In Her Sleep

Our Kind Of Guests

"This is for you baby."
Caleb takes a deep breath before nodding to V, his hands full with the cold metal.  He's used to handling metal everyday in the E.R, except he will not just be saving lives today, he will be taking them too. It's a sacrifice he has to make, his path be damned.
They just arrived at the destination and found V ready, waiting for their little gang to be complete before getting on with the mission.

He looks up at their target. The tall building looks just like any other on the outside. Peaceful, with a few individuals going in and out casually. Under the cover of the night sky, no one would even tell that blood is about to be shed in just a matter of minutes too.

"We are ready, whenever you are." V gives Caleb that respectful nod which he returns with the same amount of respect. 

He might be the boss but Caleb understood a long time ago the need to respect the men that would have his back in a situation like the one they are about to walk into. And it's not a question of whenever he is ready, he is. Had been from the moment he made his promise to Layla.
Just like in the E.R, Caleb blocks out the world around him and focuses on this one task, to save this one girl, again. He's made his peace with the lives he's going to take while at it.

"How do you propose we do this?" Darren speaks by his side.

"The front door." Caleb slips a hunting knife in the side pocket at the bottom of his pants.

"I thought you were joking."

"Not when it's about Layla." He states, not giving Darren a chance to voice his opinions about how bad an idea it is for a full frontal assault. But he is set, the shadows don't appeal to him anymore and besides, a head on assault will let Simon know that he means business.

"Right." Darren groans but Caleb knows his best friend understands. 

With his amo all set up, he turns to V. "Where is the target?" Caleb's eyes scan a paper bearing the building's schematics in V's hands."

"Right here." V, in a hoarse voice points to the furthest room at the top of the building from where they are. The penthouse.

"Are you certain it's her?"

"Positive." V nods with confidence before placing his phone in front of Caleb. "We have eyes on her. This is a live feed."

Caleb clenches his teeth in anger when he lays his eyes on the live pictures. Their target's face is covered with a blindfold but all the features are consistent with what Caleb has come to know. He agrees with V, it's a positive I.D.

"Well then let's get on with it." Caleb turns to the unit of V's best men. Technically they are his men but he prefers not to be directly involved except for emergency situations like this one. "Whatever happens, she gets out." He states and all the men nod silently.

"Good evening gentlemen. Welcome to Dawson Towers."

Caleb is tempted to put a bullet through the fake butler's head. Only the fact that the man's hands are free of any weapon holds him back. He may be ready to take lives, but not one of an unarmed man.

"I am not so sure we have enough room to accommodate everyone of you, but I'm sure we can work--"

"The penthouse." V steps out of their group and Caleb notices the butler's facial expression falter. "The penthouse will be enough for us. We don't mind sharing."

"Oh but that is against Dawson Tower policy and that would just be an unfortunate way to treat our guests." The old man looks almost appalled by the idea of them sharing a room. His acting is almost perfect.

"Is this more like it?" Fed up by the man's acting Caleb brings his gun to the man's face eliciting a small yelp. "What? No experience with entertaining our kind of guests?"

"Oh please sir…" The man's brow instantly bears beads of sweat, making Caleb realize that he really is a butler. He may be aware of what goes on in his building but his job is that of a typical butler.

"The penthouse." Caleb growls V's request while his gun finally makes contact with the butler's temple. That seems to wake the man up to the seriousness of his reality and he carefully lowers himself to retrieve the keycard.

"E...Enjoy your st--?"

"Go to sleep, old man."

Caleb raises an eyebrow at Darren.

"What? He was just wasting our time and you have to agree that knocking him out cold is better than a bullet to his tired heart. Why don't we get this show on the road?"

Caleb only nods, happy to see his friend finally get in the game. But the moment lasts only seconds before the first gun fires.

"Damn that old man, I should have put a bullet through his head!" Darren curses as more bullets fly over their heads while they hide behind the reception counter.

"You didn't expect Simon to roll out the carpet for you and let you steal from him peacefully, did you? Caleb snickers while focussing on V to give him the shooter's location. 

"A guy can hope, can't he?" 

"Two o'clock!"

Both Caleb and Darren emerge from their hiding position, their movements perfectly synchronized like they had spent months training for this. 
Five men with big guns are firing relentlessly but it only takes a second to take them all out before Caleb and Darren drop down to a crouching position.

"People should really learn to make their bullets count." 

Caleb smirks at Darren's cockiness. For a moment it feels like old times and the familiar rush of adrenalin floods his body, giving him that desired high that will make this mission enjoyable.

"To Janice…" Caleb kisses his gun.

"To Layla." Darren kisses his gun in a familiar fashion and together they stare at each other grinning. The moment is both emotional as it is exciting. For so long, their toast to their loved ones before going into a gun fight had Darren shooting him a sad face. But not anymore, and Caleb couldn't be happier. 

"Let's end these suckers." Caleb is the first one to get up.

"Hallelujah!"

A nod towards V and the whole team advances, guns blazing and leaving lifeless bodies in their wake.

It's no easy fight, but Caleb's team is in no way trained for easy. V and the rest of his men are like a deadly shadow that's swallowing their enemies with ease. Darren...well, Darren is Darren. His best friend as always has his back and as Caleb leads them up to the penthouse it's all he needs to keep him focused at the enemy upfront.

"Damn, I wish Janice and Layla were here to see this!" Darren exclaims and Caleb scoffs at his friend's unusual way of keeping his focus.
The thought though, excites him too. He had seen how excited Layla was with his cooking and doctor skills and he couldn't help wondering if she'd be as excited to see the killing machine he can be when duty calls.

The sight of the door to the penthouse makes him focus on his mission once more. He and his team had to take the stairs knowing the elevator would have had them being trapped by Simon's men.

A click after swiping the key card makes Caleb let out a sigh of relief. It's the right one and he can't help but thank that old butler. He wasn't about to spend time trying to break down a door. V nods at him to enter the room. According to their video feed, the room is empty except for a figure tied to a chair. However, his men still sweep the entire area for any surprises.

"As expected, we were not the only ones with eyes on the place." V reappears with a few tiny cameras in his hand and a look of concern written on his face.

"What is it?" 

"I might be wrong, but the feeds might not be for monitoring purposes only."

Caleb gets V's point instantly and he rushes to untie the figure while curses escape his lips. He had completely forgotten what kind of monster Simon is and how easy it is for him to manipulate Layla, especially now.

The person on the chair flinches at his first touch, making Caleb switch to his doctor mode before continuing. 

"Ma'am, I'm Dr. Young and I'm a friend of Layla's."