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“Angie?” came the timid question. Hesitation and sympathy dripped from Nick’s voice as Angie’s renewed anger boiled the air.
“Oh, no you don’t, Nick! I don’t want to hear that from you!” Angie hissed as she whirled around to face him. “I don’t need any pity from you, because, as you said, I can’t possibly understand what you are going through!”
“But… Angie. I didn’t--“
“I don’t give a FUCK what you didn’t know! You think I told you about my brother because I wanted you to feel sorry for me?”
“No, but--“
“Yeah, no buts. It was a slip, a very stupid thing that I shouldn’t have said. It’s my problem, not yours. You need not concern yourself with me or my brother!” she shot back before Nick could say anything. How dare he give her pity after treating her like she was useless!? She never wanted it, and she certainly hadn’t been asking for it when she confessed about her brother. God, she still couldn’t believe she’d blurted that out.
Nick gave her a strange expression at her last comment. “Your problem, not mine…” he mumbled. A sorrowful smirk formed on his face just then. “I guess you’re right, Angie. Your brother is your own affair, just as AJ, Brian, and Howie are Kevin's and mine. See ya.” He turned away, ready to just leave her there.
She stared at his retreating figure blankly for a moment, registering what he had said. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it that way before, but he was right. She couldn’t carry her own problems AND their problems on her shoulders. She either had to run with her own or share the load with these strangers. Analyzing her situation, Angie realized how unappealing the aspect of going on her own was. Instinctively, she reached out to catch Nick's arm before he was gone.
Turning back toward Angie with a forced puzzled expression on his face, Nick wondered if his last words had made her think about how hypocritical she was being. He understand how she felt about her brother and how it was her duty to take care of him: that was exactly how he felt about the guys, but she had no reason to assume that it was her job to protect everyone. And she called HIM foolish!? Seeing the frustration and surrender written all over Angie's face, Nick gave into the grin tugging at the side of his mouth.
Glancing back up at Nick, she hated herself for wanting to stay with them, because Nick’s grin proved that he knew she wanted it, too. The asshole! Angie opened her mouth to call him just that, only to find herself grinning like an idiot along with Nick. What’s wrong with me? she wondered silently, gazing up into his blue eyes. Humor gleamed from those eyes as Nick’s grin formed into a knowing smirk. He knew she wasn’t thinking about their predicament right now, and she could only guess that his thoughts were straying in the same direction when she saw his eyes lower to her mouth.
Suddenly uncomfortable and upset about her lack of concentration on the important issues of the moment, Angie turned her head down, blocking his view of her face. A wildfire spread across her cheeks as she mumbled, “Damn you.”
Nick chuckled over her discomfort, enjoying the way she wouldn’t let him see her embarrassment, which was all the more revealing. He was about to tilt her chin toward him when a third party joined them.
“Everything ok out here? The yelling stopped… I wondered,” Kevin admitted, snickering at himself.
“Man, Kevin, your timing sucks!” Nick complained, only half-joking.
“Wha…?” Kevin wondered before he noticed the flush engulfing Angie’s face. Then his snickering stopped altogether, only to be replaced by a stunned and slightly amused expression.
Angie thanked her Maker for the interruption. She didn't want to think about what would have happened had Kevin not come when he had, and she couldn't understand why she'd been reacting the way she was to Nick, considering how part of her still wanted to bash his face in. Hell, she thought, I already did that once! The two men stared curiously at Angie when they heard her chuckling softly to herself, so she decided it was time to turn the topic. “Can we be serious again?” Angie wondered. The seriousness of the situation returned in a heartbeat, and she didn’t have to ask twice before Nick and Kevin regained their grave expressions.
“Yeah. Our problems have just doubled. Not only do we have AJ and Howie in there, but also Brian and your brother,” Kevin reminded them. “Not that it makes this ‘mission’ any more impossible than it already was.”
“True, and I don’t know about you two, but I’m really not feeling up to trying for the lobby again. I can’t see how we’d make it trying a second time, which means we have to do this on our own. No police,” Nick pointed out. Angie groaned in reply, not even really considering until that moment how true that statement was.
“You’re right. There won’t be any police.” They all froze upon hearing the foreign voice.
Looking down the hallway in the direction that the sound had come from, Angie saw a lone man clad all in black clothing. Grabbing a hold of both Nick and Kevin’s forearms, she pulled them toward the other end of the hallway, knowing that they weren’t far from one of the stairwells. All she had to do was get the three of them there before the other man got to them. Dashing for the stairs, she spared one last glance behind her, only to see the one thing she had been hoping wouldn’t be there.
“You better stop your asses now before I shoot all of you!” the gunman threatened, charging toward them from the other end of the hall with his weapon. He wasn’t running, but that didn’t help the fact that the distance between them and him was shrinking... rapidly.
Turning a short corner and slamming into the door that led to the stairwell, Angie’s hands frantically grabbed for the latch. Pulling on the handle, she realized the door wasn’t opening. She stepped back to get a better hold of the latch and a stronger stance, instantly yanking at the door with all her might. It didn’t budge. With one last, hard tug, Angie fell backwards to the floor. “Nick, God, help me up!”
Nick came around the corner, startled. He and Kevin had been watching the gunman the whole time, oblivious to what Angie had been up to. Grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet, Nick leaned in closer to her ear. “What are you doing?”
“The door won’t open, you idiot! What are we gonna do?!” she replied, exasperation and desperation in every word.
Peering around them, taking in the fact that the gunman was only halfway down the hall now, Nick spied their last option. “The elevator! It’s risky, but we have to do something!” Tapping Kevin’s shoulder and dragging Angie along with him, Nick headed toward the elevator door that was ten feet away. In the direction of the gunman.
“Nick, what the HELL are you doing?!” Kevin exclaimed, totally lost on the plan. He ran behind Nick, trying in vain to stop the younger man.
“We’re going on the elevator, dumbass!" Nick spoke in a harsh whisper to put force into his quiet words. They were only a few feet away from the elevator button when Nick found himself firmly planted in the spot he was standing. Someone was holding back his arm with more force than he could shrug free from. Pivoting on his foot to face the adversary, Nick was shocked to see instead Angie. "What are you doing?"
"We can't go on the elevator," Angie spoke in earnest.
"What do you mean.. if we hurry--"
"Let me rephrase that. I can't go on the elevator!" Angie replied, this time terror and desperation in her voice.
"Angie, if we don't do it, there is NO other way out of this. We gotta--"
"We're going. Now," Kevin commanded, having taken the lead the moment he realized the plan. He walked cautiously down the hallway, trying to look at least a little casual in his stride. Once he was near the elevator's button, he pressed it as subtly as possible. His eyes never left the gunman, and for that matter, the other man's eyes never left his either. Perfect; if he was watching Kevin's eyes, he wouldn't be watching his hand. Titling his head slightly backwards, Kevin motioned for Nick and Angie to get moving. The doors were about to open at any moment.
Angie was still certain she wasn't getting on that elevator. Deep down, she knew how ridiculous her stubborn refusal was since she had already gone on an elevator once that day. That didn't seem to matter at the moment, though. All she could think about was that elevator a few feet in front of her, and the stairway in the opposite direction.
"Angie.. it's time.." Nick whispered in her ear, dragging her along as he heard a faint ding from behind the doors.
She'd never been so panicked in her life as when she saw those doors opening. Memories rushed through her mind. Oh God... I'm not doing this again! Not ever again! "Nick.. we'll try the stairwell again! NICK!" Angie shrieked, bound and determined on making him listen to her. Just then, they all noticed the gunman had started to run toward them. It was now or never. Elevator or stairwell. Part of her still wanted to believe that there was a glimmer of hope left in making it onto the stairs. She never even got the chance to make that decision.
Grabbing her arm, Nick all but threw Angie in the elevator with him as Kevin joined them, coming in right behind her. As Angie and Nick slammed into the back wall, Kevin whirled toward the button panel, the fastest Angie had ever seen him move, pressing the "door close" button repeatedly. It strangely reminded her of the way she'd been in the elevator earlier that day. He was never convinced he'd hit it enough until the gap between the doors had vanished. The second that the opening was gone, they heard a bang against the other side of the doors, then a string of curses.
Kevin turned to face them, his features tight with tension. "Where are we going now?"
Unlikely Allies