𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 - the rally

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝐎𝐅 five had managed to evade the cops, for now at least. Olivia scanned the room she had followed the others through, it was pretty much empty, the only light coming from the crimson exit sign that glowed above a door.

The wolf made her way over to Matt as he crouched down and placed a hand on the floor, feeling the vibrations beneath him. She positioned herself against the wall close to him as she closed her eyes and put all of her focus on her hearing, ignoring Luke and Colleen as they asked the pair where Danny was.

"There's a structure underground. He's gotta be there." Matt spoke as he slowly rose to his feet.

Olivia nodded. "I can hear people, but I can't quite tell how many or who."

"How do we get to it?" Jessica questioned as she paced in front of the pair, each step of her boots making Olivia's ears twitch.

"Figuring that out," Matt muttered before turning his head towards the wolf. "You got anything else?"

"The elevator." She spoke as she focused on the squeaking of the chord that connected the elevator and just how long it was. "It goes deep, probably our best bet."

"Yeah, I hear it."

"You guys think he's down there?" The P.I questioned as she made eye contact with Olivia who nodded.

"Let's find out."

Olivia followed after Matt as he made his way in the direction of the elevator, but paused upon hearing Collen speak. "Just one more thing."

The wolf and the devil both cocked their heads as the woman unzipped the bag, she had brought with her. Olivia's eyes widened as the contents were revealed. "A bomb?"

Jessica scoffed as she shook her head as she stared down at the explosive. "This is not happening."

Olivia spared her a glance, seeing her friend raise a brow, questioning her on her own opinion. Now, Oliva didn't necessarily want to be perceived as a terrorist, nor did she want to blow up an entire building. But deep down, she knew this was the only solution.

"We grab Danny and we get him out, but if we don't end the Hand..." Colleen trailed off, giving Olivia a chance to take the stand.

"She's right." Olivia agreed and ignored Jessica's scoff and the other's stares. "Sowande said 'Cut off a finger, you can still use your hand.' If we don't make sure each and every one of them are gone, what's to stop them coming after us, after Danny? Upstairs there were five of us against three of them, and we all know how that ended." She paused and she sucked in a breath, remembering the feeling of the heat on her skin.

"Exactly!" Colleen exclaimed as she procured some papers from the bag and looked at a very reluctant Jessica. "The architect was your guy, right? He had this plan on how to take this thing out."

Jessica groaned as she looked between the two women. "They'll have us on obstruction of justice and domestic terrorism."

"But it's not just that, Jess." Olivia stressed. "They know about her-" She looked towards Claire. "They know about Trish and my brother. They won't just come after us, they'll go through the whole of New York, through everyone we care about first-" Her words failed to escape her lips as the fear of losing her last remaining family dug its claws in her throat.

Jessica sighed as she made her way over to the wolf. "There's no guarantee that exploding this building ends their organization."

"Every single one of their leaders are in this building, right under our feet. Sure, you can use your hand with a missing finger, but if it's not there at all?"

Luke stepped forward; his eyes soft as he stared at Olivia. "Hey, we're here to save lives, not take them."

Olivia shifted on her feet, uncrossing her arms and dropping them to her side, her eyes flicking over Matt's face as he came up next to her. "The building's empty, there's no one else here. It's us and them."

Claire looked to him in shock, her voice rising a few octaves in surprise. "You're okay with this?"

He sighed, his head tilting towards Olivia just slightly. "I mean, no, but... Olivia's right, they will come after us, come after the people we care about and they will go through New York. I think the architect knew that. The only way to end this, to save the city from whatever's coming, is to bring this building down."

Olivia swallowed the lump in her throat, thankful that Matt had agreed with them. She sighed, her jaw tense as she addressed Jessica again, her voice was low and guilt-filled. "Jess... I don't want anyone to die, I've seen enough of that, but we have both dealt with people like this before..." Her mind traveled back to the day she met Jess, the day she met Kilgrave. Jessica had killed him. Images of Deucalion appeared in her mind; the man who had terrorized her family for the sake of gaining more power. Olivia had killed him. "...and what did we do about it?"

Jessica paused, she knew exactly what Olivia was talking about, the pair of them had solved their problems by eliminating them. She slowly moved her eyes to meet her friends. "You really think we should do this?"

"I think- I think it's all we have."

"If you think we should do this. Then..." Her lips turned up, into a small, tense smile before she focused on the woman who had the deadly weapon in front of her. "...I'm in."

The wolf sent a grateful nod towards her friend. She knew she could count on her, she always could and she hoped, that no matter what, Jess could count on her too.

Matt listened to the two, a fond feeling settling in his heart as the images of Foggy and Karen flashed in his mind. The wolf and the P.I had such an... interesting friendship, but clearly, when it came down to it, they would support each other no matter what, and for that, he was grateful that the Hale was there to keep Jessica on board. He cleared his throat, his head drifting from Olivia's direction to the entire group as he gained their attention. "Any other objections?"

A beat of silence passed, and just as Olivia thought everyone was finally on the same page Luke shook his head. "I don't want any part in this."

The wolf rolled her eyes as she took a step forward, she could feel anger building the more they prolonged their rescue. "Luke, if we don't do this, they'll get their way, no matter what. If we take Danny, they'll take him back."

"Liv..."

"You're a good person Luke, I get it." She shrugged. "So if you wanna leave, go. This is happening, we need to do this, with or without you." Her tone was solid and her eyes as sharp as the claws hidden in her nailbeds. They had to do it, they had to get Danny and they had to destroy the Hand. Luke was a good person, but sometimes, just sometimes, that wasn't enough.

"Listen, I get it, you guys have a history with them." The man spoke as he shifted his large frame.

"So do you." Matt pointed out before nodding his head towards the P.I. "So does she. And so did that kid from Harlem."

Olivia shook her head as she moved to lean against the wall, tuning them out as best she could, the sooner they got a move on the better. If Luke didn't want to join them, so be it. Let him leave. Matt was right, after all, everyone in the room had something to do with them, the only thing that made Olivia the black sheep was the fact that unbeknownst to her at the time, she had met them, or at least one of them anyway, almost four years ago.

She wanted to know more, no, she needed to know more about that time. She just couldn't believe that the Hand were the ones to release the dark spirit of the Nogitsune. The spirit had rained chaos and blood over the small town of Beacon Hills, taking away two of their own and almost engulfing and withering down another.

Thank God herself and the rest of the pack were there at the time, she could only imagine the pure destruction that the spirit would have created had it been allowed to roam free without a fight. On the contrary, she was mildly thankful that the spirit was unruly and untamable because at least the Hand didn't have the power to control it like a puppeteer.

"Olivia and Matt are right." The wolf's eyes flew open the second her name was uttered, her eyes falling to Claire as the woman nodded in her direction. "We've all been affected. But they keep coming back. And when they do, it's not just a crime, it's a horror movie, murdery shit."

Luke stammered for a moment as his brain registered what Claire had said. "I get it, but this- this isn't how I fix things."

Jessica shared a look with Olivia, the wolf raising a brow to her, knowing that if anyone were to get through to him, it would be the P.I, no offense to Claire of course. With a tired breath, Jessica spoke: "Like Liv said; these people have come after our friends. They're showing no signs of stopping."

"Jess!"

"You know that I've wanted nothing to do with this from the beginning." The P.I spoke as she walked closer to Luke, not breaking their eye contact as her voice grew more assertive with each word. "The architect's brains are still in our apartment. I haven't changed my clothes. Let's just get this shit over with." She exhaled a deep sigh as her tone lightened. "We'll all sleep easier once they're gone. We can all just... get on with our lives."

Olivia glanced up to the ceiling with a bated breath, she saw how Jessica's words had affected the man, and she just knew that Jess's grip was deep enough to be able to pull him along with the rest of them. It was moments like this that she felt for her dear friend, Olivia knew that Jessica still harbored feelings for the hero of Harlem and it couldn't be easier for her to see both Luke and Claire together, sharing the soft looks that they once had.

Jessica would scarcely allow herself to be so open, trusting even. In the time Olivia had known her, those small, rare and caring looks were only ever directed to herself, Luke, Trish, and Malcome. The wolf had the good fortune to see the pair act in such a... ouch of character way, and seeing them together once more, be it only as friends, it made her happy.

Luke's head slumped as his shoulders relaxed, he glanced between Olivia, Jess and Claire, each of their words repeating in his brain and pounding on his resolve until finally, he gave in, he was the hero of Harlem -though he hated being called that-, it was time for him to step up. "If we do this-"

Just those four minuscule words made Olivia and Matt look towards one another, each of their lips quirking just barely. Oh, he was so in. "-no one but those Hand monsters gets hurt. Okay? Not one single innocent person. Can we all agree to that?"

Olivia watched on as his head turned to each person in the room, only moving to the next when he received a nod of agreement, finally, his gaze fell upon Olivia and Matt. The Devil of Hell's Kitchen offered a single, curt nod, satisfying Luke enough to move his firm stare to the wolf.

Olivia allowed a small, soft smile to grace her pointed lips, the look was foreign to most in the room but Luke knew she was on board, his thoughts were confirmed when the woman opened her mouth. "Nobody but the Hand gets hurt, Luke.

"Okay then. Can't believe I'm saying this but... Let's go do something crazy."

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01-06-2020