Fighting For You: a FanFiction (for my friend)

Seven: Not Now

His screams. His screams. His screams. His-

I woke up with a jolt, waking from the nightmare that consisted of, well, you can guess what.

I looked around, sitting up a white bed. A bohemian-style room stared back at me. Purple carpets, hanging plants, and mysterious bottles filled the room. I suddenly flinched, noting the bandage that was wrapped around my left arm. I reached to touch it when a voice interrupted me.

"Hey, hey, hey whoa don't touch that." 

I whipped my head around to see a tall guy with shaggy blonde hair. He took a step closer and I pushed myself further into my bed. He threw his hands up in surrender.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm Zara's friend. Piper, right? I'm Ryder. Ryder Pancake."

I chuckled, thinking about Ryan's silly name until I remembered his fate. Ryder seemed to notice, as he started darting his eyes, thinking it was him.

"Do you want tea?"

He left the room and came back with a mug filled with a murky brown liquid. He sat next to me on the bed as I sipped. It tasted like honey.

"Thanks," I muttered. He smiled back, then gently gestured towards my bandage. 

"May I?"

 I nodded. He ever so carefully removed the bandage, and I saw the arm wound. He examined it with his bright blue eyes, looking intensely. 

"I gave you a shot earlier, so your arm should be numb. You won't feel the pain until tomorrow." He started to wrap my arm with a new bandage. I felt his fingertips press against my skin. Gently. Slow. Soft.

"There. You're all set, Piper," He smirked. Before I could respond, Zara walked into the room.

"Okay, can we get out of here now. We gotta hurry." Her eyes darted around the room. I started to notice how fidgety she was: she bounced on the heels of her feet and played with her fingers. As if she was nervous.

"She needs to rest for another hour-"

"We don't have another hour."

"Why?" I shot at Zara, staring straight into her eyes. She tried to look away and then finally gave up.

"There's something you need to see." She mumbled. I slowly got out the bed and made my way to her as she whipped out her phone. Ryder and I huddled around her tiny screen. 

A tall lanky body hidden in shadows threw another body in front of the screen. His grabs his hair, lifting his face into the light. Ethan.

"You think I wouldn't find out about your little change of heart, Zara?" The tall one chuckled. "Well, you know what, I've had a change of heart too. You see, I was gonna shoot this little guy in the head and leave it at that but I've decided he's kinda fun to play with. Right, Ethan?"

"Fuck you!" 

Theo suddenly banged Ethans head against a surface. When his face returned, it was bloody.

"Ethan, that's no way to talk to your new... owner. Anyway, I've got lots of sharp things I'd like to try out on this hunk of meat... unless you have something else to give. Chop chop, Zara, or something else gets chopped." He began a laugh so maniacal that is left shivers on my spine.

I sat on the bed, not knowing what to say. I was shaking all over. I must've been zoned out, because suddenly Zara was shaking me, yelling my name to get my attention.

"It's all my fault."

"No its not, Piper. It's my fault. If I didn't switch sides-"

"I'd be dead. But he'd be alive."

"That's not what I was gonna say."

I stood up. "I have to let them take me. I have to sacrifice myself."

"Piper you can't!" Zara grabbed my arm. "I won't let you."

"ETHAN IS IN DANGER. HE IS BEING TORTURED BECAUSE OF ME. NOT JUST BECAUSE YOUR STUPID BOSS BUT BECAUSE...he loved me. And I didn't let him talk. I didn't listen. And now. He's in so pain..."

I fell into the bed, balling into the sheets. I felt Zara kneel near me. Ryder's hand fell onto my back as he patted it.

"Piper." Zara quietly spoke. "We can save him. You can't sacrifice yourself, he's not very good at keeping promises. He's going to hurt you both if we don't."

I rose, looking at Zara, then Ryder. 

"Okay. Then I'll do whatever it takes to get him out."

We said our goodbyes, giving hugs to Ryder.  His embrace gave me the warmth that I hadn't felt in a long time. Finally, it was time to go.

***

The trip was long, but time passes faster when your thinking. Images of Ethan, Melissa, Cameron, even Zara, filled my head. But sure enough, we were there.

In front of us stood a giant warehouse, seemingly normal on the outside, but deadly on the inside. We ran through the dark to the building and scaled it, climbing to the rooftop. 

I could see the city lights glistening against the dark sky. They told me not to give up, not now. I looked at Zara.

"So how do we get inside?"

"This thing." She tapped her foot against a square-shaped hatch on the floor of the roof. 

"It's a secret entrance I found one day when messing around on the roof." She whipped out a screwdriver, unscrewing the bolts and lifting the hatch open.

Inside were metal risers that created an upper-level pathway above the normal floor of the warehouse. Armed guards stood below, but no one was on the second level.

We slowly jumped down onto the risers,  careful not to make any noise. I looked around. The risers lead to deep hallways and corridors throughout the building. We had to be careful.

Zara made a hand signal. That way ahead.

We slowly made our way across the risers, almost making it to the other side when footsteps were heard. We threw our backs against the walls as a man walked passed us, oblivious to us intruders. We sighed, thinking we were safe. We were wrong.

Another guy walked by, but this time he sure noticed us. Before he could say anything, I shot him with my crossbow, swift and silent. The arrow landed in his neck, where he stumbled and collapsed. Only he fell from the second level to the first level, splitting straight onto the pavement for the guards to see. He looked up.

"Shit."

"Go!"

We ran, bullets flying towards us. I looked back to see a gangle of men coming at us, weapons ready to fire. We kept running, dodging every bullet with each turn until we hit a wall. not a real wall, but more men with more big guns. We were cornered.

I looked at Zara.

"You ready?"

"You bet I am." 

Suddenly we started fighting, tag-teaming each of these dudes. Distraction here, arrow there, punch here, bullet there. No one was able to get to us with double duty fighting them like never seen before. 

Before we knew it, eight bodies laid in front of us.

"Alright, yes! Up top Zara!" I turned to see her body fall to the floor, a blowdart in her neck. Passed out cold. 

"What the-" Before I could finish, I felt the prick of a blowdart in my own neck and watched the world crumble to darkness.