Hase - Before Ever After

Chapter 28 - No harm done

 "One... Two... Three..." Hawk slammed the door open as soon as he finished counting down, but what stood in front of them was nowhere near what they expected. Sure, it was still a trap, as they'd predicted, but as they looked at the empty eyes of their friends, who were standing between them and Vicky like her personal army, they were just not sure how much lower she could go for power.

Astoria took a look around the familiar faces of her friends until her eyes reached misty blue eyes that once held the most bright and warming gaze she had ever seen. Of course, the fact that all of her friends were under Vicky's control made her skin crawl, but seeing Shawn in such a state had her mind spinning and no coherent thoughts were left before she snapped.

"What is this, Vicky? What did you do with them?" She almost growled out of anger.

"Ooh, someone's feisty today. What? Are you worried about your little boyfriend? Don't worry, I didn't hurt him, but I'm afraid you will have to if you wanna get to me". Vicky mocked.

With nothing to say back, Astoria greeted her teeth, knowing it was, after all, the truth. If they wanted to get past their friends, there was nothing else to be done than fighting their way through. Her mind and heart were racing, and for a moment, she even forgot about Hawk and Rose standing beside her.

Suddenly, Vicky's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Well, I'll leave you to it. If you can ever get past them, I'll be waiting somewhere else. Bye bye, losers". Once she turned around and left the room, the 'army' readied themselves to fight, but didn't attack.

"It's like they're waiting for us to strike first". Rose noted.

"What are we going to do?". Astoria finally asked.

"What do you mean? There's nothing else to do, we have to fight". Hawk answered firmly.

"What are you talking about? We're not fighting Shawn". Astoria snapped.

The defiance in her tone made Hawk a little nervous as well, and so it got them into a discussion.

"I'm sorry Astoria, but there's no time to waste when there's no other choice. Don't be stubborn"

"What? I'm not being stubborn, Hawk. I'm saying we're not doing it"

"And who put you in charge?"

"I could ask you the same thing"

"We're losing precious time here, Astoria. Put yourself together, this is for the greater good"

"Oh, it's easy for you to talk about the greater good when it's not Rose we have to hurt, right? What would you do then?"

That got Rose's attention, but she didn't dare say anything to interrupt them. She didn't know why, but she caught herself waiting for his answer just as much as Astoria was.

"..."

"Puss in boots got your tongue? Tell me, Hawk, what would you do if Rose was there and not here with us?"

"I-I...". He tried to say something but felt Rose's eyes on him and it got him even more nervous.

"You what?"

"I don't know, okay?". He shouted at her, and before she could savor the victory in the discussion, he spoke again. "What do you suggest we do if we are not fighting?"

"I-I... I don't know either". She said in a defeated tone.

Seeing her face fall, Hawk finally calmed down and started to really put some thought into the question Astoria made. What would he do if it was Rose? He could never hurt her, that's for sure, but wasn't it his duty as a hero to put everyone's safety above hers? Would it make him less of a hero if he were to sacrifice everything else to protect her? Well, that was something he didn't want to ever need to figure out.

His eyes suddenly wandered around looking for Rose's and once their gazes locked he noticed a questioning look in her face. After a few seconds just staring at her, he figured she had asked a question, but in his moment lost in thought he didn't really pay attention, so he waited for her to ask it again, but a sudden scream got his attention instead.

"I swear I'll end you, you wannabe heroes". The echo of screams could be clearly heard, which meant they were not coming from too far from there.

"What the heck was that?" Hawk asked.

"Well, I'd say that's clearly a very pissed off Vicky. Now, are you guys coming or what? She can't be that far". Rose looked from Hawk to Astoria, who seemed just as lost as he currently was.

"What?". They asked together.

"Come on". Rose called and they finally looked around to see everyone of their friends imprisoned by pumpkin cages.

"How...?" Astoria started but was stunned speechless by the ease with which Rose had dealt with the situation. When did she have the time to do that? Had she and Hawk really been arguing for that long?

"That's amazing, Rose. How did you even manage to do that so quickly?" Hawk complimented her.

"Yeah... you two don't think as fast as you think you do". Rose giggled with a little flush on her cheeks because of Hawk's compliment. "Now, come on, we've got a school to save and Vicky is the last thing standing in our way".

"Not for too long" Hawk gave her a determined look and together they went looking for Vicky.