When the Game Changed (Ryan Haywood x OC) (Fake AH Crew)

Chapter 20

A/N: Well, holy shit, I'm back! I'm so sorry it took so long. Extremes writer's block, as well as starting college and softball, but I found a lot of inspiration and time again. After this chapter, there's only one more! And then it's time to work on the second part of this trilogy. Thanks so for the love and support while I've been absent. I love y'all so much 😭

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The darkness inside of the bunker was completely unbelievable, almost darker than usual when Dakota would explore it as a teenager at night. Jack, too, thought of how pitch black the narrow hallway they were in was, and it would have made his nerves act up had he not turned on his flashlight that he kept in the van. It had been almost ten minutes since Geoff, Michael, and Gavin split the opposite way from the two, and during all of that time, a sound was never made or heard unfortunately. That fact alone made the whole situation a little more tense than both Dakota and Jack would have liked.

Dak walked a few steps ahead of her bearded friend, eyes locked firmly in front of her due to the immense light flooding from the flashlight and clearing rooms left and right when they appeared down the corridor. She tried her hardest to stay calm, but as more time went on and the more rooms that weren't occupied, her unease started to become noticeable to Jack when her fingers fidgeted on her gun handle. He wanted to reassure her, but it was hard to when he couldn't even comfort himself. Everything was just a little too easy at the moment, and they knew that wasn't a good sign.

As her legs kept leading her forward, Dakota spoke softly to her companion.

"You'd think there would have been a gunshot at least by now, even from the other side where the R and R connection are covering." Her voice was smooth as she leaned around the corner of a room that was on her left, yet again confirming an empty space.

Jack nodded in support of her thoughts, ushering out a, "Yeah, I don't feel too great about this right now, D. Any of our groups should have been ambushed by now, or we should have found something. It's too quiet."

Dakota tutted her tongue, a kind of response that Jack took as his words striking a nerve within her. He felt uneasy knowing that one of the only people he knew who usually could stay composed was on the brink of falling from that ledge.

Gun locked tightly in hand, the woman's eyes still followed the flashlight as it displayed parts of the darkened corridor, walking forward with precision. Jack stayed close behind, gun hand resting against the flashlight arm and ready to pop off if need be.

Lahey should have been around. Everyone knew that at this point as all groups made their way through the crypt of a bunker. The quiet and the darkness didn't make the situation any better, especially for Ryan because his mask was pretty deafening in both aspects. He and Ray went through the back way, hoping in some way to surprise the FIB agents inside, or at least to get the drop on them in some way.

Maybe he should have been concentrating on the job at hand, but it'd be a lie if he were to say that he was. His mind was all over the place. He was more distant than a ruthless killer should have been when on the hunt for a job, but falling hard for a woman was a huge constant on his brain, not to mention his biggest weakness. More or less the reason why all of his flings in the past years never ended in anything serious, knowing the outcome would be the girl would run away screaming, die, or ending up getting in the way of his lifestyle.

But Dakota was different, and he loved her with everything that he had in him, and it was hard to concentrate on anything other than her, even for the Vagabond. And God, the Vagabond. How would she react to that? Would it scare her away too? Probably not, but it still freaked him out, especially the fact that he didn't just tell her from the start who his persona was exactly. Why did everything have to be so complicated when it came down to it?