now you were still trying to comfort him. To tell him that it's okay, that you've accepted it. It wasn't as convincing as you probably hoped it would be, given that your eyes were still laced with fear.
For a moment there was peace as Tangerine looked into your eyes. Those beautiful eyes that held his entire world.
A second later it was over.
Even though the gun had a silencer and he couldn't see the movements from how close you were standing, he could see the exact moment Ludano pulled the trigger in your eyes. There was a soft thud and your eyes went wide.
A broken scream ripped itself out of Tangerine's throat, but before it was even finished Lemon brought his hand up to cover his mouth. Where a second ago the tears were only threatening to flow over, Tangerine has now completely let go. He didn't care that his tears were rolling down his cheeks over Lemon's hand or that he couldn't stop screaming for you even though no one would be able to hear it.
As per Ludano's request you didn't scream, but tears started rolling down your face like a waterfall as well. He finally stepped away from you, leaving you with no form of support as you fell to the ground clutching your stomach with your hands. Ludano quickly cleaned his gun from any blood that might have stained and then made his way to the door. "I'll come back when you're done." Done. More like dead.
Because you were still sitting with your back against the door, he not so carefully moved you to the side before walking back downstairs. The second the door closed Tangerine ripped himself out of his brother's hold and almost broke the closet door as he rushed towards you.
He tore off his suit-jacket and crouched down next to you, replacing your blood stained hands with the jacket to stop the bleeding. God there was so much blood.
"Lemon please keep an eye out if he's coming back." They shared a look and the next moment it was just the two of you.
When he turned his attention back to you, your eyes were shut. He brought the already blood stained hand that wasn't applying pressure to the wound up to your face, cupping your cheek.
"Hey, hey look at me, you're okay, love, you're okay." he kept on repeating it, not knowing if it was for you or just to reassure himself.
"Tan?" your voice was weak and every grain of color had drained from your face. "Where-?"
You frantically start looking around you, for what though Tangerine has no idea. He holds your face a little firmer now, making sure you're focusing on him.
“Just look at me, okay? Don’t worry about anything else. It’s only you an' me.” A worried smile formed across his face.
You slowly nodded in response.
Tangerine looked down to your stomach, his jacket now almost entirely red. As he turned it around, looking for a clean spot to press to your wound, he noticed your blood had started to turn darker.
"No, no, no." The bullet must have pierced an organ.
Tangerine rips your dress around the wound, giving him a better look at it. He tells himself that it looks worse than it is, even though it doesn't quite convince him. Blood kept pouring out with seemingly no end to it, it made Tangerine sick to his stomach.
Panic started to settle in and he started to look around for anything he could use to stop the bleeding or perhaps stitch it shut, anything would be helpful right about now. You must have noticed the panic in his eyes, because suddenly his effort to stop the bleeding was paused when your hands reached for his.
"It's o-okay." There was a content smile on your face, you had accepted your fate. Tangerine however had not and was everything but content with this situation.
"No, no it's fuckin' not. You're not supposed to die."
He was supposed to die for you, to save you, protect you. Not the other way around. One job, as your partner he had one fucking job, protect you, and he had failed at that. He would have happily died knowing that you were safe. You would need time, but eventually you and Lemon would be okay, picking up your lives again.
Only now it was him that needed to get over you, knowing that he could have saved you if he just hadn't let you come on this job or if he had just fought Lemon a little bit harder. He has loved you for about 3 years now and he couldn't imagine a world without you in it anymore.
You were his world, without you there was nothing left for him.
"You were my heaven o-on earth, did you k-know that?"
"Just stop, okay? I'm going to get you out of here and you're going to be fine. No stupid goodbyes." The fact that he had no idea how he was gonna do that was abandoned in the back of his mind.
"It's not your f-fault. I-I need you to know that, I chose this-s." He could see you were in what must be incredibly pain as you pushed the words out of your mouth.
"Well that was one stupid fuckin' decision, love." Tangerine tried to joke. A slight smile formed on your face. It only lasted so long before you started coughing uncontrollably, one hand gripping your stomach as you bent forward.
"Hey, hey just don't talk, okay? Save your breath." Tangerine helped you sit back up against the wall as you slowly got your breathing back under control.
"It hurts." You croaked out against Tangerine's requests to save your breath.
"I know love, just hang in there." He didn't know what for. He couldn't call an ambulance, it would give them away instantly, but there was no way he could treat this wound himself without the right supplies. He was pretty sure even the bullet was still in there.
Tangerine was so focused he hadn't noticed that your eyes had slid shut, your head leaning backwards against the wall. If this was any other situation he would have thought she was just calmly sleeping, but his blood stained hands painfully reminded him of their current reality.
"No, no, no.. don't. Don't l-leave me alone, please." He had grown so used to having you around these past years that just the thought of waking up in your shared bed, finding your side empty over and over again scared him to death.
"Come on... wake up. Please, please wake up..." He begged, slightly shaking your shoulders in an attempt to wake you up again. Failing. Once it starts to sink in that you're not gonna wake up, Tangerine broke down.
Every emotion, every tear he had tried to hold back came rushing back up, after all he didn't have to be strong for you anymore. Act like everything is going to be okay.
As long as you were still alive he held onto the fact that everything was gonna be okay somehow. He didn't know how exactly, but it was gonna be fine and the two of you were gonna walk out of here together.
Now that was all gone, just like you.
As the tears blurred his vision Tangerine looked over at you, that faint smile still on your face. He moved over to sit next to you against the wall. After a moment he carefully laid you down in his lap, holding onto you like a lifeline.
He doesn't know how long he had been sitting there, crying over your dead body when the door opened again, Lemon walking through it.
"I'm sorry." He knew Lemon meant it. It's not as if he wanted this to happen, he only did what he thought was right. Although it would take Tangerine some time to come to terms with that.
Tangerine quickly wipes the tears from his eyes in an attempt to look stronger in his brother's eyes. "No, it's okay. I'm fine."
A moment of silence passed before Lemon spoke up again. "We can't ehm- you know."
"Yeah, no I-I know." Lemon didn't need to explain what he meant for him to understand.
Slowly he got up, making sure to carefully move your body with him. He slowly placed you back against the wall where he found you as if you had been alone the whole time. He's not particularly religious, but he thanks God for the fact that you hadn't been alone. That you had been able to spend your final moment with the person you loved instead of that fucking twat.
Girardi fucking Ludano. In that moment where he was still crouched down next to you like before, he swore to avenge you. That bastard was gonna pay for what he did and Tangerine wouldn't rest until it was done.
Finally he got up, trying to clean his bloody hands on his suit pants. The suit was ruined anyways, not just by the blood but also by the memories it now held.
"We gotta go man."
"Yeah, yeah.." It came as more of a whisper than anything else.
As much as he would have wanted to take you with them, give you a proper burial, they couldn't. Ludano would know and sooner or later he would come after the Twins. Better to just let him think you operated on your own. He took one last look at you before closing the door, leaving you behind.