Chapter 10 - Captured

'Be all in or be nothing at all.'

———♤♤♤———

Their plan was simple, really: be stealthy, place bombs, and kill. It was a three-step plan for three people. About a hundred people were present in the building, both consisting of guards and people who make the drugs themselves.

Bella clicked her tongue in annoyance, loading her gun from where the she sat hidden behind a bush. Earlier she had thought that only about fifty people will be present in the building. That was why she agreed to the 'very easy to follow three step plan' Lucas had made. The man, however, had not told the assassins that the number of people they'd be fighting against were twice than what had Bella had assumed.

She was not looking forward to the fight, that was no question.

"You two ready?" Lucas spoke through the earpiece.

"Yeah," Jace answered.

"I would be if I had known we were going against hundreds!" Bella exclaimed, trying to keep her voice quiet.

"I'll take that as a yes. On your mark, Red."

The woman sighed, knowing she didn't have much of a choice. Though if she did, she wouldn't be in this stupid suicide mission. But she was already in Vermont, it's not like she can back out and return back to New York by herself.

Bella Ryan was not a coward. She was also not an idiot, unlike Lucas Kingston who had literally planned their doom.

Even so, Bella followed the plan and pushed through, remembering Lucas' clear instructions that he had given them earlier:

♤♤♤

"As I was saying, the drug lab we are blowing up is filled and surrounded by guards, protecting both the workers and the product. Our goal is to bomb the place down, the workers, the guards, the drugs, everything; I want everything gone."

Lucas pointed towards the blue print, pin-pointing an entrance from the back.

"We enter from the back where guards are supposed to be less in number. I want Red to go in and start the gunfire." Lucas looked at Bella. "I want you to open up a path for us."

"Seems easy enough." The woman shrugged, agreeing with what Lucas had said.

"We will split up when we enter the building. I will take the top-most floor, Shadow takes the second, and Red takes the first. Take out as much guards as you can while placing bombs around your area."

"I will have the remote. Once the three of us are done placing the bombs, I will detonate the area."

"You done?" Jace asked, raising a brow. Lucas nodded, silently answering his question.

"First of all, you should've breached us back at New York. Second of all, this is a dumb plan. Lastly, if this lab is full of guards then why the hell didn't you bring back up?!" Bella ranted, scolding the man.

"I needed to keep this mission a secret from as many people as possible. Besides, you're the Red and the Shadow." He smirks, pointing towards the two.

Jace gave him a deadpanned look while Bella seethed. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we're invincible, you dumb fuck!"

"Trust me Red, this is going to work."

♤♤♤

Bella sighed, pulling her mask up to cover her face. She knew that she had to deal with this one way or another. She stood up and revealed herself from her hiding spot before advancing towards the men who stood by the door. The woman placed her index finger and her thumb between her lips as she whistled, effectively making the sound echo around the area. Quickly, she pulled out her other pistol from its holster, both her hands now holding her guns.

"Good afternoon, fuckers." She greeted, before firing shots one after the other.

Jace and Lucas took this as a chance and ran inside, making use of the cover Red gave them. Seconds later, the men who once stood outside were now laying on the floor unconscious or dead. Though Bella never really cared, they were going to blow up the place anyway.

"The people outside are all down, I'm heading in now." Bella informed through the earpiece.

"Well, that was a pleasant greeting." Jace acknowledged with a chuckle.

The three had split up according to their plan. The two men were already upstairs as Bella made her way towards the foyer, planting bombs along the way. About half a dozen guards were by the foyer. The woman fired bullets at them as she continuously dodged theirs.

Suddenly, she felt a bullet graze her arm. "Ow."

After a while, the whole floor was cleared. "Kingston? Shadow? Are your areas clear?" Bella asked, holding a hand to her ear.

"Yes, I'm on my down." Jace replied.

"Almost. Just have a couple bombs left to place." Lucas added.

Red ran out of the front exit just as Jace jumped out of a window, effortlessly landing on the ground without a scratch. Bella scoffed, knowing that her friend was just showing off at this point.

The woman held her rifle tightly before firing shots into the sky, having the intention of gaining everyone's attention.

Men— about a couple dozen, if not a hundred— surrounded the two assassins who had their backs against each other.

Slowly, Bella pressed a finger onto her earpiece. "Kingston, do whatever shit you've planned when you hear my signal."

"What signal?!" Lucas questioned, out of breath.

"You'll know when you hear it."

"Damn it, okay."

"Ready, Shadow?" Bella asked Jace, her gaze fixated on the men that surrounded them.

Jace let out a laugh. "We've been doing this for years, Red. Of course I'm ready."

And just like that, the gunfire started. Again. Bella can't help but notice the fact that she'd been in the middle of raining bullets lately. Maybe it's something that comes with joining a gang. She was used to it though, both her and Jace.

Out of nowhere, Lucas jumps off the building as he shot at the men while screaming like a mad man. For a moment, the two assassins on the ground stared at him with both amazement and judgement. It was like a scene from a movie. It's not like what Lucas was doing was normal. Hell, jumping off a building wasn't even normal in the first place, let alone screaming confidently while doing so.

The building exploded seconds after Lucas took off into the air. Yes, he was still falling as fire erupted from behind him.

"Take that, you douchebags!" He screamed, before landing in between the two.

Bella swung to her side, dodging a bullet. "Was the screaming really necessary?!" She yelled over the gunfire.

"Very!" He responds as he reloaded his gun from behind the woman.

They had been fighting for at least twenty minutes, though it seems that the men and their bullets were not running out. From there on, things started going downhill.

"Bloody hell!" Lucas yelled out of frustration.

"They're not backing down!" Bella exclaimed.

"Fuck." Jace muttered, pulling Bella behind a bush just as Lucas jumped head first into another.

"Yes, fuck. We're fucked." Lucas replied, catching his breath.

"I told you this was a shitty plan!" Bella spoke through the earpiece. Lucas cannot be seen from their point of view, though they were sure that he had hidden himself like they had.

"Don't you think I know that?"

"They're gonna find us soon."

"And we're running out of bullets, don't forget." Jace added.

"Any ideas on how we can make it out of this shithole?" Lucas inquired

"Bella," Jace called, momentarily turning his earpiece off, motioning Bella to do the same.

"What?"

The man sighed, as if he was contemplating something. "I'm going to regret this."

"Regret what?" Bella asked, her gaze focused on the guards looking for them-- when suddenly her head was pulled and turned towards the side, a pair of lips crashing onto hers.

'What the actual fuck.'

Out of reflex, Bella momentarily closed her eyes, before realizing what they were doing. She pushed the man off of her. Both of them sending each other a confused look. Bella did not dislike Jace, no. She simply felt that the kiss they shared was wrong. For years she saw Jace as her brother, someone who had always had her back. She wanted to tell him that if this 'kiss' meant something to Jace, but now was not the right time.

A bullet hit Bella's shoulder, eliciting a wince from her and broke them from their trance.

"Guys?!" Lucas' head popped out of a bush, looking at them questioningly. He had been asking for their reply for minutes, only to be answered by silence.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that I--"

"It's okay, let's talk about it later." Bella assured.

Lucas looked at them, his gaze shifting between the two back and forth. He was confused as to what had happened between the two. "What did you two--"

He was about to ask but a voice from what seemed like a megaphone stopped him.

"Good day, whoever you three are." The voice said.

"It's Marcus, the one who manages the blown up laboratory." Lucas informed, recognizing the guy from afar.

"I have a proposal to make for you three." Marcus started. "How about you turn yourself in, so you don't end up dead and buried six-feet under."

"The choice is yours. Surrender in thirty seconds or you can say bye-bye to life and a hello to hell."

Bella clicked her tongue, her forehead creasing. "I have a plan, but it consists of one if us being left here." She informed the two, making them quickly shake their head no.

"I know what you're going to say and my answer is no." Jace said immediately.

"Mine too. I'm not one to leave a comrade behind." Lucas added

"Look, you two need to make it out of here. I can handle myself. You have a mafia to run." She pointed towards Lucas before pointing at Jace. "And you were just dragged into my mess, You aren't even supposed to be here in the first place."

"Besides, this is my entry to the Sicilian Mafia, I'll contact you two whenever I can. So go now or I will personally kill you two myself." She glared, not making any room for negotiation. The two was aware if that, especially Jace. He knew that nothing can change Bella's decision once she had made it. She was both stubborn and hard-headed.

"I'll come back for you Bella." Jace assured, giving the woman a sad smile.

"We will. The Panthers will." Lucas said, squeezing Bella's shoulder softly before the two of them ran into the woods and made their escape.

"How did I get myself into this much trouble." Bella sighed to herself, standing up once she was sure that the two were far from the burnt building.

The woman dropped her weapons to the ground, starting from her rifle, to her pistols and knives before kneeling on the dirt. She put her hands behind her head before speaking. "I surrender."

"Just you?" Marcus mocked, disappointed that he only captured one out of the three who had ambushed the place.

"Hey, you should be grateful." Bella shrugged, looking up from where she knelt.

"Tss." Marcus crouched in front of the woman, realizing who she was just before he had pulled her mask off.

"I know you," He started, recognizing her familiar aura, her movements, her mask.

"You're Red."

He laughed, revealing his yellow teeth outstretched into a grin as he clutched his stomach. "Perhaps I shouldn't be disappointed, after all. You are worth more than whoever you were with."

Having had enough of his shit, Bella decided to punch him on the groin. Not minding the consequences it will bring her, she made sure that the man won't be able to have kids if ever he desired to.

"You bitch!" The man seethed, pulling out a taser before violently electrocuting Bella on her neck. The woman's body shook, volts of electricity travelling down her body before she slipped into unconsciousness.