Not That Lucky

#31: Now Hiring

"Now tell my friend about how you killed that guy!"

"It was for love!"

"Cool motive. Still murder."

-Jake Peralta (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

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[Countdown: 09:54:13]

I was starting to realize that I was the kind of person who could win the lottery but end up getting struck by lightning on my way to pick up the check. My pointer swung only in extremes. Either I was being adopted by the most loving group of superheroes on the planet or I was stuck sitting on a 10-hour flight with the guy who was trying to kill and/or kidnap me. Fate just really loved giving me whiplash.

"Now what?" I asked in exhaustion. The plane had leveled off and now we were cruising. I glanced at Vincent who had crossed his legs. He was big enough that it caused him to invade my space even further. "You stab me? Slit my throat? Or are you gonna knock me out so you can kidnap me as soon as we land? What's the game plan?"

"Jesus, are you always this dramatic?" Vincent scoffed and readjusted the jacket he had on. "Why would I do either of those things? This is a 10-hour flight. I kill or knock you out now and what am I gonna do with all that spare time?"

It took a second for his words to dawn on me. My eyes widened, "Oh my God, are you gonna talk to me instead?"

"I hear I'm a very fun conversationalist."

"Please kill me." I replied. "If I get a say in this decision, I think I'd rather you just slit my throat or choke me out. Anything that keeps me from having to listen to you for 10 hours."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at me, "You aren't scared of me." I didn't reply to the statement and he chuckled, "And yet you're scared of my prick brother? I think I'm insulted. You hear that ass clown got out of jail and nearly kill yourself with worry—" I don't think I wanted to know how he knew about my reaction. "—but I sit down next to you, trapping you essentially, and you mouth off at me?"

"You're an evil, rat bastard." I leaned forward to spit at him. "A pretentious asshole who thinks he's hot shit that owns the world. I have no reason to be scared of you." I settled back in my seat and added, "Your brother on the other hand isn't just a dick. He's fucking unhinged."

Vincent nodded once with a raised eyebrow, "You know what? I'll give you that. Astute observation. Plus, his obsession with you was downright creepy."

"Says the guy that stalked me in New York, followed me to Romania, and then boarded the same plane as me." I scoffed.

"I did all that for your sake."

"Oh yeah? Well I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I wanted anything to do with you. That's my bad. I had hoped breaking your elbow had been message enough."

Vincent chuckled and pulled back his sleeve to show me the metal brace he wore, "Yeah. I originally wanted to break every single joint of your body as retaliation." I felt my blood run cold at the nonchalant way he voiced that threat. "Luckily for you, I've had time to rethink and let my anger simmer." My eyes drifted to his hand where I could see the faint, scar lines of my teeth between his thumb and finger. He chuckled and held it up in closer view, "Mhmm, you gave me this little souvenir too."

I smirked to hide my nerves, "I hear I leave quite the first impression."

"Oh, that you do, doll." I stiffened at the pet name and he chuckled at my tension though didn't comment on it. He tilted his head and leaned toward me to whisper, "That wasn't the first time we met though."