Mystery ~ MV1

021. Shut up and Drive

[Agent A]

Metal ricochet against concrete and body of the Audi as I pull Max behind the sleek silhouette of my car, the night air crackling with gunpowder and violence.

His breath comes in staccato bursts, each exhale painting white clouds in the cold air between us as we crouch away from the burst of silent light the bullets create against the dark night.

The questions tumble from his lips like scattered bullets, each one striking with increasing urgency.

"What the hell is happening?" The words tear from his throat, raw and desperate. He looks over me with eyes so wide I almost drown in the crystal blueness.

The leather of my holster creaks as I shift, every nerve ending alive with electric awareness. I quickly look over the car's hood to see them changing their gun's magazine. "We need to leave. Now." Each word falls between us like a command, heavy with unspoken gravity.

He runs his hands over his face as he continues to let out anxious breaths. Finally he looks over at me again and nods towards the open parking lot.

"We can take my—"

"This one's bulletproof," I cut through his words like a blade through silk, "and has what I need." The trunk's arsenal whispers to me like an old friend, begging to be reunited.

Max's next question dies in his throat as I pull open the door and push him into the driver's seat, his body folding into the leather with wide-eyed compliance.

"Can you drive?" I ask, still crouched behind the car but looking at Max in the drivers seat. The thought of only bulletproof glass keeping him alive right now sets my nerves on fire.

A laugh escapes him, borderline hysterical but warm with that inherent Max-ness that makes my chest ache. "Pretty sure that's about the only thing I can do right now."

The ghost of a smile crosses my lips before I'm moving quickly , crawling over his lap to the passenger seat before reach into the back seat. His sharp intake of breath mingles with the rustle of my dress, and even in this moment of chaos, I feel the heat rise between us.

My fingers close around cold metal just as silenced shots pepper the car's exterior like deadly raindrops. I quickly sit back in the passenger seat and push the keys into his suit, causing him to look away from me to quickly push the keys into the ignition.

"Drive max!" The word explodes from my lungs as Max slams the accelerator, tires screaming against asphalt like banshees in the night. I slide back against the leather of the seat because of the quick acceleration. Looking over at max, who seems to have turned off his anxiety to focus solely on the road and the car he's driving- it settles me to see he looks okay.

I grip the rifle in my hands and turn back to the task at hand. The window glass slides down with a whisper, and the wind whips my hair into a dark halo as I lean out.

Headlights bloom behind us like deadly flowers, three sets of eyes hunting us through the streets of Nice. The rifle settles against my shoulder like it belongs there, an extension of my will and vengeance. It feels natural, a comforting cold metal against my shoulder.

"What the hell is happening? What are you doing?" Max's voice cracks on the last word. "Why do you have a gun?"

I can't help the dark amusement that colors my response. "Because they have guns." The smile in my voice does nothing to ease the tension I see in his jaw when I look his way before turning back.

"Just focus on the road. Left here!" My instructions mingle with the percussion of gunfire as I lean further out the window, my core straining as I keep myself upright. The night air tastes like adrenaline and gunpowder, sweet and deadly on my tongue.

My eyes narrow as I set the car in my sights, and as I breathe out the bullet follows in suit.

The first car's tire explodes under my careful aim, rubber and metal shrieking as it spins out of control until a brick wall stops its path.

Raymond is gonna kill me when he has to clean up this mess.

"Two more," I mutter, more to myself than Max, when I see two more black sedans hot on our tail. "Thats just overkill."

The larger rifle feels like salvation in my hands as I lean out again, taking aim at the passenger whose muzzle flashes paint the night in strobes of deadly light. Right before I release the trigger, I shout to Max, "Sharp right!"

Max surprises me when I feel his fingers wrap around my ankle, warm and steady even as he yanks the wheel. The world tilts and spins, my body suspended between safety and oblivion, anchored only by his grip until I grab the safety bar inside the car- my bicep straining as I keep myself in the car.

"Could you not—" his voice strains with stress, "—hang out the window like that?"

I fix my position, stilling leaning out of the car as I fix my aim and grip. The chase weaves through Nice like a deadly dance, our car threading through streets that have stood witness to centuries of violence and beauty.

Max's knuckles grow whiter with each turn, each shot fired, while I try to split myself between handling our pursuers and offering him comfort he can't quite believe. Not that I blame him.

"Just drive Max, it's oka-" I offer comfort to him, looking away from our pursuers for just a second until I'm cut off.

Then pain explodes across my side, hot and sharp like lightning meeting flesh. The bullet tears through me with a kiss of fire, but there's no time for pain— not when the second car still hunts us.

My jaw tightens, and it feels like I'll crack my own teeth from the pressure. But I can't give up, can't let the pain consume me.

I force myself to lean out once more, ignoring the molten agony spreading beneath my ribs and across my abdomen. My shot still finds home in their tire, and the satisfaction of watching them crash into a lamppost almost outweighs the burning in my side.

One car left.

The gun falls heavy in my lap as I finally sink back into my seat, copper coating my tongue and burning my throat like acid.

"Faster," I manage, the word wavering despite my best efforts.

Max's foot presses harder, the engine's roar drowning out the thunder of my pulse in my ears. His eyes flicker to me, catching on something in my voice that I can't quite hide. But all he sees is the gun resting in my lap, my eyes fixed on the side mirror like it holds salvation. I feel like I'm being forced to sit the bench, calculate a plan rather than leading the offense.

"Quick left, then the alley. Kill the lights." I direct him and he listens flawlessly.

The darkness swallows us whole as we sink into the narrow passage between buildings, holding our breath as our pursuers race past, blind to our disappearance.

Max's exhale sounds like a prayer in the sudden silence.

"Explanation. Now." His demand hangs in the air between us, heavy with fear and confusion and something that might be betrayal.

I let my head fall back against the headrest, watching the way the distant streetlights paint patterns on the ceiling of the car. My breath shakes loose from my lungs like a wounded thing and i cringe at the energy it takes to actually breathe in and out. "You might have to wait for that."

"Why?"

The word barely has time to exist before I answer, my voice stripped of everything but truth. "Because I've just been shot." I breathe out the words, as if it's more painful to admit it than the actual pain of the wound.

Time freezes as Max processes my words, his eyes dropping to where my hand presses against my side.

When I pull it away, moonlight catches the scarlet liquid coating my fingers, turning it to rubies and garnets— beautiful in its tragedy.

His sharp intake of breath sounds like my name, like a question, like the beginning of something neither of us is ready to face.

———
Sorry y'all I've been dog shit at updating but life has gotten so busy 😭😭
Anyways here's another cliffhanger to leave you guys on!