Chapter Text
They’d fucked this mission up. Like really, really badly. Daithi had been knocked out about fifteen minutes ago, luckily he’d been close enough to Seán that he was able to drag Daithi into one of their ‘safe’ zones. Seán had somehow managed to keep on top of his information relay during this, making sure that the rest of them weren’t going to die. But that was probably the only thing that went right during the mission. Brian had gone silent a few minutes ago, punctuated by the sharp hiss of static that usually signaled a broken comm. Dan had no idea what Kevin was doing, other than that he was meant to be patrolling outside to help Brian out. He kinda wondered what happened to that, but since Kevin hadn’t spoken up about Brian getting hurt, it might be fine. Might be. He sincerely hoped it was though, given that Brian was their sniper and therefore the only one capable at this moment to help Dan out should he get into trouble- given that he stayed by windows and the north side of the building.
As for Dan himself? Well, if you could ignore the bullet wound on his side, he was doing great! Absolutely fantastic! Never been better! He exhaled grimly, breath coming out in shaky bursts as he picked up his limping pace. It had only managed to graze him, but, to be honest, he’d have preferred it to have hit his chest. You know, where his fucking bulletproof vest was. The same one that he had complained about not hours before that it was too short, but since his other one had somehow gotten lost, this was the only one they had. Yeah, that fucking one. It had left about a three inch gap of his torso exposed, and the bastard that shot him had tagged him just above his hip. Fucker was either a very good or very lucky shot. Who knows, he didn’t ask before he shot back. Not that it mattered, the point was- he got shot.
He wasn’t doing himself any favors either, moving as fast as he was. Even with his makeshift bandage, his movements were making it worse, but he didn’t exactly have much of a choice. Time was running out. In about- he glanced at his watch- seventeen minutes the alarms would reset. Which would most likely make them go off in the process. Before that, he had to get to the top floor to wipe the computers. It would wipe the coding for the alarm too, so it wouldn’t sound and he could head back downstairs- provided that everything else went smoothly. If he were being honest, he wasn’t holding out much hope given his current predicament. Too bad the damn place didn’t have an elevator. Then again it wasn’t like he’d be able to use it even if they did. Too risky. So it was a good thing he’d only been four floors away when he’d gotten shot. There wasn’t much left to go now. And you know what? Being shot wasn’t even that bad! Sure, it fucking sucked, but hey, what was a little bit of blood loss?
Seán’s comm crackled to life- Daithi was waking up, but it wouldn’t be possible to send him back into action. Ah. Well, he’d expected as much, but it still made him hyper aware that he was the only active operative in the building. And not exactly in ‘perfect condition’ either. Whatever. It was either they did the job or they didn’t. No margin for error, no redos, no resets. Then again, there was apparently plenty of leeway considering the current state of the operation, but unfortunately, he’s pretty sure they’re at the end of their rope. As it stands, he’s the only one close enough to the computers to wipe them before the alarm sounds. He’d say it should be easy, but that would be to jinx it, if this whole thing wasn’t jinxed anyways. Maybe if he said it really sarcastically. Well, it was probably best not to risk it. Just in case. But, given his literal blood trail, he was guessing that things wouldn’t need bad luck to go sideways. It’d already done that. Hang on- does bad luck stack? Well, probably.
Maybe it was like- there were footsteps. He bit back a curse, eyes narrowing instinctively as he refocused his attention on the present. He let a calm run through his veins as he forgot any complaints he had or pain he was in. His foot glided silently through the air as he stepped behind- fuck. The literal worst place he could’ve- a shoddy looking plant that ended just above his eyebrows. Calm nearly leaving him, he tried his damndest not to seethe. Great! Goodgoodgood! This was exactly what he wanted! A fucking ‘hiding’ place that wouldn’t even work as a comedy joke in a T.V. show! Ahaha! He was so fucked. He could just barely see the silhouettes of two people between the leaves and stilled, slightly bending his knees so that he was at least kinda more hidden. His hand slowly came up to his hip, fingers curling around the grip of his gun. He breathed out, eyes tracking them carefully. Seán’s comm crackled back to life again in his ear, just about putting a stop to Dan’s heart as he delivered information to Kevin, who may or may not be listening.
He was half tempted to rip the damned earpiece out, but forced himself to remain still, only relaxing slightly as Kevin responded in the affirmative. Thank christ he was still listening. It was bad enough as is. Speaking of bad, the two fuckers had stopped, and while he couldn’t actually distinguish what they were saying, he wouldn’t be all that surprised if they were talking about the weather. If he were slightly more paranoid, he’d think that they were talking about the, y’know, blood trail, but there wasn’t any alarm in their voices. So unless it was a common thing to see, he was probably safe. Or at least just for now. They started walking again, coming closer to his position. He slid the gun slightly out of his holster, readying himself just as they… opened a door before disappearing through it. ...You’re joking, right?! Like, there’s no fucking way- the door closed shut behind them. Really? You’ve gotta be kidding.
Forcing himself to not think about how he would be so much better at running an evil organization, he left his sparse cover, heading for the next flight of stairs. But seriously though, who oversaw the training for the henchmen?! For that matter, who didn’t have an elevator?! Who had all of the most important information on a single computer?! And, yes, it was, they’d checked. And then checked again because they didn’t believe that they were that stupid. He would neve- right, moving on. He physically shook his head, pulling himself into the present. Moving on, moving on. Now was not the time to have an internal discussion talking about the competency of an organization. No matter how much it pissed him off. Whatever. He benefited from it, so he really shouldn’t be complaining.
Getting to the stairs, he sighed, preparing himself to make the climb. Of course- of course- he immediately made the mistake of misjudging how high the step would be, making him stomp down. Now this wouldn’t be a particularly notable thing... if he’d led with his uninjured side. New blood trickled out from between his fingers, and a sharp burning pain stretched mercilessly along his side. He came to a graceless halt, leaning heavily against the wall as he desperately sucked in air through his teeth. Nose wrinkling up in a half-snarl, he pressed his hand harder into his side, ignoring how painful a decision that turned out to be. It didn’t matter how much it hurt. It was necessary. He was bleeding far too quickly, his makeshift bandage soaked through. It needed the pressure.
Fourteen minutes. He moved on.
~~~~~~~
You know what’s funny about bleeding out? Everything! Ahahaha! Haha… hah... god he was tired. He couldn’t even bring himself to feel happy that he successfully wiped the data. He just knew that now he had to walk down several flights of stairs, and, quite frankly, he doesn’t think he’ll make it. A wave of exhaustion washed over him and he closed his eyes- just for a moment before he set his jaw. Turning, he took a step. Before his foot even hit the floor, Seán’s frantic voice came to life in his ear, explaining that he saw guards heading up the stairs. Oh fantastic. They must’ve found the body of the guy who shot him. Or hell, maybe they just got suspicious about the vast amount of blood on the floor. Either way, change of plans! Spinning, he headed in the other direction. Where was he going? He had no fucking clue! But given that he had no other choice, random door number three was looking promising!
You know what- he didn’t even try to catch the broom that fell forward- he really should’ve expected this. Random door number two it was! The one on top of, guess what? More fucking stairs! Drumroll please~ a gust of wind grabbed at him the second the door swung open, revealing itself to be a roof access. Huh. You know what, this was both good and bad. The bad news was that he’s pretty sure he just heard them break down the door in the previous room. He had no escape. The good news was this was quite the beautiful place to die! That was... something! At least. He made room between himself and the door, pulling his gun out of its holster. Might as well go out fighting, hey?
~~~~~~~
Well, he could now confidently say that he hadn’t, in fact gone down easy. He’d unloaded his magazine and briefed the rest of them with what was happening. Everyone else was outside the building now. He completed his mission. There were nearly a dozen bodies on the ground. And yet, even though he thought he’d come to terms with the inevitability of it, he didn’t really want to die. He placed his now empty gun back into its holster in a move that reeked of finality. His head felt like it was overstuffed with cotton. Hahaha! He could die here! Wasn’t that exciting! He felt like he was going to throw up- he didn’t want to die! Oh, but it was such fun! It felt like he was walking a tightrope, not quite dead yet not quite living either. The thought of anything pushing him one way or the other was… fascinating. And terrible. He didn’t want to die, but oh, what an adventure it would be! But do you wanna know what? He was walking a tightrope, sure, but he didn’t mind being the one to figure out which way he fell.
He laughed, out loud this time, though it turned out to be a little too breathless for his liking. A warm wetness slid down his side at the movement, soaking into his pants and dripping off of him. He didn’t feel any pain which was more than enough to send warning bells off in his head. He laughed again, quieter this time but not quite as breathless. Through a blurring vision, he saw more people creep around the door. They must’ve realized he was out of bullets. He… he wasn’t going to die by their hands. Instead, he was going to have a little bit of fun.
“I’m about to do the dumbest move in my career.”
“Dan, what are you-”
“So- so I’m going to need you to do me a favor. Just one.”
“What? Dan?!”
Y’know, it’s kinda funny how trust works. How pushing the boundary goes. Because one moment you’re scared of death, one minute, you don’t trust someone with safety scissors and the next- he turned, transforming his momentum into a sprint, ignoring the pain that flashed back up, biting into his flesh.
“DAN-”
The next you forget your fear, and trust that someone implicitly with your life. A grin broke out over his face not of his own volition as he lept forwards at the rail, launching himself off of it.
“Catch me.”