Snow Bound

26

"John! Are you in there? Is Whitney with you?" Michael yells through the door after trying to open it.

"Yeah, were both in here." John answers back. He steadies Whitney as she stands up then she helps him to get up.

"You don't happen to know where the key to the door is, do you? If not, we'll have to blow it off." Michael says more than a little irritated that he's close to the finish of his mission and unable to get to his brother or girl.

"Yeah, the boss man had it, but I believe Whitney swiped it from him earlier. Just gives us a minute-" even before he finishes talking Whitney has the door open and Michael sweeps her up into a hug and a kiss. John clears his throat to get Michael's attention.

"Sorry, John, just happy to see Whitney again," Michael says bashfully blushing a deep red.

The man that's tied up is just staring in horror at what he thinks he saw. They both are with the girl? With the killer?

Michael gently passes by Whitney and takes a look at his brother. "Shit, he fucking used you for a punching bag. You look nearly as bad as the bag you left at the house."

John shrugs, "Didn't even hurt, really. Father hit harder on his good days than this douche managed to hit at all."

Michael looks to where John was pointing and sees the man already tied up and waiting to be dealt with. He smiles wickedly. "Well, how about that. Not only did you manage to find Whitney, you managed to get free and capture the man trying to take us over."

Michael laughs, "Me? Nope, I was sitting here trussed up like this coward. He brought Whitney to me, not quite sure why, but once I saw her I was calm and able to start thinking once more. She was able to take their guns away and kill them while I kept his attention on me by mocking him and having him hit me more. Once she killed his men, all ten of them, she got him to release me and then I restrained him like I had been. By then we heard the gun fire and figured it would be better to stay put since stray bullets are far more likely is such quarters."

Michael smiles at Whitney, "So, Lady Killer, seems you rightfully earned your name. Thank you. Now, be honest, did that bastard or any of his men touch you? Hurt you in any way?"

Whitney absently rubs her aching wrist where the man had held it extra tight. "Just when he was pulling me around. His hold was too tight and it hurt my wrist. Other than that he pretty much left me alone. He sent in two meals for me to eat and I had a bathroom to use if I needed it." Whitney says shrugging.

She frowns, now that she's safe the pain in her wrist is really making itself known. She looks at her wrist and is unable to hold in the gasp. It was bruised and visibly swollen. She looks up to John in horror.

"No, John, it's nothing, something minor. I'm sure that just a little pain medicine and ice and it will be fine." Whitney says talking fast to calm her boyfriend down.

"Might as well save it, Whitney. John is beyond pissed at this time. It was just his need to protect you that kept him from doing anything to that." Michael calls out orders to his men and they go in and respectfully wait behind John. They have no desire to get between him and his target.

"John, I want to go home," it's Whitney's voice and her cry that makes John come out of his fury.

Once he's done the men take the nearly unconscious man and undo those restraints and place others on him. 

"Take his clothes off first. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't have any other weapons, but you can't be too careful." Whitney tells the men. They hesitate but at Michael's nod they take the man's clothes off him before binding him.

John goes to Whitney, "I'm sorry, baby, let's go home." John picks her up.

"You shouldn't be carrying me. You were hurt I wasn't."

"I need to do this, Whitney. I need to be near you right now. Need to hold you."

"Just let him carry you, Whitney. He's calming down and once he's not full of anger and adrenaline he'll need to set you down." Michael advises her.

Whitney nods but soon is overcome with dizziness of her own and she passes out.

"Whitney? Whitney!" John says and when she doesn't respond he looks to his brother in fear. 

"Do you know how to get out of here faster?"

"Yeah, I was just going slow so you would easily be able to keep up." Michael says even as he speeds up. The sooner they get Whitney home the sooner the doctor can look at her.

"Did they feed her?"

"You heard her the same as I did. They sent in two meals, but she never said anything about eating them. I don't think she did, honestly. She likely thought they would have been drugged. Especially if he said something about selling her. That would explain why she went with him so docilely. It would have triggered her memories, she wouldn't have fought them in any way, and yet she killed ten of them without a problem once she was brought to me." John says thoughtfully.

"You make her feel safe, she would have come back to herself if she saw you. All her training would have come out to save you. She would do anything for you, John. She gave herself to save you."

"Not just me, both of us. She was willing to go through hell again to save us both." John corrects Michael.

"Yeah, you're right. You got yourself one helluva girlfriend John. You lucky bastard."

"You have a pretty decent one yourself, Michael. Just don't screw it up or Whitney will come after you."

Michael smiles at the thought of Carmen. "Yes, you're right. She would. Yeah, Carmen's pretty good, far too good for me. I shouldn't get her mixed up in this life. I should let her go before she's hurt like Whitney could have been."

"One thing I've noticed while watching people interact, big brother, you don't make decisions for them. That just causes more problems than you started with. Talk to her about your thoughts and fears, then let her decide whether to stay with you or not." John says and Michael turns to him and just stares at him.

"When did you become a relationship expert?" Michael demands.

"I'm not," John says flatly. "I watch and learn by watching. You don't have to do what I suggested, but it rarely ends well when one person makes a decision for another without even consulting them. She's your girlfriend, just remember, you'll have mine on your ass if you hurt yours. Your decision, Michael." By then they are to the stairs that will get them out of the tunnels and John pushes past Michael as he makes his way to freedom once more.

"How long did this asshole have me anyway?" John demands of the man that was on watch as he came through the door.

"You were taken about eight hours ago." The man replies nervously. He's pretty sure that the one he's talking to is John since he asked about being taken. He's never met the other boss, but he's heard plenty about him and is terrified of him.

"I see, where are the vehicles?" 

"Two buildings back that way, sir. Is she alright?" The man finally dares to ask his own question.

"I think so, but we need a doctor to make sure. Thank you for your help. Tell my asshole brother, once he shows up that he needs to get his ass in gear." John calls out over his shoulder.

The man gulps, there is no way in hell he would say anything so disrespectful to his boss. "It's alright Jennings, I heard what he said. Tell the others to mop up and then they can go home. Make sure that there is a roll call before they leave. Wouldn't want to leave any of our men down in that maze. They better be bringing the dead with them as well. Once the roll call is taken let me know how many men we lost." Michael orders even as he starts jogging over to where they left the cars. He wouldn't put it past John to take off in one without waiting for him.

"Yes, sir," Jennings calls out but Michael is already out of earshot.