The fake Skyes fell, one by one, the man becoming more and more irate as he wasted bullets, and Skye becoming more and more anxious as he narrowed them down and the gun came close and closer to her each time. And then it pointed at her. It took every ounce of restraint she had, every muscle in her body not to react. The adrenaline coursing through her veins made it harder to remain motionless, and made her hyper aware of the strain of maintaining the illusions. She stared down the barrel, not reacting, not giving anything away. And then Sterling appeared, tackling from behind. A gunshot made her jump and instinctively drop the illusions, freeing up precious energy for a more direct fight. The snap of bones breaking made her feel sick to her stomach, especially as they both went down.There was a moment, a horrible second, where she realised she didn’t know who was responsible for that snap and who the victim was. Based on their positioning, she guessed that the thug had been the victim, but there was still an awful, horrible moment where she wasn’t sure.
And then she saw Sterling move, just slightly, practically a breath. She exhaled heavily and went over to him, sinking down on the ground. “Jesus Christ, you cut it a little close there,” she said. “Think we’re in the clear? Or do you think they have another nasty surprise waiting somewhere?” She asked, staring around the room.
_________
Ollie could see the slightest of shifts in Theodore’s posture, relaxing just ever so slightly. It was enough to make Ollie feel a little more relaxed. Theo mightn’t have been a healer but he wrapped Ollie’s shoulder just right, nice and tight to make sure the bleeding would be minimized. When Theo’s hand lingered on the bandage, Ollie looked over to Theo, making sure he was okay. The thanks made Ollie smile a little. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got each other’s backs, right?”
The moment of silence helped to steady Ollie a little, just making him feel a little bit calmer. But then, it seemed almost exactly at the same time, they realised that they still had to go find the hostages. Theo went and got Ollie’s knife, handing it back to him. The comment made Ollie grin a little.
“Come on then,” he said, leading the way out of the break room and back down the stairs. Theodore’s presence made Ollie feel a little more steady, knowing he had backup and knowing he had someone covering his back. His shoulder was throbbing but he didn’t feel quite so vulnerable now.
It seemed that luck was finally on their side, because the first door that Ollie opened revealed six hostages. “Don’t worry, we’re the good guys,” Ollie said, holding up his hands. “We’re going to get you out,” he added, scanning them. Uninjured, clearly frightened, but their hands were cable-tied together. He went to the nearest and cut the cable tie with his knife.