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How? How?
They had been driving away from the city, finally. Nine and Twelve had come to an agreement after Five’s last attempt at their lives.
Their latest hideout had been compromised, a bomb had been set off at the parking lot of a nearby mall, claiming the lives of half a dozen people and injuring many more. Five had no qualms killing people, and despite Sphinx having never before killed anyone, the incident was still blamed on them.
Nine had been sufficiently distraught to listen to Twelve and agree that they needed to leave the city and regroup.
It had been a hard past couple of days, hectic enough that they had barely spoken to one another, but Lisa hadn’t cared. They were leaving… at last, clearly not forever, certainly not for long, but it would be a much needed break for all of them. And something was better than nothing. She would gladly take it, a couple of days or just one, a week or a weekend.
It was clear Nine and Twelve needed it, both had never looked this fatigued–she knew neither of them had gotten much rest in the past few days. Twelve would still be up when she retired to sleep and when she woke up she’d find him already up and about. Nine’s headaches had been more constant and despite his claims that he was perfectly fine, he looked pale and sickly.
So how? How come they were already back to fighting for their lives? It wasn’t fair.
They hadn’t been on the road for more than an hour when Twelve spotted the car behind them.
“Five,” he said under his breath.
The name was enough to chill Lisa to the bones. Her hand went to her mouth to stiffle a gasp without much success. She twisted slightly in her seat to glance back at the car following them.
“Lisa,”
She looked back to the front and her eyes met Twelve’s on the rearview mirror.
“Don’t.” he said and his voice was soft and controlled, the way it always sounded when he didn’t want her to panic “Don’t take off your seat bealt and keep your head down until I tell you it’s safe.”
She did as he said and as if on cue, the rear window shattered.
On the passenger seat, Nine cursed as he reached for his gun inside the glove compartment.
With her head braced between her arms, Lisa wasn’t able to tell what exactly happened, just that one moment they were on the road and the next they weren’t. She couldn’t hold back a scream as she felt the car bounce and tilt dangerously to the side before coming to an abrupt halt.
“Is everyone okay?” She heard Twelve ask. “Lisa– Lisa are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she answered.
She lowered her arms, and saw Twelve unfastening his belt, ahead of them a cloud of dust and dirt was just starting to settle.
Five and the same blond man who had forced her onto the plane weeks ago had emerged from the other car, already aiming guns at them. Five stood a good distance away, her gaze steady on Nine and Nine alone, but the blond man came to Twelve’s side, his gun trained on Twelve’s head through the glass.
“Drop your gun,” The man said to Nine “And get out of the car,”
Nine gritted his teeth and slowly, he placed his gun on his seat. Lisa saw him and Twelve share a look, neither of them glanced back at her as they opened their doors. Lisa’s hand hovered over the latch of her own seatbelt, unsure of what to do.
“The girl, too.” The man said as an afterthought.
“She doesn’t–” Twelve was cut off as the man pressed the barrel of his gun against his temple and shot a look at Nine.
Lisa was already fumbling with her belt, scared of what they might do to either of the boys if she disobeyed, and got out of the car on shaky legs.
“Really, Nine?” Five said once they were all out “Running away?”
Nine didn’t answer and he and Twelve were directed to the front of the car and closer to Five.
Lisa was left alone, standing somewhere in the background, an invisible and seemingly unimportant part of the scene unfolding in front of her.
“Put your gun away, Clarence” said Five, addressing the man who still had his pistol drawn on Twelve “It’s kind of overkill,” she waved her piece in front of Nine’s face “Be good, and I won’t have to use this on him, all right?”
Nine’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t gratify her with more of a reaction.
Clarence hesitated and lowered his gun, but he didn’t put it away.
“You’ve disappointed me, Nine, really,” Five twisted her lips into a pout “I was under the impression that we were still playing this game, and you just…what? bolted? You didn’t even have the courtesy of admiting defeat, how very unbecoming of you.”
“You have us now, Five, what else do you want?” Nine finally said.
“Don’t be so conceited Nine, I don’t want you two,” She shot a particularly nasty look at Twelve. “Then again, I know you’re not stupid enough to think that’s what I went through all this trouble for,”
Nine set his lips in a firm line but something in his expression had Five perking up. “Yeah, you know alright. Care to tell me where it is?”
“The plutonium…”
Five frowned, Lisa was surprised at how quickly her expressions shifted from complacent to livid “Clarence,”
The man glared at Five, clearly not happy with her tone and the demand that it implied, but all the same, in one fluid motion he grabbed Twelve by the collar of his shirt and pulled him forward, using his other hand to ram the butt of his gun against the side of Twelve’s head.
Twelve’s head snapped to the side and before he could regain his balance, the man’s knee hit his stomach; for just a moment the only thing keeping him up was the grip that Clarence still had on his shirt.
“Twelve!” Lisa stepped forward, but no one acknowledged her as Nine cursed at Five and made a move to help Twelve.
“You shouldn’t lie to me,” Five shoved her gun under Nine’s chin and yanked him back by the arm “Now, don’t do something even more stupid and stay put.”
Nine fixed her with a glare, but he stood still.
“It’s fine,” Twelve said, and his expression was mocking as he straightened and managed to look down at the man in front of him “Try again, see what that gets either of you,” even as he said this, blood trickled down the side of his face.
“Twelve,” Nine warned and Five smirked.
“He hasn’t changed, has he?” she asked Nine as if Twelve weren’t there. “You know I never really liked him, so by all means, don’t answer my question just yet. Let’s see how long Twelve can stand without help.”
“Screw you, Five.” Twelve barked at her before Nine could open his mouth.
“Or I could just shoot him right here, I don’t need both of you.” She said to Nine, and although she ignored Twelve, a muscle jerked in her cheek.
“Five,” Clarence spoke her name with a hint of impatience and she gritted her teeth.
“Right.” she finally said “Look at us, handling important matters on the side of the road like brutes. This isn’t really my style, anyway.” she jerked her head at Clarence and he dragged Twelve towards their car.
Five pressed the barrel of the gun harder against Nine’s skin, “Get in the car, Nine.”
Nine shifted, his feet moving slowly as his brain tried hard to come up with a way to get out of this situation without getting himself or Twelve killed in the process. But Five had the guns, the upper hand, and Twelve was already hurt.
“Sto-Stop!”
Instinct had Five aiming her gun at the voice. Twelve gasped Lisa’s name and Nine’s eyes widened at the sight.
Nobody moved.
Lisa stood at he hood of their own car, legs spread slightly apart, knuckles white as she gripped Nine’s glock with both hands. She didn’t dare look at either of the boys, not directly, anyway, too afraid that whatever expression they were wearing would make her lose what little confidence she was holding onto right now.
She was terrified, she could admit that to herself, even if she had somehow managed to keep her arms steady, her posture firm as if she knew what she was doing. She had only ever seen Nine hold his gun, knew the basics from films and TV shows (however accurate those were was anyone’s guess) and just prayed that she wouldn’t actually be forced to pull the trigger. She knew though, that if she absolutely had to, she would.
Five wasn’t taking Twelve or Nine away. Not if she could do something, anything, about it. Maybe she hadn’t known them for long, maybe her actions would seem crazy to anyone else, but she couldn’t be more sure that they were worth every risk.
Lisa jolted out of her thoughts at Five’s sudden laugh. The white-haired lowered her own gun even at Clarence’s protests, and stepped towards Lisa, stopping only a few feet away.
“Why, I forgot you were with them,”
Lisa swallowed, frowned.
“Don’t look so offended, sure you know how insignificant you are. Points to you though, for not running away when you had the chance. I assure you, none of us would’ve noticed. You’re brave,” Five made a face at her own statement, shook her head “Or maybe just stupid.”
Lisa readjusted her grip slightly “Let them go,”
Five tilted her head. “You don’t get to demand anything. In fact, be glad I haven’t shot you yet.” despite her statement, Five’s arm still hung at her side, her hand loose around her gun as if Lisa weren’t worth the effort of trying to look more menacing.
“Five,” Clarence said as the girl approached Lisa slowly, stopping a couple of feet away.
“Get them in the car, Clarence. I’ll deal with her.”
Lisa’s finger twitched, she was tired, scared, angry. She needed only to glance at the blood on the side of Twelve’s face to make her decision. She aimed over Fiver’s shoulder, where the blond man stood, and pulled the trigger.
It was amazing how one action could unleash chaos in a single breath.
Her shot went wide –she hadn’t intended to hit the man in the first place, and she knew that even if she had the result would probably have been the same–, the bullet went through the windshield of the black car, but it was enough to have the man turning his full attention to her and raising his own gun at her.
She heard Twelve shout, followed by Nine’s shape moving in a blur. Another shot rang out, only this time she hadn’t had the time to pull the trigger. Five whirled around the moment Nine moved, her gun ready.
There wasn’t time to think. Lisa lunged at her with all her strength, tackling her to the ground. Five’s gun tumbled out of reach. Lisa was still catching her breath when she felt Five move underneath her and swiftly reverse their position. Her head was slammed against the ground, she saw stars and dimly, felt Five’s cold fingers try to pry Nine’s gun out of her hand.
She held on, knowing full well what would likely happen if Five managed to get a good hold of it “Stop, don’t–”
One of Five’s hand grabbed for her throat, squeezed tightly.
“You should’ve run,” Five hissed.
Black spots dotted Lisa’s vision, she felt her hold weaken slightly, but she didn’t let go, couldn’t let go…
If Five got the gun, if she managed to get the upper hand then she would kill her, maybe kill Twelve as well out of spite and then take Nine.
She wouldn’t let go.
Voices, muffled as if underwater, called to her. She heard a faint bang, felt the reverberation of it in her hand. And still, she held on.
Five’s weight was suddenly off her, nails dragged along her skin before her throat was released, and she felt her hand fall to the side, pistol still clutched tightly.
“Lisa, Lisa!”
She hadn’t realized she had shut her eyes until she heard Twelve’s voice –He was fine, alive– urging her to open them.
Lisa blinked him into focus. He was crouched next to her, the blood on his face had dried, but he looked shaken, pale, more out of sorts than she had ever seen him.
She felt his hand on her neck, a quick but gentle touch –a direct contradiction to Five’s destructive intent– before he looked at her face again.
“You’re alright,” he said, and she didn’t know if it was a question or a statement, but she nodded all the same.
“When that last shot went out, I thought–I thought you had…” he shook his head, offered her a wan smile “You can let go of that now,” gently and very carefully, he took the glock from her, set it aside.
It felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted of her shoulders and she shuddered.
“Thank you,”
He laughed, and she saw a glimpse of the Twelve she knew slowly coming back “We should be thanking you, Lisa.”
Her eyes widened as if she just had remembered something very important “Nine,” she pushed up, but he held her in place before she could get to her feet.
“He’s fine, he’s dealing with–”
Somebody cursed loudly somewhere behind them, a car door slammed shut, muffling the obscene shouting. Lisa saw Twelve’s expression darken for the briefest of moments, and then he was smiling weakly at her again, checking for other injuries she might have sustained.
“Are Five and that man– Is Nine going to…” she didn’t know how to ask but Twelve seemed to understand her.
“We’re not like them.” Twelve simply said, but she could clearly hear the anger in his voice “They will be okay, but for now…” he trailed off as Nine walked up to them. Out of the three of them, he didn’t look visibly hurt, just dirty and disheveled.
“We need to go,”
“Right,” Twelve sighed, “Okay, want to try getting up now?”
Lisa nodded, started rising with some help from Twelve, but didn’t expect Nine’s steady hand on her arm, helping her up as well.
“Thank you,” she murmured, “I’m glad you’re alright,”
“That was stupid,” he responded, his voice so matter-of-fact that it made Lisa flinch.
“Nine,” Twelve’s tone was disbelieving “Don’t start now,”
Nine ignored him “You’re lucky she underestimated you,”
“Nine, seriously,”
“I know,” Lisa murmured “But I couldn’t let her take you two,”
If she hadn’t known better, Lisa would’ve said Nine looked genuinely surprised for a moment there, but when she looked harder into his expression she couldn’t find any traces of anything other than weariness.
“You should try being a little more grateful” Twelve scolded
Nine seemed to consider Lisa’s bruises, and nodded “Just because I think it was stupid doesn’t mean I’m not grateful.” and without waiting for the girl to acknowledge his words, he walked briskly away.
Twelve shook his head and helped Lisa into the car. He chuckled a little and shook his head when Nine rounded to the other side stating that he would drive now and that their first stop would be a pharmacy.
Lisa settled in, hadn’t realized her hands were shaking until she tried to fasten her seat belt.
“Let me help you,” Twelve leaned across and buckled her belt for her “You know, he can’t just say he was worried,” he said in her ear “But he was… still is. He appreciates what you did, I promise.”
“I know,” Lisa said quietly back, surprised that she meant it. Maybe she was starting to understand Nine’s ways.
“Good.” Twelve pulled apart, just enought for her to see his lips curve into a proud smile.
Nine grumbled on the front seat for Twelve to hurry up already.
Twelve stopped before he shut her door, tilted his head to appraise her one more time “There’s something else you should know,”
Lisa looked up at him.
“You’re a real game changer, Lisa.”
She had no time to respond as he closed the car door, her cheeks heated.
In the front seat, having clearly heard Twelve this time, Nine didn’t disagree.