Haven't seen Gabriel in a while;) And since the cat's FINALLY out of the bag, here are the aesthetics for Blake/Elijah, I hope you like them! Two entirely different personas;)

This chapter is dedicated to quaintd_ !

Chapter 12

Blake

The proclamation he had made before the elevator doors slid shut was no small declaration. What was he thinking, blurting that piece of information out all of the sudden? He knew the answer before he fully formed the question in his thoughts.

She had trusted him with her real name, and he could tell by the set of her shoulders it was no easy thing; the least he could do was give her the same courtesy, however, he couldn't fathom what compelled them both at that moment to reveal their most prized possession.

Their name. The first gift that was given to them in the world.

He hasn't thought about Elijah De Vries in a long time.

As the elevator chimed to a halt on the ninth floor, he set aside the mention of Elijah, tucking him back into the void of memories he has spent the last decade of his life trying to forget.

He sensed her before he saw her as the doors opened, not knowing it was her he unknowingly sensed before his eyes unerringly found her gleaming mane of brown hair, hair that reminded him of the most decadent and expensive chocolate that promised flavor and sweetness.

Their eyes found each other, staring each other down. Electricity crackled in the space that separated them.

With equal looks of indifference, Calla stood from her seat by one of the computers, subtly pocketing a small USB she carried while he approached her from where the elevator doors finally slid shut.

"Being a little naughty, aren't we beasty?" Blake drawled, calling her by his old endearment for her as they slowly neared each other and, like a true little beast, she bared her teeth at him.

"There was something I had to do." Was her only comment as she matched his stride, following him without question.

"And was your little trip here worthwhile?" He asked, giving her a look. Gabriel would punish her to the ground if he found out she was here, but he wouldn't kill her. No, they had far more important things to do right now.

"Nothing to complain." Calla replied as he led them towards the back of the vast office space, looking for the exit Shauna-- or more accurately, Lola-- mentioned a few minutes earlier. "Any problems on your end?"

Lifting a shoulder in a half shrug, he replied, "Small complication, I'll tell you about it later, but we have to bounce." They found the exit tucked into a small alcove, opening it to reveal a bare stairwell with metal handrails and steep steps. He could feel the torrent of emotions going through her as they descended the stairs together, one of them being a small sense of relief, probably from his lack of pushing her for answers about why she was actually here.

Blake could only guess, but he had a fairly good idea. Calla should've known better, though, that he would never force her to do anything she didn't want to, as long as she didn't do anything that would put herself in harm's way.

With him in the lead and her, not two steps behind, she spoke up. "Are we going to have company soon?" She asked softly.

"We'll deal with it." He said with certainty, not really answering her question. No one ever knows what could happen during a mission; some days it was a President's son getting shot down, other days it was getting kidnapped and beaten into a pulp.

He forcibly pushed aside the memories that resurfaced at the thought of the last one.

They didn't speak as they continued their steady descent. His thoughts ran a mile a minute, going through all the events that had transpired as if he was staring at a mental mind map spread out before his eyes. The lunch hour was ending, and yet silence reigned throughout the space, eerily quiet when the building should be bustling with employees hastening to return to their offices.

They were on the second floor now, descending towards the ground floor that held the lobby and the exit from this towering building. It was then that he knew, they were going to have company.

Briefly, he entertained the idea that Lola did rat him out, but immediately backtracked. No, it wouldn't make sense. He had to consider that they must've triggered some kind of alarm.

Calla, despite her amateur skills in hacking through security systems-- which he had no doubt, was what she was doing-- wouldn't do anything she wasn't sure about to risk discovery.

That left... him. He groaned. The piggyback, along with Lola, distracted him enough that it gave Murphy's security system enough pause that it sensed him and activated the firewall. It must've been what triggered an alarm.

They slowed to a walk from their brisk pace, stopping right in front of a set of metal service doors that should lead out of the lobby.

"It's quiet." Calla said, already pulling a garrote wire from her person. They looked at each other, quietly communicating with their eyes.

Her smoldering amber eyes clashed with his electric blues. They were going to have company.

In silent agreement, evidently winning the battle of wills, Blake would step out first. He moved to situate himself by the crack of the door. With an eye peeking out, he saw a small assembly of guards stood around the floor, blocking all entries and exits.

He slowly breathed out, standing protectively in front of her to keep her out of their line of sight once he pushed through those doors.

"Don't get hurt." She said, so softly he almost didn't hear it. He only paused for a short second, before pushing the doors open and shoving his hands into his pockets, palming his smoke bombs reassuringly.

He was met with dozens of pairs of eyes trained on him.

***

Gabriel

He swung his fist towards Blake's face, his skin coming into contact with air when the man dodged faster than he expected.

Gabriel was beginning to think he was underestimating him when Blake's own fist flew towards his jaw. Not having enough time to dodge, he braced himself and felt the full brunt of the powerful blow, getting knocked back.

He stared at him, feeling the pure fury flow from Blake in waves as he breathed hard; Blake's once light blue eyes darkened into an oncoming storm.

And Gabriel had the utmost fortune of having that rage-filled gaze trained on him. He never feared anyone, not anymore at least, and he would never admit it but at that moment, his past subordinate's face planted a small seed of fear in the back of his fucked up mind.

Flexing his jaw, he said the first few words that were yet to be spoken once the pair had arrived not one minute ago. "You know, I'm starting to think you were just playing games with me those three months I trained you back then." He said, intentionally broaching a different topic that had nothing to do with the current situation.

Blake growled like a wild animal, the wrath looking to have taken over the whole person, leaving behind only a savage that looked like it wanted to murder him before he launched himself at him again, ramming him into the wall and landing blows on his sides in quick succession. It was all Gabriel could draw up to block as many blows as he could.

"Blake." Calla called out weakly from where Gabriel left her laying on the floor by the open door, knees buckled and shoulder dislocated. Blake made no inclination he heard her other than stopping his mad assault on him. Finally, he glared at him, shoving him once more into the wall before turning to her. Blake knelt by her side, gathering her in his arms as she hissed from pain.

"This is going to hurt, baby." Blake murmured to her, speaking quietly, but Gabriel heard. He stared at them in disbelief. He couldn't believe the animal that had been attacking him only moments before was the same man holding her as if she were as delicate as glass. No, with the way he held her, it looked like he would rather hurt himself than ever hurt her.

He positioned her in front of him gently. "Do it." Calla breathed, gritting her teeth so hard, the tendons in her neck were bulging out. With one quick motion, Blake snapped Calla's shoulder back in place, a resounding crack echoing through the silence in the room.

Gabriel knew what happened between the two. He had gone to Calla's room looking to rehash what exactly were her plans with regards to her brother only to find an empty hotel room. When he found her gone, he immediately set out to find her. For reasons he didn't quite know, he deliberately slowed his search, only looking at her from a distance when she exited the computer shop, her walk to Murphy enterprises, and finally when she entered the building.

He would never admit to it, but he knew that the sooner he caught her, the sooner he'd have to punish her.

All the while he watched her. He studied her mannerisms, her little ticks, the way her lip pursed in concentration whenever she really set herself to the task; even the way her dark hair still managed to catch a small glint of light despite the cloud coverage of the weather in Belfast.

He knew the two would eventually see each other in the building, it was bound to happen when he realized that she was searching up office numbers in the shop earlier. They were both going in for information.

He refrained from following them in once he knew they were both in the building; he was curious to see how Blake would react to seeing her and wondered if he would report to him that Calla had left her hotel room without either of them knowing.

When guards started swarming the ground floor, he knew something had gone wrong. He couldn't believe Blake could ever be so careless, he was always calm and collected. Those two were going to be in on a surprise once they stepped onto the lobby floor.

He didn't want to stay out any longer in the cold weather, but he was curious to see the pair in action, so he moved closer while staying out of sight.

Sure enough, it was a heck of a show. Approximately twenty guards converged on them when he saw them step onto the lobby floor, Blake bearing the brunt of the attack when five guards went to tackle him to the ground.

Gabriel was pleasantly surprised that Blake was able to throw off three of his attackers before one of the guars landed a blow on him. Calla, silently, worked like a ghost. Quietly dragging one guard away at a time before climbing behind his back like a cat and choking him with a garrote wire he caught a glimpse of thanks to a trick of the light.

With quick efficiency, the pair were able to subdue ten guards. Blake, probably sensing that it was time to bolt, grabbed Calla by the hand and started running through the halls.

Guards chased after, shooting at them with horribly poor aim, yet one guard, in particular, wasn't aiming at them at all. Gabriel watched in creeping realization that the man was aiming his shot at a small point that held the chandelier on the lobby floor aloft. Seeing as if in slow motion, he watched as this shot somehow rang truer and louder than all the other bullets flying.

He saw the awareness of what was happening before them appear in Calla's eyes and watched how she pushed Blake out of the line of fire and threw herself away best as she could. He flinched back, looking away when he saw her land and hit her temple by the floor.

When he glanced back up, he only caught a glimpse of her in Blake's arms as they rounded the corner out of sight, leaving smoke in their wake.

Gabriel had gone back to her hotel room, sneaking inside to lay and wait for the pair to inevitably show up, the knowledge of what he was about to do eating away at him, but not really.

She had to be punished.

He tucked his feelings away once they stepped over the threshold. He grabbed her and kicked the back of her knees to the ground before laying his hands across the length of her arm and snapping her shoulder out of its place.

What did you guys think about this chapter? Any violent reactions? ;)

Chapter notes:

Garrote - a garrote wire is a weapon, most often a handheld ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line, used to strangle a person.

Uses: Assassination and elimination

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