C o l e

With the new information that we'd acquired from the unexpected source, Eros had started changing some things to his plan and before I knew it, he was already talking about striking.

Eros never missed a beat, not once as he spoke amongst us. I could tell he's been on edge these past few days, fingers itching to hit something or even pull the trigger on anyone who pissed him off. His blood lust for my father only grew with each passing day and it slightly worried me.

He had started smoking again, something that he said he wanted to quit but his stress levels were getting to him. I wouldn't question it but when I saw him having his third smoke in under an hour, I usually step in and take the pack. He won't ever be able to quit if he keeps going at that rate.

"There will be no talking, because frankly there's nothing anyone can say in this situation. However, if you have something you wish to ask him, I won't kill him as soon as I see him"

Eros had said that to me yesterday as we got ready for bed. I've been mostly quiet, feeling that after my irrational trip the other day, I should stay put. There were some questions I had but knowing my father, he'd choose death over being submitted into a position of weakness where he was forced to answer to anyone that wasn't himself.

"You okay?" I was brought out of my thoughts when Harvey had came over to me.

We were at the new base house, my first time being here actually, as we planned for what's to come in about two days time.

"Yeah. What's up?" I asked and Harvey shook his head as he sat next to me.

"You looked out of it so I thought I'd talk to you. This probably isn't really easy for you..." he said and I shrugged.

"Doesn't matter, it's not as if I was ever attached to him or anything. He's getting what he deserves" I said, not even realizing how cold my voice sounded as I spoke. My apathy towards the man knew no end and while I may have grown a sliver of pity for Noel, that was nonexistent when it came to my father.

"Well, what about your brother? And your mother?" Harvey asked.

"That woman isn't my mother, my father cheated on her with my biological mother. As for Noel, I'm not sure" I said with a sigh at the end. Thinking about all of this was just giving me a headache.

"This really is like those old soap operas" Harvey said, a tired chuckle escaping his lips but I just raised a brow.

"Soap opera...?" I asked and Harvey just shook his head.

"I'll explain it to you later" he said as he patted my shoulder before getting up and heading over to the others.

Brushing it off, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I knew these next two days were going to go by in the blink of an eye and while part of me didn't want it to, I knew that it was better to just get this all over with.

~ *blinks* two days later ~

It was time for the mission and the four of us were now headed to the garage.

"We're about to have an all out blood bath and you're bringing the sports car?" Jamie chided as we headed to our vehicles.

"Don't hate on it, if there's a possibility I may die today, I'm going out in fucking style. You guys all have to tell my story. "He drove bravely to the battle zone in his shiny red car" or something like that. And make sure to make it dramatic, I want people sobbing at my funeral" Harvey said before getting into the driver's seat of his car.

"This idiot watches too much TV" Jamie said as he followed after him.

It was just me and Eros together since Mikhail was instructed to watch over Carter until we got back.

The safe house surprisingly wasn't far, just a few miles outside of the city and as we got closer the more secluded the area got.

"There's a few men on the perimeter, they're gonna see us" Jamie's voice came over the small walkie on the dashboard and Eros grabbed it.

"Good, I want this fucker to know we're coming. Take them out" he said.

As we got closer, the once darkened lights at the safe house could be seen turning on and that was the signal for our other people who got there before us to move in.

"Wakey wakey, Gabriel" Eros muttered and I began to prepare myself, making sure I had my weapons on me and my knife tucked away.

Turning to Eros as we stopped, I gestured at the vest underneath my black shirt.

"Vest, remember?" I said as I poked it and Eros rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean I'm okay with you getting shot" he said as we got out the car.

Coming up to the safe house, there was already an all out war raging on the front lawn. Knowing my father he was probably waiting this whole thing out or trying to plan a back up getaway so I knew we had to get inside that house before he could get away.

Guiding myself through the crowd as best as I could without getting caught in any crosshairs, I took cover behind some hedges to reload. I tried to put myself in my father's shoes for a moment, if he were to have an escape route but knew he couldn't get out the front, going out the back way would make the most sense.

But that's not how my father operates so I found myself looking up at the wide rooftop. There's probably enough room up there for a helicopter...

Grabbing my walkie, I brought it up to my lips.

"Roof seems wide enough for a helicopter to land, I'd say we don't put it past him" I said before hooking the device back on my belt.

"Jesus this guy is fucking Houdini" Harvey said over the walkie.

I managed to get close enough to be on the front porch but a bullet whizzed past me and I ducked behind a column. Whoever was shooting at me was adamant as their bullets continues to graze the column, just barely missing me.

It was brief but enough so that I could tell when they were out of ammo, so I made my move and shot the man right in the head.

I took the chance to head inside the house, stepping through a broken window and accidentally stepping on a dead guy's body.

Sorry man...

Making it through the house, I combed the area quickly. Anyone who was in here was likely to be outside by now but there always could be the chance of some stragglers.

My eyes caught sight of a camera and I shot it out before taking cover to see if anyone would be coming to find out what that noise was.

This house was huge so I didn't even know which part of the house led to the roof. The sounds of gunfire in the distance was still loud but not so loud that I couldn't hear someone talking on my walkie.

"Cole, are you inside?" It was Jamie this time and I grabbed my walkie to respond but I was suddenly yanked into a room.

My fighter instincts stepped in and I grabbed the person's arm before twisting it behind their back, but the high pitched scream made me pause.

"Stop! It's me!" Noel cried and I frowned but let him go.

"Have you been hiding in here?" I asked, noticing that this was the CCTV room.

"Yes but that doesn't matter. You need to tell your guys to fall back" Noel said and I glared.

"You know I can't and won't do that" I said and Noel shook his head vehemently.

"Father has this place rigged to blow with one phone call" he said and my eyes widened.

"But what about his men?" I asked.

"You know as well as I do that those men out there are exposable to him. He doesn't give a shit about them! He's waiting for his helicopter on the roof so that he can get out of here. I'm sorry, if I had known about the explosives I wouldn't have given you the address" Noel's constant rambling and his body trembling nervously only told me that he really didn't know about this.

I felt around for my walkie but I didn't feel it on my belt. I must have dropped it when Noel dragged me in here, god damnit.

"Well you've told me now go" I said but Noel didn't move from his spot.

"What are you waiting on? Get out of here" I pressed, even pushing him but Noel's face only contorted into that of confliction.

"I can't" he said and I furrowed my brow in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"He knows...he knows that I'm the one who led you guys here. If I go up there he'll kill me" Noel said and his reason for hiding here made more sense.

It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that my father is indeed heartless enough to kill his own son.

"Go find Eros. Take the walkie that's outside and let them know I sent you. And take this" I said as I lifted my shirt enough so that I could take off the bullet proof vest.

"What...?" Noel questioned as he watched me.

"Just take it and go. You know as well as I do that you can't fend for yourself out there. Eros' men won't hesitate to shoot you if they see you" I explained as I put the vest over him and began to strap him in.

"But...what about you?" Noel asked and I shook my head.

"Don't worry about me. I'm going to find father and end this" I said. The look on Noel's face was that of worry, I wasn't sure if it was for himself or if it was for me but I didn't have time to dwell on it.

I wasn't sure how long it would take that helicopter to get here.

"Uh...be safe?" Noel's words sounded like a question but I just nodded and headed off.

I guess you could say I was feeling reluctant to come in contact with my father after months of not having done so but that no longer mattered once I found myself up on the roof, in the same vicinity as my father.

"I was hoping my men would buy me more time but I'm not even surprised that it's you of all people that managed to get past them" he said as I stepped out of the stairwell.

"You know how this ends" was all I said, gripping my gun tightly. His wife was watching the two of us from the side but I paid her no mind, just like she did to me.

"Of course I do. After all, I told you didn't I? If the day came where you betrayed us, I won't let you live" he said, his calm demeanor sort of irritating me.

"And I told you, I won't be the one dying" I said and my father just let out a short chuckle.

"That confidence of yours has always been one of the things I hated about you. Just reminds me too much of that woman" he said and I furrowed my brow.

"...my mother" I said and he nodded.

"She wasn't as horrible as I made her out to be. She just wanted a better life for you than what she had" my father said and my eyes widened.

"So what Noel said..." wasn't true, I finished the sentence in my own head but my father still felt the need to answer.

"Noel doesn't need to know the truth, it's none of his business and has nothing to do with him" he said and I glared.

I now remembered why I still found it hard for myself to fully blame Noel, it's because our father was the one who fed him all sorts of bullshit just to get him to behave the way he wanted him to. It was like I said before, Noel was just the puppet while my father was the master.

"She asked me to keep you and take care of you since she didn't feel like she could care for you and although I agreed, I shouldn't have. But I did her a favor"

Does he think he deserves an ounce of my respect for that? I couldn't care less about his so called good deed, it doesn't justify the years of trauma and abuse that he put not only me but also Noel through. This man just shouldn't have been allowed to have kids, or a wife for that matter.

"You should be grateful to me for raising you all these years. You should be pledging your undying loyalty to our group but now I see that you're just some selfish brat. The way I raised you kept you alive, was that not enough for you?" Gabriel's tone got heavier as he spoke but I kept my calm in the face of his anger.

After hearing that, I really just couldn't help but wonder what the actual fuck is wrong with this man.

"You say that yet you had me act as a stand in whenever someone attempted to kill Noel" I said and Gabriel shrugged.

"Well, it'd be an easy way to kill you without actually doing it myself but somehow you've been lucky enough to survive all these years" he said.

"Why not just kill me yourself if you hate me that much?" I asked.

"You excelled in pretty much any task that was put in front of you, I wouldn't willingly waste such a resource. But I would never let you think you had a position of power here...you have no rights to any of that" he said, staring me down into the depths of my very soul as if trying to make me feel worthless in front of him.

I just scoffed.

"It's fine, I don't want any part of your shitty family anyways" I said and though there was a gun on the table, I noticed his hands have been behind his back this entire time.

I guess he expected me to fall for the sense of "security" of him supposedly not having a weapon. You really can't teach an old dog new tricks I guess.

I was quick to pull my gun out the moment I saw my father's hand coming from behind his back and I shot, knowing exactly where I wanted that bullet to end.

I watched as my father dropped to the ground, feeling not a drip of anything as he laid there in a pool of his own blood.

"No!" his wife let out a cry of despair and a feeling of deja vu filled me as the sound of a gunshot rang in my ears.

I stayed still for a moment, eyes wide as pain filled my abdomen, only this time I wasn't protected by the vest.

"I-...I got him? I got him!" That woman cheered even as the gun was still shaky in her hands and I raised my gun before silently shooting her in the head.

I brought a hand to my side and all I felt was warm blood soaking through my shirt.

Shit.

Gripping my side, I forced myself to walk out of here so that I could at least make it back downstairs. I almost fell down these stupid stairs on multiple occasions, the railing helped me catch myself a lot so I mentally thanked it.

As I grew closer to the front I noticed that some of our men were already inside the house, searching the house for probably my now dead father.

"Cole!" I heard my name being called and I turned to see Eros and Harvey running towards me.

"Did Noel find his way to you?" I asked as I looked around.

"No?" Harvey said and I sighed but with that side came immense pain and I felt my legs buckle.

"Woah, Cole are you-" Eros caught me but with one hand on my chest, I knew Eros had caught on to something.

"Where's your vest...?" He asked and I have a shaky breath.

"Gave it to...Noel" I said and that's when Eros looked down at the blood covering my hands.

"Cole why the fuck didn't you say something?!" Harvey exclaimed and I shook my head. I wasn't worried about myself, I knew I could survive some tiny old bullet wound.

It's Noel I was actually worried about.

"Noel...can you look for him?" I asked and Eros gave a reluctant look that I could very much understand but truth be told, I lied when I said I didn't care about him.

I didn't want my brother to die.

"Please" I said, feeling my strength leave me as I tried to grip his shirt in a weak attempt to stay awake.

"We don't have time, we have to get you out of here" Eros said.

"Give him to me" Harvey said as he gestured for Eros to put my in his arms.

"What?" Eros questioned.

"Give him to me. I'm the only one who can get him to the hospital fast enough" Harvey said and I could feel the hesitance Eros was projecting as his lips thinned.

"Eros. We don't have time, please." Harvey's tone was firm as he pleaded and Eros finally gave in.

I groaned when Eros lifted me up, the pain of being moved was enough to leave me breathless. It was a short walk outside before I was placed in the passenger seat of a car, I don't know who's but at this point it didn't really matter when I was bleeding out.

"You get him there alive. Alive. Do you hear me?" I could hear Eros talking with Harvey outside the window, his voice sounding like he was moments away from a breakdown.

"I will" Harvey said.

"Alright, go" Eros' voice was the last thing I heard as I eventually let myself succumb to a cold sleep.

It didn't last long, I was in and out really, fighting for consciousness but my body was practically screaming at me to rest.

I tried to shift a bit, the air from the open window that hit me powerfully as Harvey flew down the streets being loud in my ear.

"Harvey...?" My voice sounded hoarse as I spoke. I was facing him and I noticed he would keep turning his head to check on me every now and then.

"Cole?" He questioned back.

"Mm..." was all I felt like I could let out.

"It's alright, we're almost there. Hang on a bit for us, yeah?" He said and I let out a breathy chuckle.

"It's okay...I'm not dying" I said and Harvey shook his head.

"Only you would say something like that while bleeding out" he said and I smiled but it left me as quickly as it came as I felt another drowsy sensation wave over me.

"...yeah" I murmured before closing my eyes.