Laney hugged her tighter and promised her Draco wouldn't win, and, even though it was a steep promise to make, Lily let a sigh of relief escape her lips. Tiger was strong, she had to be to survive her shit show of a life, but this time, she just couldn't do it alone. Draco had chipped away at her strength until there was virtually nothing left, and she was going to need Laney, Jordan, and Cody, if she was going to get out alive this time.
The next several days weren't too hard. She and Laney worked the guys. Whenever Draco mentioned killing or hurting Jordan, Lily made sure to react subtly, but noticeably, knowing the more Draco knew she didn't want something to happen, the more determined he would be to make it happen. If Draco knew just how much it would crush her to see Jordan die, then he was going to make it happen just because it would amuse him to watch her fall apart.
Laney spoke with Cody several times over the next few days, and Tiger couldn't help but be a little jealous, wishing she'd had the chance to talk to Jordan too, but knowing that she had to be patient. Besides, Laney was much better at talking in "code" then she was. If it was her and Jordan talking, their emotions would get the better of them at some point, and they would fuck up, she was sure of it. Separated, they were pretty numb, cold people, but together, they tended to bring out the intensity in each other's emotions.
Every single day she thought of Jordan, she couldn't get him out of her head. She was both dreading, and awaiting the day she got to see him again. She wanted nothing more in the world then his arms around her, making her feel safe again, and she couldn't wait to be away from Clay, Alex, and Draco, and maybe get some justice as well. At the same time, however, she was nervous as all hell. She knew she was fifty times more fucked up now then she'd ever been and she wasn't sure her relationship with Jordan would ever be the same because she wasn't the same. Life would probably never be as simple and happy as it had been in Cuba again, and it scared her shitless.
Would he even want her once he learned how badly Draco had fucked her up the past six months? Part of her felt like going back to him wouldn't be fair to him. She would only be a burden on him, and she didn't want to do that to him. Not to mention, she looked like pure shit. Of course, she knew Jordan wouldn't go through all this to get her back, only to tell her he didn't want her anymore because she looked like crap, but she was still nervous at the thought of him seeing her that way. She'd always tried to hide and cover up Draco's abuse because she'd been ashamed of it, but there was no hiding what she'd gone through over the past six months. He would see it the second he saw her from the branding on her chest, to the bruises all over her skin, to the frailty of her body, and it was humiliating, to say the least.
Her nerves were completely fried when they were finally back in the States, and standing outside of the factory. She was told to go first, and she felt like she was frozen in place for a long time, before she finally took a step forward. Her eyes went to Draco's for a minute, before she took a deep breath and made her way into the darkness of the open doorway. She hoped like hell everything went as planned.
Tigerlily spotted Jordan the second she entered the room, and she bit her lip hard. She had to fight the urge to sprint to him, and force herself to walk over to him as calmly as she could, her hands shaking more and more as she approached him. A second later, she was in his arms, and it took everything Lily had not to burst into tears and cling to him like a child. She couldn't help herself. Like always, Jordan's arms made her feel safe. He'd always been her rescuer. He'd taken her into his home when they were teens to help her get away from Draco, and he'd taken her in when she'd showed up battered and crying from Clay. Only Jordan could make her feel totally safe.
He kissed her and her heart leapt in her chest, like it was just starting to beat again after six months of nothing. For the first time in way too long, she finally felt alive again, and she didn't want to die. She never wanted the kiss to end, because she knew that meant going back to the uncertainty of the moment. Sure, she was in his arms, but they weren't exactly out of the woods yet.
Which, of course meant the kiss had to be brief. Jordan pushed her behind him after pulling away and Lily bit her lip, hating that he was between her and the threat. Not to mention, she couldn't do anything but watch helplessly as Laney came into the room then, and, before she'd even registered what had happened, a shot was fired, and Laney was on her knees.
Lily choked back a scream and her entire body started to shake. She wanted to take Jordan's gun and shoot Alex herself, while at the same time, curl up in a corner somewhere and hide until everything was over. Romeo came into the room then and pressed his gun against Alex's head, forcing him to drop his weapon. Lily knew that didn't exactly mean Delaney wasn't going to die from the shot in her side, but at the very least, she was safe again for the moment.
She should have figured Draco wouldn't go down easily, and a second later, her brother ran into the room screaming and covered in blood, his gun firing in Jordan's direction wildly. Romeo's guys didn't let him get far, shooting him down and dragging him off within a minute or less, but they hadn't been fast enough to stop Draco from hitting Jordan with two of his three shots. As soon as Draco and Alex were dragged off, Jordan dropped to his knees in pain.
Lily fell instantly beside him, reaching out to press a hand firmly against the shot on his neck, knowing it would hurt, but also knowing, if the bleeding didn't slow down, he'd probably die. Tears were falling from her cheeks and she wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what to say. Instead, her eyes went to Romeo, clear desperation in them, and he didn't hesitate. Before she could even blink, Jordan and Delaney were in a car being rushed to Cody's childhood home, her and Cody taking a second car, behind them.
It was beyond nerve wrecking, pacing back and forth in Cody's living room. She didn't know anything, and she was sober for longer then she'd been sober in months. She felt like she was going to crawl out of her skin, waiting. Not to mention, things were only made riskier by the fact that they couldn't exactly show up at the hospital with bullet holes in them. The media would frenzy over that bullshit. A friend of Romeo's who'd seen one too many gang shootouts in his lifetime was basically performing operations on two people in Cody's kitchen.
Thankfully, Cody was waiting with her, and he seemed to have a pretty decent drug problem too. The two of them did line after line together while they waited, taking turns pacing before Romeo finally came downstairs from the bedrooms. His shirt was covered in blood and she tried not to let it scare her. "They both lost a good amount of blood. Laney's in slightly better shape than Jordan, but they're both going to live. They just need to rest for a while." He informed them, flopping down on the couch next to Cody with an exhausted sigh.
Lily didn't waste another second, she practically took the stairs two at a time until she was outside of Cody's mother's old room, where she knew Jordan was. His blood was still on her hands and shirt, she'd been too worried to clean it. She took a deep breath before she knocked gently, and then entered the room. They'd brought him upstairs to rest after they were done working on him and he was laying in bed, propped up slightly against the headboard. He looked pretty weak and a little pale, but he was awake and alive. She made her way over to him and crawled into the bed with him. She was careful, not wanting to hurt him as she sat took his arm and wrapped it around her, curling into his side and letting out a deep, shaky breath. She couldn't express how good the moment felt. She hadn't thought she'd ever see him again. "I missed you every day." She whispered honestly as she closed her eyes tight and tears started to fall silently down her cheeks.
For the next few days, Cody had laser focus. His mission was to get Laney and Ty back, and it was all he saw. Him and Jordan worked tirelessly together to come up with at least ten or fifteen solid plans, so they were well prepared in the event something went south. They had expert coaching from some serious criminals that Romeo was in contact with, and they brought in as many bodies as they possibly could. They didn't just want to tip the odds in their favor, they wanted to break the scale. There was no way Draco was winning this.
He got to talk to Laney a few more times, and, as torturous as it was, it was also a little exciting. He liked hearing the small bit of strength in her voice, and loved the way she helped him right under Draco, Alex, and Clay's noses. She was smart as a fucking whip and she hadn't lost a bit of it, that much was clear. Cody took notes during their conversations, writing down the true meaning of her words, and anything he caught in her tone or words that seemed odd or veiled.
He couldn't wait to see her. It was fucking killing him. Every single day seemed to drag on and on and on, because he knew soon, he'd get to see Laney's face again, hold her again. He knew she and Jordan were doing this for Tiger, but he was doing this for her. She was his sole concern, even if she wasn't really concerned with her own well being.
When the day finally came, he wasn't nervous in the slightest. He'd pulled off a thousand jobs. Sure, they were different in tactics, but not in motive. Fuck over your target and take something from them before they even realized what hit them. If Cody knew anything, it was how to be a thief. He was going to take Delaney back from those assholes and that was the end of it. There was no other alternative for him because if he failed, he was going to die.
When Tiger entered the room and went to Jordan, Cody was glad, but at the same time starting to get a little impatient. If Laney didn't walk through the door in the next fifteen seconds, he was likely to run out and get himself killed, he was so eager to see her. Thankfully, he didn't have to do anything stupid because she came in then and he smiled the second he saw her. She didn't exactly look healthy, that was pretty obvious, but he didn't see that. It was just good to finally see her again.
She smirked and was making her way towards him when a shot was fired. At first, he'd thought it had been someone outside shooting, but he realized instantly he was wrong when Laney dropped to her knees. It felt like his heart fell right out of his chest and he looked up, seeing Alex behind her. Cody was already reaching for his gun as Alex went forward and grabbed Delaney.
Cody raised it, rage rising up inside him so fast, it was frightening. He couldn't shoot. If he did, he might shoot Laney, but he was so blinded by hatred and anger, that, for a scary moment, his finger twitched on the trigger.
For the first time in a long time, he was truly terrified. Romeo came into the room then and Cody let out a relieved sigh, slipping his gun away once more as Jordan's friend easily took care of the situation. Draco managed to make a wild charge at Jordan and fire several shots, before the whole thing was wrapped up quickly by Rome's guys. Alex, Draco, and Clay were all being dragged out to a van where they were about to get a beating of a lifetime before being driven off somewhere hidden and secure until Jordan and Cody could deal with them. Probably Draco's own basement, where he used to chain up and torture Lily and her sister, for a little poetic justice.
As soon as Draco and Alex were disarmed and out of the room, Cody went to Laney. She was handed to him by one of Romeo's guys. She was hardly standing, one hand pressed tightly to the wound in her side, the other wrapped around his neck to hold herself up, her body leaning so heavily against him, he had to shift slightly to support both of their weight. "I'm here and you're going to be okay baby, I promise. Keep as much pressure on that as you can." Cody breathed encouragingly, kissing her cheek before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her entirely to one of the cars, sliding her into the backseat.
He wanted to go with her, but Jordan was put in next to her and Cody's jaw clenched when he saw that his friend had been shot in both the neck and chest. It was going to take a lot to keep him alive, and hopefully Laney's wound had been mostly flesh and no serious damage was done. They all rushed back to his childhood home, seeing as he had no remaining family. They'd intended to go to Lily's after because it was the furthest out of town and a short fifteen minute walk through some woods to the factory, which was perfect for secrecy. However, by rode, his house was the closest and Jordan and Laney needed immediate care. They couldn't spare the extra minutes it would take getting to Lil's.
At his house, friends of Romeo's worked on Laney and Jordan in his kitchen while he paced around with Lily in the living room. It was hard to say the least. If he lost Laney, he wasn't sure what he would do. It would be worse then when he had lost his mother, and that had easily been the hardest thing he'd ever suffered in his life. He wasn't sure he'd survive very long in a world where Delaney just didn't exist.
After what felt like fucking forever, Romeo came back into the room covered in blood and Cody was second away from screaming at him to tell them what was going on when he did just that. Rome told them that they were both stable and going to live, but not in great shape. Cody was right behind Lily as the two of them left Romeo on the couch in the living room and dashed upstairs quickly.
He went into his old bedroom. Laney was in his bed and he smiled at her. It had been a long time since the two of them had been in that room together. He could remember a thousand nights as teenagers of her sneaking in through his window and them trying not to make too much noise and wake his mother. He went over to the bed and sat on it's side, turning himself so that he was facing her. "I thought I was going to lose you for a while there." He breathed, sounding completely exhausted as he ran his fingers through his hair and lit himself a cigarette, taking a deep inhale. He looked at her, holding her eyes.
"I'd have died right along with you." He told her in all seriousness, letting her know that she was his life. He leaned forward and placed a hand gently on the back of her neck, pulling her towards him slightly so he could taste her lips. The kiss was soft, not wanting to be too intense with her too fast. For all he knew, she'd really only been interested in saving Lily and didn't even want him anymore.