And When The Walls Come Down

Test Your Patience

I froze when I heard the news.

Andrés was a lot of things, and I would never claim him to be a saint, but he was most definitely not a rapist.

He was much too in love with himself, and by proxy, his sense of honor to even think about marring it with something as putrid as what they were accusing him of. It was beneath him, anyone with two eyes could see that.

I felt the temperature in the small room drop. Nairobi wasted no time, venom dripping from her lips as she sneered, mocking him for his supposed crimes. I wanted to warn her, but by the time she'd put her finger to his chest, it was too late, before either of us could react, he had her pinned to the desk. His large hand wrapped tightly around her neck. She lashed out, hitting him, drawing blood even, but his grip remained firm, staring down at her coldly.

"Berlin. Let her go." My heart was in my throat. I knew it stung him deeply, to be accused of such things, but I couldn't let him hurt Nairobi, we needed her after all.

"Go back to the others Lux. Now." He said, not even looking up at me, I didn't need to be told twice, besides, I had already been up here too long, any more time spent here and the others would become suspicious, with a last glance at his face I walked out, intent on finding Helsinki.

Not for the first time I wondered why Sergio had given us this group of people, instead of Martin and Marseille, and Bogota. Our Professor had chosen these people for their specific skills, but even he had to have known just how unpredictable they could be under strenuous circumstances. Leaving them with Berlin, was like placing children inside a very small cage with a fully grown tiger, one who hunted for fun, and not for food.

They didn't respect him, that much was obvious, a fact they'd soon learn to regret. I could only hope that they wouldn't test his patience too much, for he'd never had much of that to begin with.

///

"Have you seen Denver?" Berlin questioned politely. I had been summoned under the guise of them needing me for an errand, so here I stood, staring at him, wondering why he was asking for Denver now. Blood was still dripping from his nose, but he didn't seem to care. Nairobi tried to catch my eye, but I ignored her, knowing the mood that Berlin was in.

"No, not since hours ago." I finally admitted. Berlin's jaw was clenched as he began to turn away. I made to pull him back, but Nairobi interrupted, pushing me out of the way firmly.

"You can't shoot him!" Her chest was heaving, and she looked truly afraid. Shoot Denver? Why would Berlin want to shoot him?

Berlin sighed, rolling his neck in frustration, it was clear from the look on his face that they'd had this conversation before. "Well what about my dignity? I have a reputation to protect, and Denver has fucked with my honor. We're talking about integrity, ethics are important Nairobi, but so are aesthetics." God but he was the world's biggest drama queen. Whatever Denver had done, he was in for it now. I hadn't realized just how intimidating he could be, never having been on the receiving end of one of his threats, or even his bad moods before, but looking at him now, I could understand just why people were so afraid of him. Nairobi blanched, trying to stop him, when Helsinki aimed at her with his firearm. She was an idiot to think that the Serbians would follow her orders, those two were only there to follow one person's commands, and that person wasn't her.

It was like a sick game of Marco Polo, Berlin walked the halls, calling out for Denver in a taunting voice, receiving no answer, until we came to the bathrooms, where we found the younger man, who looked decidedly cagey.

So it was his fault that the police knew of Berlin's real identity now, I could see why he was so angry.

Denver offered Berlin fifteen million euros, looking at us nervously. Berlin repeated it to me while he chuckled, and I knew that despite his current attitude, he was most definitely not entertained. "Fifteen million euros Lux. Can you believe that?" I couldn't actually, Denver was insane to think that he'd be able to placate Berlin with money.