And When The Walls Come Down

Complications

There was something oddly comforting to me about being in this situation with Martin at my side. I gripped his hand tighter, feeling myself start to calm slowly, but surely. This was Martin holding me, and he needed me here, now.

I tangled his fingers with mine one last time and then let go. Ignoring his whines of protest, I pushed Tokyo away from the makeshift surgical table we'd created. She snarled at me, her proffered hand shaking in mid air, the tweezers glinting under the lowlights of the room. I sneered at her, she thought she was being intimidating? "Put that away before you hurt yourself Tokyo. Helsinki, you're up." I signaled with my head to where Palermo was, and Helsinki, as though reading my mind, hastily made his approach, pushing down against Palermo's chest when the other made to stand up.

"No, Helsinki, stop. We'll deal with my eyes later. Right now we have more important matters to take care of." He waved his hand in the air, expectantly, calling out for Denver.

"What? Am I your guide dog now?" The younger man snarked, taking Palermo's arm anyway and helping him down from the table. Monica and I shared a worried look as the two began to take large strides out of the room.

I knew that the pain medicine we'd given him wouldn't last long, but I also knew that Palermo hated showing weakness of any kind, especially in front of strangers. Besides, he did have a point.

We needed to see what progress Bogota and Nairobi had made.

The quicker we melted that gold, the quicker we'd be out of here.

///

The plink, plank of the shards of glass made my skin crawl. I couldn't bear to look at Helsinki's steady progress, so I comforted myself with running my fingers through Sofia's fur.

Our little Flipper was staring at me with curiosity, so I smiled benignly at him, letting him see that I meant no harm.

We were meant to meet once upon a time, back when Palermo's and Berlin's grand plan was just beginning to take roots.

The Professor's voice snapped me out of my thoughts then, coming from the small speaker. "Palermo, listen to me. We have to move quickly but calmly, they found out we're tapped into them."

I swore internally. This meant we had no time to lose. Palermo's red eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Calmly? Easy for you to say. You're not the ones who are in here trapped by the damn army. We don't know when they'll come barging in, and you expect us to be calm?" His patience had clearly run out, not that I blamed him of course. Moving closer, I gently gripped his sleeve, hiding the movement between our bodies, there was no reason to give the others any gossip fodder. Palermo looked down at me, expression unreadable, and I slowly removed my hand, wishing he could read my mind at that moment.

Sergio was right. This was not the time for reproaches, we needed to keep a level head and get things done as quickly as possible lest we have some unforeseen complications.

Tokyo took the radio from Palermo, "Professor, how much time do we have left?"

Lisbon's voice was crisp. "Fourteen minutes."

Fourteen minutes. Shit. Shit. Shit. This was bad. Ignoring Palermo's undignified squawk of "What?!" I forced myself to focus. The only solution to this was to use our dolphin.

Palermo, as though on the same wave of thought as I, sighed softly, "Fine. It appears as though we have no choice but to bring in the dolphin." We all turned to look at the man in question, who looked decidedly confused at the nickname he'd been appointed with.

///

Helsinki stared at us, before asking more than stating, "Well, I guess I'm in charge of the Browning?"

Palermo nodded softly waving him off. "Very well, Helsinki. Good luck." I gave the large man an encouraging grin, turning to guide Palermo into the elevator.

"You have no idea what you're doing." Flipper began, and I bit back the snort that threatened to escape. What did the old man think he knew about us? We weren't just any small time robbers that were in over their heads. Well, at least Palermo, Bogota and I weren't.

Even with his eyesight taken away from him, and hurt as he was, Palermo still managed to sound as condescending as ever. I couldn't help but find it amusing, no matter the circumstances, Martin would always be arrogant. Bogota greeted us as the door opened, giving the old man a snorkeling suit just like the one he was sporting.

"Put it on immediately." Seeing him hesitate, he added, "Please." Nairobi dug the barrel of her gun into the man's spine, offering some much needed encouragement. Did these people not understand that we were on a short schedule?

Bogota walked the man through the basics, quick and efficient, but the Governor was too busy staring into space to pay much attention to him. I grit my teeth, feeling my irritation spike higher.

"Any questions, Governor?" Palermo asked, raising a hand.

"I'm not doing it." The man replied firmly.

"I think you are." Palermo said, smirking.

///

For once in his life, could Denver do something right?!

I was seething, as we tried to stop the bleeding coming from the Governor's head.

"Was it really a good idea to give the blind guy the gun?" I asked Nairobi, standing up and taking the weapon from Palermo, who released it without protest.

"How bad is it?" He asked me in a stage whisper, hand inching closer to my hip. I gripped his fingers with mine, deciding not to lie. "Bad." If our little Flipper decided to kick the bucket right then, we'd be very much screwed.

Bogota suited up as the others began to tend to the Governor's wound, his expression concentrated. "Bogota." Palermo spoke up, and the man turned to us. "Be careful, brother." Bogota nodded, smiling softly at me as he made his way onto the table.

I saw Denver's look of half concealed surprise as he began to staple the injured man's head together hastily.

I wanted to kick him. If it hadn't been for his short temper and general idiocy, we wouldn't be in this situation right now. Bogota was inside the vault, playing with explosives strong enough to kill us all, and the others were trying to save Flipper from cardiac arrest.

I concentrated on breathing.

Nothing could go wrong in the next minutes.

For the first time in a long time, I prayed.

///

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I hope you and your loved ones are well. ❤️