No Regrets - OUAT - Panfic

difficult little devil

"damn, you're such a
difficult little devil"
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The computer moniter filled the upstairs room of the penthouse with light as the tower hummed with energy. The screen lit up the face of Pan and Merida as they leaned over it, both of them scanning the information on the screen as Nibs shifted his weight from foot to foot behind them.
"Nibs checked around and your father left on a flight to Washington D.C. the night he left. So he's been there for about six days, if he's still there. Did he mention anything at all before he left?" Pan glanced at Merida, but she shook her head.

"He didn't say anything before he dropped me off at Emma's. Just that it was too dangerous for me to know, and that he'd be back in two weeks. I don't even know if Emma knows, but even if she did she would never tell me." Merida's teeth played with her bottom lip as she tried to search through her memories and find something which might give her a clue.

"Any day now," Pan sighed, running his hand through his hair and leaning against the computer desk as he absentmindedly drummed his fingers against the metal.

"Give me a sec and stop your bitchin'," she replied, still drawing a blank.

"I checked the websites to see if there was any conferences going on in D.C," Nibs finally piped up. "I couldn't find any reason why he should be there, but I searched the security cameras inside hotels with his picture and I found this." He tapped the computer screen which flashed a grainy picture of the opposing gang leader. "It's the only one I could find, so he must have gotten smarter and started covering his face. He checked into this hotel four days ago. Safe bet that he's still there."

"No, he's not that stupid." Merida shook her head and crossed her arms, starting to rattle off what she knew about her father. "He only stays at hotels a few days at a time to avoid so he'll be in a different one. He'll also be in a rental car," she mused, mostly thinking out loud at this point. "And Fergus doesn't like to use his real name, so every time he checks in somewhere it's a different alias."

Pan sighed again and glanced at Merida. "So what you're telling me is that there's no way we can track him."

"There might be one way. It's a long shot, but it's the only one we've got at the moment. Check the traffic cameras. Dad hates wearing sunglasses in the car. He said it makes him look like an asshole." She chuckled and rolled her eyes. "As if wearing them indoors doesn't already make him one," she added under her breath. "Once you've finished doing that, I'll be relaxing." Merida turned to leave but Pan quickly grabbed her arm.
"Hold on, Red. I'm not done with you yet."

"No need to get physical." She scrunched her nose at him and removed his hand. "What else do you want, Pan?"

He shrugged slightly and slid his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Just wanted to show you around. I can be a gentleman if I want to."

Merida rolled her eyes and scoffed at him. "Oh please, you wouldn't know a gentleman if it bit you in the ass."

"Fine, be a bitch about it," he said in a snarky tone. "I just thought since we were working together you'd want to see where you're saying the next few days."

"One of your little devils showed me everything, so no thanks. I'm gonna go drown myself in your Gucci toilet now, g'bye." She turned on her heel and left the room, leaving a frustrated Pan and a confused Nibs.

"Red, cmon," Pan caught up with her and glanced at her. "We're working together, least you can do is give me the time of day."

"It's exactly 8:23 AM."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"And they say women are confusing."

"Who, me? Never." His lips twitched in a small smile.

"Look, Pan." She stopped in her track and faced him, crossing her arms. "You pretend you're all buddy buddy with me, but you gave me this just two days ago." Merida pointed to the darkening bruise spreading across her cheek. "Not to mention you left me alone tied up overnight and gods know what would've happened if I'd been there longer. We're working together to find my father, and that's it. Don't pretend I'm doing you a favor," she narrowed her eyes at him. "This won't change anything, much less the fact we've tried to kill each other multiple times."

Pan scoffed at her words, dismissing them immediately. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm just trying to be friendly so you don't go off the deep end because I made you mad. I'd hate to fuck up your pretty face." He thought about grazing his hand across her cheek but then thought better of it. He really didn't want a broken hand.

"My point is that you're not gonna win me over. No matter what you try."

• • •

Ash was busy planting busty Asian step mom porn on Nib's computer when she heard sirens approaching from below. The sound barely registered with her until it stopped right below the penthouse. "Oh fuck," she muttered, glancing up from the monitor and standing up. The computer chair went spinning into the corner and tipped over on its side as Ash looked out the barred window, seeing the flashing blue and red lights bouncing off the closest buildings. "We got busted by the cops, everybody out!" She yelled, banging on the doors as she ran down the hall. The devils poked their heads out of the half open doors in confusion until Felix took charge.
"Fire escape, top floor! Leave everything!" He hauled one of the boys to his feet and threw him towards the door. "Hurry up!" He hissed.

"Fuck, where are they?!" Ash growled, spinning around as she searched for Pan and the new girl. Finally she saw the redhead disappearing around the corner, and Ash quickly caught up. "One of us slipped up. The cops are here," she said, almost panicking as she looked to Pan for reassurance. Her eyes were wide in her dark face as she waited for his response. His expression quickly changed and he headed towards the top floor as he took the steps two at a time.

"Somebody must've caught wind of something going on here," he muttered, seething with anger at his gang of misfits. They obviously weren't being too careful, and there was going to be hell to pay after they got out of this.

Merida followed quickly behind them. Not one of them could afford to get caught and she was no exception. The rest of the gang fell in behind the trio with Felix bringing up the back.

"Out, now." Pan's voice cut like a whip as he opened the emergency door at the top of the staircase, making sirens go off on every floor. He knew the fuzz would know what way they were attempting to escape, and he was prepared to do what it took to defend his group. They were carrying little else than the clothes on their back, but most of them had weapons concealed under their clothes or in their pockets, and all of the devils knew how to use them.

They were all surprisingly calm for the multiple cop cars waiting at the front door, and Merida guessed this wasn't the first time something like this had happened; judging by Pan's tense movements and harsh voice she would guess it just hadn't happened in a long time. "Nibs, Ash, Slightly," Pan started counting off the devils as they passed him, making sure no one was left behind. "Merida, you're with me." There was no time for nicknames now, not with the threat of jail time sneaking up below them.

She would almost rather go to jail than put her free life in his hands, but she swallowed her pride and did it anyways. "Can we go now?!" Merida glanced behind her before slamming the door, jamming it closed with a rusty chair. "They're not gonna fucking sit there much longer. They're already on their way up."

Pan nodded in agreement before taking the matter back into his own hands. "C'mon boys, you know what to do." Ash and Felix grabbed a long board that was propped against the cement and started shoving it out over the alley. In this part of the city the buildings were close enough together that a longer than average board could easily bridge the gap between roofs. Pan led the way, expertly balancing on the narrow wood. He was closely followed by Slightly, Nibs, Cinder, Felix and Tootles, the latter wincing as the board bowed slightly under him.

"After you." Ash motioned for Merida to go, and the redhead took a breath and walked over the alleyway. Heights never scared her, but the board seemed far too rotten. She consoled herself with the fact that if it held Tootles it surely would hold her. Merida safely reached the other side and Ash followed right behind her. The white haired beauty was three feet from the edge when the makeshift bridge suddenly crumbled.