Post by Cullen Montoya on Jun 24, 2014 22:50:32 GMT -6
The hospital room was silent save for the numerous beepings coming from the monitors surrounding the woman on the bed. Cullen listened to the rhythmic whooshing coming from the tubes that were currently breathing for her. He stood like a silent sentinel at the side of the bed, his expression completely unreadable. He barely noticed the arrival of Damien, the boy having been notified immediately upon his sister's admittance. The kid looked as though he had just jumped out of bed and ran to the hospital in his shorts and t-shirt.
He approached Cullen almost cautiously, as though afraid of interrupting the man's vigil over his sister. A slight turn of Cullen's head was enough to tell Damien that he was listening. The man had never really spoken much the entire time Damien had known him.
“Doctors say, if she lives, it'll be because of what you did.”
Cullen just shrugged his shoulders, “I was late.”
Damien shuffled his feet, looking toward the ground. He couldn't stand to see his sister laid out like that. It was too much like seeing her in a casket. “They're saying it was some kind of military shit. Normal folk don't know how to do it.”
Again, Cullen just shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare down at Thia. She looked so peaceful, just lying there. The panic was gone from her face. It was a look Cullen was never going to be able to forget. Leaning down, he brushed Thia's hair back from her face, before pressing his lips to her forehead. He whispered something into her ear before straightening up, his shoulders set and his eyes taking on a hardened, far away stare.
Damien may not have known much about the man, but he had seen that look before. He had seen it in his sister's eyes. All hell was about to break loose. “You're going after them, aren't you?”
“Yep.”
“I'm in.”
“Okay.”
Damien hesitated. He hadn't expected that response. “I'm... gonna need a piece.”
“Got you covered.”
Damien nodded his head, shuffling his feet again. Thia had been the one with the training. Damien was good behind a wheel, and he could handle himself pretty well in a fight, but this was way beyond his experience. He knew he was getting in over his head, but they had shot his sister. He couldn't let that slide. Nobody should ever let that slide.
Cullen was quiet again for a moment, just watching Thia breathing through tubes and machines. Without looking at Damien, Cullen removed a pair of dogtags from around his neck and carefully placed them into Thia's hand. He kissed her cheek this time and whispered to her again. “Keep these safe for me. Can't let anyone else see them.”
Stepping back from the bed, he finally looked to Damien. “I'll be back. I gotta take a piss.”
Damien nodded and moved to take Cullen's place at Thia's bedside, while Cullen made his way into the room's bathroom. What Damien didn't realize at the time was that the bathroom connected to the room next door. Cullen casually opened the adjoining door and slipped out behind the armed guards outside Thia's room. He knew there were detectives waiting for him down the hallway to take his statement, but he didn't have time to talk.
As he moved through the hallway, he slowly pulled back his hair into a tight tail. Passing by the nurses breakroom, he plucked a plain white labcoat from a chair and slipped it on. Tucking his hands into the pockets and keeping his head down, he walked right past the lead detective, whom was trying to console a heartbroken and panic stricken Rifka. Cullen wanted to do his part, but there was no time. He knew the best thing he could do for the family was to make things right. He couldn't save Lev, but they weren't going to get Dara.
“My baby... Please find my baby.” Rifka's voice echoed in his ears as he walked by, and he set his jaw with a quiet growl.
“I'm gonna.”
As he pulled out of the hospital's parking garage, everything kept playing through his head. Dara had been so excited earlier that day, she had been bugging all of them for weeks to take her down to the fair on the pier. Lev had finally made time in his schedule to take her, and she had been inviting everybody to come with. Cullen had promised to meet them there for ice cream after he finished his business for Lev, but the errand had taken too long. Five minutes. That's all he would have needed. Five minutes earlier and none of this would have happened. If he had just gotten there sooner...
Shifting gears smoothly, he sped through the streets of Los Angeles like the devil was chasing him. In a way, it was the opposite. Cullen was going to be the devil tonight, and Hell was about to receive some fresh souls. The Triads had gone too far this time, and now Cullen had every intention of tearing their whole operation down. That's what he was trained to do. That's what Lev hired him for.
Cullen arrived at the pier in record time and went straight to his boat. It was just a small speed boat. Something he had bought when he was hired, to take full advantage of the LA lifestyle. And it might also come in handy. As it would tonight.
The Triads operated out of a warehouse not far from the harbor. Cullen had staked it out several times to confirm they had made it a base of operations, and Lev had marked it for removal. Demolition had now been pushed up. The plan was simple. The warehouse was right on the waterfront, to make it easier for the Triads to load and unload their merchandise. From his surveillance, Cullen knew that the Triads were cocky in their security, believing no one would dare approach from the water, so that's exactly where Cullen was headed.
Anchoring his boat a few miles away, Cullen swam the remaining distance to the warehouse, approaching silently. There was only one guard watching the dock, just as Cullen expected there to be. Despite having a high profile guest in the warehouse, the Triads didn't bother to increase their border security. And why would they? They had taken out their biggest threat, or so they thought. They hadn't bet on Cullen.
He carefully emerged from the water, taking great care not to make a sound. The guard never saw him coming. Slipping up behind him, Cullen wrapped his arms around the man's neck, keeping him from alerting anyone else as he choked him out. His body was carefully lowered down to the dock. Cullen used a simple ziptie to secure the guard's ankle to one of the boards. This guy wasn't about to get back into the fight.
Using the time he bought, Cullen quickly slipped out of his wetsuit and opened his tool bag. Silent footsteps took him to the corner of the warehouse, allowing him to see both guards watching the front entrance. Both of these men had to be eliminated. Cullen decided that it was time to go loud. Removing one of his flash-bangs from his belt, he pulled the pin and rolled it across the ground toward the guards. He took a silent count in his head before he heard the unmistakable bang and saw the bright, blinding flash of light in his peripherals.
Rising from his crouch, he advanced smoothly toward the guards, snapping out an telescopic baton. Both guards were swiftly knee-capped before being left unconscious on the ground. They would not be following him, either.
Time was critical, now that the warehouse would have been alerted to his presence. Cullen moved inside the warehouse with quick, measured steps. There was no sense now in hiding his intentions. His training had taught him that once a soldier committed to a plan, it was all or nothing. The next two guards he encountered were coming down the stairs from the main office on the floor above. Cullen surged forward and delivered a crushing shot to the first guard's knee, throwing him down the rest of the stairs. Spinning, his elbow struck true to the second guard's throat before driving his head into the wall. Five down.
Proceeding up the stairs quickly, Cullen knew there were at least two more guards waiting for him at the office. Crouching on the last steps, he spied them standing in front of the door, guns drawn. There was a look of panic and uncertainty in their eyes. This was not part of their plan. There wasn't supposed to be anybody coming for the girl. They had killed her father and her body guard, hadn't they?
Cullen watched them swinging their aim wildly back and forth, waiting for his opening. Sensing the time was right, he rushed out from his cover, taking both guards completely by surprise. His forward momentum was used as he dropped to the ground, sliding feet-first beneath their line of sight as they opened fire. Popping up easily, the first guard's wrist was grabbed, forcing him to shoot his comrade in the foot. Cullen promptly knocked him unconscious in reward for his assistance.
Turning to the door, Cullen kicked it open with a savage growl, only to find Johnny Trang holding Dara tightly to his chest, a gun pressed to her temple. “Don't move, Cowboy! I'll kill her!”
Cullen's expression gave nothing away as he raised his hands above his head. “Okay, Johnny. Whatever you say.”
A smug smirk came over Johnny's face when he saw how quickly the man surrendered. He pointed his gun at Cullen and fired, shoving Dara away into a corner of the room. “Stupid fucking Americans! Who did this guy think he was?! Fucking John Wayne? Clint Eastwood?! Bullshit! All of them! Johnny Trang is in charge of LA now, motherfuckers!”
Both bullets struck Cullen straight in the center of his chest, dropping him to the ground with such force that he spun to land on his stomach. Johnny laughed as he swaggered over to the fallen white boy. This was gonna be fun. Looking back over his shoulder at the terrified girl, he laughed again and aimed his gun at the back of Cullen's head. “Say goodbye to your hero, bitch. Guess your daddy should have hired better help!”
That momentary distraction was what Cullen was waiting for. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he sprang to his feet, knocking the gun from Johnny's hand and sending it skidding across the floor. There was a look of surprise on Johnny's face as he staggered back. A glance downward revealed the truth. Beneath his thermal-knit shirt, Cullen was wearing a Kevlar vest.
With a cry of rage, Johnny charged at Cullen. The two men were a blur of fists and feet, but Johnny was clearly the faster of the two. Cullen was undoubtedly hampered from what had to be a bruised sternum. Johnny managed to land several blows, sending Cullen staggering up against the wall. Blood was running down his face as he fought to catch his breath. The only thought going through Cullen's mind was from something one of his old drill instructors used to always tell him. Fight now, feel it later.
Cullen shoved himself back toward Johnny, receiving several more blows, but he refused to stay down. After receiving a shot to his knee, Cullen dropped to the floor, only to feel Johnny on his back. Thin arms wrapped around Cullen's neck, making it even more difficult to breathe. He heard the clicking of a gun's hammer, and knew it meant Dara had picked up Johnny's gun. The last thing Cullen was going to allow was for Lev Montonov's baby girl to become a murderer.
Summoning all of his strength, Cullen managed to turn and put his body between Johnny and Dara, keeping her from pulling the trigger. He heard her cry of dismay but couldn't afford to take his focus from his opponent. Flashing her a reassuring wink, Cullen struggled to take one deep breath before sliding slightly to the side. The maneuver gave him just enough room to slam his elbow into Johnny's guts, making the thinner man loosen his grip. Twisting, he drives his knee up into Johnny's groin before slashing his elbow across the Triad's face, shattering his nose.
The force was enough to drop Johnny to the floor. Thinking the man was out for good, Cullen turned to move toward Dara with a comforting smile on his bloody face. It was by a stroke of luck that Dara had been able to see around him, and the widening of her eyes alerted Cullen just in time. Johnny had gotten up to his feet and pulled a knife. Lunging toward Cullen, Johnny had every intention of stabbing him in the back. Training and instinct instantly took over Cullen's reflexes. He spun around smoothly, barely avoiding the blade as it passed inches from his stomach. Cullen's hands flashed out in a blur of decisive movement, grabbing Johnny by the head and jaw to snap his neck with a sickening crack.
Dara let out a little yelp of shock as Johnny dropped to the floor like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut all at once. Cullen stared down at the man for a moment before his attention turned back to Dara. Extending his hand to her, he did his best to hide his own pain from her. “Come on. Let's go home.”
Rushing to his side, Dara ducked under his arm, hugging herself to his body as much for his protection as to support his weight. The two of them slowly began to make their way out of the office. Cullen's hand was strategically placed over Dara's eyes, to keep her from seeing the bodies strewn about the warehouse floor.
Just as they were approaching the stairs, the familiar sounds of sirens could be heard outside. The front door of the warehouse flew open as several police officers in tactical gear came storming inside. All guns were pointed directly at Cullen. “Step away from the girl, asshole! Put your hands over your head! Do it now!”
Cullen just smiled down to Dara, nodding his head as he stepped away from her. His hands raised over his head, his eyes never leaving her face. “It's okay. It's okay.”
Dara stared at the officers, looking both shocked and horrified. “No! You've got it wrong! He's the good guy!”
“Grab the girl!” One of the officers barked. Another stepped forward and grabbed Dara by the waist, carrying her out as she suddenly began to kick and fail, as though trying to go back to Cullen's side. “You don't understand! You've got it wrong!”
“It's okay, Dara. It's fine.” Cullen tried his best to reassure her as several more officers swarmed up the stairs and tackled him to the ground.
Cullen did nothing to resist, allowing himself to be manhandled by the over-eager officers. Watching Dara being carried away, he raised his voice over the shouting. “It's okay, Dara! Tell your mom I'm sorry, I fucked up. Tell her I'm sorry.”
Once Dara was out of sight, Cullen dropped his head against the floor, closing his eyes for a moment.
He had done his job. The girl was safe. Lev's dying wish had been fulfilled.
He approached Cullen almost cautiously, as though afraid of interrupting the man's vigil over his sister. A slight turn of Cullen's head was enough to tell Damien that he was listening. The man had never really spoken much the entire time Damien had known him.
“Doctors say, if she lives, it'll be because of what you did.”
Cullen just shrugged his shoulders, “I was late.”
Damien shuffled his feet, looking toward the ground. He couldn't stand to see his sister laid out like that. It was too much like seeing her in a casket. “They're saying it was some kind of military shit. Normal folk don't know how to do it.”
Again, Cullen just shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare down at Thia. She looked so peaceful, just lying there. The panic was gone from her face. It was a look Cullen was never going to be able to forget. Leaning down, he brushed Thia's hair back from her face, before pressing his lips to her forehead. He whispered something into her ear before straightening up, his shoulders set and his eyes taking on a hardened, far away stare.
Damien may not have known much about the man, but he had seen that look before. He had seen it in his sister's eyes. All hell was about to break loose. “You're going after them, aren't you?”
“Yep.”
“I'm in.”
“Okay.”
Damien hesitated. He hadn't expected that response. “I'm... gonna need a piece.”
“Got you covered.”
Damien nodded his head, shuffling his feet again. Thia had been the one with the training. Damien was good behind a wheel, and he could handle himself pretty well in a fight, but this was way beyond his experience. He knew he was getting in over his head, but they had shot his sister. He couldn't let that slide. Nobody should ever let that slide.
Cullen was quiet again for a moment, just watching Thia breathing through tubes and machines. Without looking at Damien, Cullen removed a pair of dogtags from around his neck and carefully placed them into Thia's hand. He kissed her cheek this time and whispered to her again. “Keep these safe for me. Can't let anyone else see them.”
Stepping back from the bed, he finally looked to Damien. “I'll be back. I gotta take a piss.”
Damien nodded and moved to take Cullen's place at Thia's bedside, while Cullen made his way into the room's bathroom. What Damien didn't realize at the time was that the bathroom connected to the room next door. Cullen casually opened the adjoining door and slipped out behind the armed guards outside Thia's room. He knew there were detectives waiting for him down the hallway to take his statement, but he didn't have time to talk.
As he moved through the hallway, he slowly pulled back his hair into a tight tail. Passing by the nurses breakroom, he plucked a plain white labcoat from a chair and slipped it on. Tucking his hands into the pockets and keeping his head down, he walked right past the lead detective, whom was trying to console a heartbroken and panic stricken Rifka. Cullen wanted to do his part, but there was no time. He knew the best thing he could do for the family was to make things right. He couldn't save Lev, but they weren't going to get Dara.
“My baby... Please find my baby.” Rifka's voice echoed in his ears as he walked by, and he set his jaw with a quiet growl.
“I'm gonna.”
* * *
As he pulled out of the hospital's parking garage, everything kept playing through his head. Dara had been so excited earlier that day, she had been bugging all of them for weeks to take her down to the fair on the pier. Lev had finally made time in his schedule to take her, and she had been inviting everybody to come with. Cullen had promised to meet them there for ice cream after he finished his business for Lev, but the errand had taken too long. Five minutes. That's all he would have needed. Five minutes earlier and none of this would have happened. If he had just gotten there sooner...
Shifting gears smoothly, he sped through the streets of Los Angeles like the devil was chasing him. In a way, it was the opposite. Cullen was going to be the devil tonight, and Hell was about to receive some fresh souls. The Triads had gone too far this time, and now Cullen had every intention of tearing their whole operation down. That's what he was trained to do. That's what Lev hired him for.
Cullen arrived at the pier in record time and went straight to his boat. It was just a small speed boat. Something he had bought when he was hired, to take full advantage of the LA lifestyle. And it might also come in handy. As it would tonight.
The Triads operated out of a warehouse not far from the harbor. Cullen had staked it out several times to confirm they had made it a base of operations, and Lev had marked it for removal. Demolition had now been pushed up. The plan was simple. The warehouse was right on the waterfront, to make it easier for the Triads to load and unload their merchandise. From his surveillance, Cullen knew that the Triads were cocky in their security, believing no one would dare approach from the water, so that's exactly where Cullen was headed.
Anchoring his boat a few miles away, Cullen swam the remaining distance to the warehouse, approaching silently. There was only one guard watching the dock, just as Cullen expected there to be. Despite having a high profile guest in the warehouse, the Triads didn't bother to increase their border security. And why would they? They had taken out their biggest threat, or so they thought. They hadn't bet on Cullen.
He carefully emerged from the water, taking great care not to make a sound. The guard never saw him coming. Slipping up behind him, Cullen wrapped his arms around the man's neck, keeping him from alerting anyone else as he choked him out. His body was carefully lowered down to the dock. Cullen used a simple ziptie to secure the guard's ankle to one of the boards. This guy wasn't about to get back into the fight.
Using the time he bought, Cullen quickly slipped out of his wetsuit and opened his tool bag. Silent footsteps took him to the corner of the warehouse, allowing him to see both guards watching the front entrance. Both of these men had to be eliminated. Cullen decided that it was time to go loud. Removing one of his flash-bangs from his belt, he pulled the pin and rolled it across the ground toward the guards. He took a silent count in his head before he heard the unmistakable bang and saw the bright, blinding flash of light in his peripherals.
Rising from his crouch, he advanced smoothly toward the guards, snapping out an telescopic baton. Both guards were swiftly knee-capped before being left unconscious on the ground. They would not be following him, either.
Time was critical, now that the warehouse would have been alerted to his presence. Cullen moved inside the warehouse with quick, measured steps. There was no sense now in hiding his intentions. His training had taught him that once a soldier committed to a plan, it was all or nothing. The next two guards he encountered were coming down the stairs from the main office on the floor above. Cullen surged forward and delivered a crushing shot to the first guard's knee, throwing him down the rest of the stairs. Spinning, his elbow struck true to the second guard's throat before driving his head into the wall. Five down.
Proceeding up the stairs quickly, Cullen knew there were at least two more guards waiting for him at the office. Crouching on the last steps, he spied them standing in front of the door, guns drawn. There was a look of panic and uncertainty in their eyes. This was not part of their plan. There wasn't supposed to be anybody coming for the girl. They had killed her father and her body guard, hadn't they?
Cullen watched them swinging their aim wildly back and forth, waiting for his opening. Sensing the time was right, he rushed out from his cover, taking both guards completely by surprise. His forward momentum was used as he dropped to the ground, sliding feet-first beneath their line of sight as they opened fire. Popping up easily, the first guard's wrist was grabbed, forcing him to shoot his comrade in the foot. Cullen promptly knocked him unconscious in reward for his assistance.
Turning to the door, Cullen kicked it open with a savage growl, only to find Johnny Trang holding Dara tightly to his chest, a gun pressed to her temple. “Don't move, Cowboy! I'll kill her!”
Cullen's expression gave nothing away as he raised his hands above his head. “Okay, Johnny. Whatever you say.”
A smug smirk came over Johnny's face when he saw how quickly the man surrendered. He pointed his gun at Cullen and fired, shoving Dara away into a corner of the room. “Stupid fucking Americans! Who did this guy think he was?! Fucking John Wayne? Clint Eastwood?! Bullshit! All of them! Johnny Trang is in charge of LA now, motherfuckers!”
Both bullets struck Cullen straight in the center of his chest, dropping him to the ground with such force that he spun to land on his stomach. Johnny laughed as he swaggered over to the fallen white boy. This was gonna be fun. Looking back over his shoulder at the terrified girl, he laughed again and aimed his gun at the back of Cullen's head. “Say goodbye to your hero, bitch. Guess your daddy should have hired better help!”
That momentary distraction was what Cullen was waiting for. Ignoring the pain in his chest, he sprang to his feet, knocking the gun from Johnny's hand and sending it skidding across the floor. There was a look of surprise on Johnny's face as he staggered back. A glance downward revealed the truth. Beneath his thermal-knit shirt, Cullen was wearing a Kevlar vest.
With a cry of rage, Johnny charged at Cullen. The two men were a blur of fists and feet, but Johnny was clearly the faster of the two. Cullen was undoubtedly hampered from what had to be a bruised sternum. Johnny managed to land several blows, sending Cullen staggering up against the wall. Blood was running down his face as he fought to catch his breath. The only thought going through Cullen's mind was from something one of his old drill instructors used to always tell him. Fight now, feel it later.
Cullen shoved himself back toward Johnny, receiving several more blows, but he refused to stay down. After receiving a shot to his knee, Cullen dropped to the floor, only to feel Johnny on his back. Thin arms wrapped around Cullen's neck, making it even more difficult to breathe. He heard the clicking of a gun's hammer, and knew it meant Dara had picked up Johnny's gun. The last thing Cullen was going to allow was for Lev Montonov's baby girl to become a murderer.
Summoning all of his strength, Cullen managed to turn and put his body between Johnny and Dara, keeping her from pulling the trigger. He heard her cry of dismay but couldn't afford to take his focus from his opponent. Flashing her a reassuring wink, Cullen struggled to take one deep breath before sliding slightly to the side. The maneuver gave him just enough room to slam his elbow into Johnny's guts, making the thinner man loosen his grip. Twisting, he drives his knee up into Johnny's groin before slashing his elbow across the Triad's face, shattering his nose.
The force was enough to drop Johnny to the floor. Thinking the man was out for good, Cullen turned to move toward Dara with a comforting smile on his bloody face. It was by a stroke of luck that Dara had been able to see around him, and the widening of her eyes alerted Cullen just in time. Johnny had gotten up to his feet and pulled a knife. Lunging toward Cullen, Johnny had every intention of stabbing him in the back. Training and instinct instantly took over Cullen's reflexes. He spun around smoothly, barely avoiding the blade as it passed inches from his stomach. Cullen's hands flashed out in a blur of decisive movement, grabbing Johnny by the head and jaw to snap his neck with a sickening crack.
Dara let out a little yelp of shock as Johnny dropped to the floor like a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut all at once. Cullen stared down at the man for a moment before his attention turned back to Dara. Extending his hand to her, he did his best to hide his own pain from her. “Come on. Let's go home.”
Rushing to his side, Dara ducked under his arm, hugging herself to his body as much for his protection as to support his weight. The two of them slowly began to make their way out of the office. Cullen's hand was strategically placed over Dara's eyes, to keep her from seeing the bodies strewn about the warehouse floor.
Just as they were approaching the stairs, the familiar sounds of sirens could be heard outside. The front door of the warehouse flew open as several police officers in tactical gear came storming inside. All guns were pointed directly at Cullen. “Step away from the girl, asshole! Put your hands over your head! Do it now!”
Cullen just smiled down to Dara, nodding his head as he stepped away from her. His hands raised over his head, his eyes never leaving her face. “It's okay. It's okay.”
Dara stared at the officers, looking both shocked and horrified. “No! You've got it wrong! He's the good guy!”
“Grab the girl!” One of the officers barked. Another stepped forward and grabbed Dara by the waist, carrying her out as she suddenly began to kick and fail, as though trying to go back to Cullen's side. “You don't understand! You've got it wrong!”
“It's okay, Dara. It's fine.” Cullen tried his best to reassure her as several more officers swarmed up the stairs and tackled him to the ground.
Cullen did nothing to resist, allowing himself to be manhandled by the over-eager officers. Watching Dara being carried away, he raised his voice over the shouting. “It's okay, Dara! Tell your mom I'm sorry, I fucked up. Tell her I'm sorry.”
Once Dara was out of sight, Cullen dropped his head against the floor, closing his eyes for a moment.
He had done his job. The girl was safe. Lev's dying wish had been fulfilled.
