The Devil's Debt

Stress

I stand in the middle of the room as Isa straps wires onto me. I put my mic in my ear as Isa finishes with what she's doing, and after she finishes, I grab my bulletproof vest and I put it on before putting on my shirt.

I start to help Isa with her vest, and she grunts as I tighten it on her, buckling it in place.

"You okay?" I ask, buckling the last buckle.

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah. You ready for this?"

"I think so. This is my first mission though. I don't wanna screw it up."

"You won't."

"I hope so."

"Here. Buckle these holsters to your thighs. I'll find your guns while you put on your shirt."

"Thanks." she says, grabbing her shirt.

I look at the top of the closet in a box and I pull out two pistols for her, and as she slides on her shirt, I walk over to her, putting her guns on safety.

"Okay, listen. I just put them on safety, so I'm gonna tell you right now. Be careful with these guns, they don't have hair triggers on them, but if you move the wrong way, these will go off. I've seen it happen, it isn't pretty. Press this button to take them off safety, then put them in their holsters."

She carefully does as she's told and when she puts them in the holsters, I grab her shoulders and I sigh, putting my forehead on hers.

"I know this is sudden, but when we make it back, I'll get you into training, okay?"

"Okay."

I kiss her head and I take a moment to feel her body against mine.

"Alright, let's go." I say, grabbing her hand to walk out of the room.

We get downstairs and Mom stands next to Victor as we all gather at the door.

"Mom, why aren't you suited up?" I ask.

"I.. can't come. I'm sorry, son." she says, putting her head down.

I look over to Victor and he has an evil smile on his face. I look back at Mom and she's looking at me as I try to piece this together.

"What did he do to you?" I ask, keeping my eyes on him.

She grabs my hand and brings it to her shirt and further on to her stomach. My eyes widen as she places it on her stomach and smiles.

"I'm pregnant. I have been for about two months, I just haven't been able to tell you. I know this is horrible timing, but-"

"Yeah, it is bad timing. I can't do this right now Mom, I'm sorry."

I take my hand from her stomach and I grab Isa to go outside to the car. The boys follow behind and Milo and Carter play fight as we walk to the car.

"Boys, cut it out." I snap, breaking them apart. "We're on a mission tonight. Act like it."

"Sorry, Ky." Milo says.

"Yeah, my bad." Carter adds.

I get in the car and Isa gets in on her side and puts on her seatbelt as I start the car. I press the gas pedal and we start the ride to our destination.

Isa keeps her eyes on me the whole ride and when we get there, she looks off, not wanting to say anything to me.

I look over to her and I sigh.

"You can talk to me." I say.

"It's nothing. I just hate to see you so upset. I know everything with the mafia is stacked against you, and I just wish I could do something to help you out."

I shake my head, frustrated.

"I don't deserve you."

"Well, the devil needs a little love too, doesn't he?"

I chuckle softly at her and I look ahead of me.

"I guess this is it." I say.

"Let's go." she says, unbuckling her seatbelt.

I get out and Isa meets me and grabs my hand as we walk over to the van Milo drove with the boys.

The van's got all the computers , first aid equipment, and trackers on the inside of it. It's the communication system we use to speak to each other when we're on the mission.

"Milo, you'll stay in and give us directions and escape routes. Carter, you stay in the back and keep watch for us, let us know when to abort the mission if security gets any tighter. Ice, you're coming with me and Is. Guys, we got a mission to do. Let's handle this right, alright?"

"You got it, boss." Carter says, eating snacks.

"Don't call me boss." I say.

"You let the people at the base call you boss."

"Yeah, but it's weird coming from you."

I pull my gun out and I look over to the boys.

"We'll be back. Let's get this done."

And with that, I lead the group down the street.

As we walk down the street, guns drawn, Milo taps in on our comms.

"Alright, security in there is tight, I'm talking lasers and cameras. You hit a laser, cops are on their way. These cameras are high tech, they catch everything, and they have a shit ton of storage so they're recording every second you spend in there. I've got a secret entrance you guys can take, it'll take you to the basement. You'll have to work your way up."

"We're waiting on your directions." I say, stopping before walking onto their grounds.

"Let me disarm the cameras." he says.

He goes out for a minute, then he comes back in.

"Alright, you're clear. Go around the house and go through the vent above the ground. That should lead you to the basement."

"Alright, let's go." I say, trotting over to the house.

When I find the vent, I pull a knife out of my little bag on my side and I pop the vent open.

"Tight squeeze. Isa, you come in behind me." I say, then I get down to start crawling through the vent.

After a couple minutes of crawling, I see light coming from the other end of the vent, and I grab my knife again to try and pry it open. When it pops open, I look down and it looks like we're up on the ceiling.

"We're gonna have to jump. Wait here."

I crawl out and I feel above the vent for something to grab onto, and I feel a small platform, so I hold onto it as I push my body out of the vent, and I let go, quietly dropping onto the ground, landing on my tip toes, and standing flat on my feet, shaking myself off.

I quietly speak to Isa as she looks down at me.

"Alright baby, listen. Feel above the vent and grab onto that little platform."

She turns onto her back and looks up, feeling for the platform. She grabs onto it and whispers back to me.

"Now what?"

"Just push your body out and I'll catch you."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me." I say.

She nods her head and does what I told her, and I catch her body in my arms.

"Good. Ice, you're good." I say, putting Isa down.