"Just like old times, huh?" I mutter, my shoulder brushing my sisters.

She looks at me, her eyes unfocused before a smile lights up her face.

"I missed it." She murmurs, crouching low to the ground as we watch a man walk around the perimeter of the building, his eyes sweeping over the area, looking for any sign of danger.

My eyes slip to the roof of the opposite building, knowing Gary awaits there with one of his men.

I step further back around the wall, flexing my fingers on the gun I hold, watching the man silently before he disappears around the bend, continuing his stroll. I slip the gun back in the holster at my hip, making sure the safety is on.

"How long?" Holland murmurs.

I glance down at the timer on my phone, seeing the minutes turn to seconds.

"Fifty-seven seconds."

Holland nods, humming low under her breath.

The silence of the night brings with it nerves, my eyes continuously dragging towards the seconds counting down.

Forty-one.

I calm my breathing, silencing my thoughts, my eyes go to the corner of the building, the object nestled near the wall forming in my mind, before I look towards the door, knowing another sits there, waiting.

I quickly scan the area, making sure both Lukas and Ray are nowhere to be seen, nowhere near the blast.

Twenty-three.

The sky rattles, the stars illuminating as a roll of thunder rumbles along the ground. Shaking the foundation.

I drop to the ground and palm two of the smoke bombs, feeling their heaviness in my hands before I hand one to Holland.

I stand from my crouched position, grabbing my phone to check the timer again, fingers curling around the edges, tips whitening from how tight I hold it.

Twelve.

I lift my head, finding Holland looking at me with a raised brow, silently asking how long.

I show her the phone, the screen illuminating the sharp plains of her face, the darkness under her eyes prominent.

Nine seconds.

I slip the phone away, counting the rest of the seconds down in my head, waiting. The smoke bomb gripped between my fingers as I reach back for my gun, flicking the safety off.

"Three. Two. One." Andy's voice sounds in my ear, and I get ready to run.

The terrible flash blinds me for a moment before I duck behind the wall, closing my palms over my ears, blocking the sounds of the bombs detonating.

Holland stands beside me, blocking her hearing and squeezing her eyes shut as we both wait the precious seconds for sound to return.

"Now." Andy says.

I breathe out, peeking around the wall before we both step out into the cloud of smoke, disguising our bodies.

• • •

Bodies blast past us, their own minds too concerned with survival then to pay attention to two women amongst them.

Rubble crushes under our feet but we continue on, hands tightening on our respective guns, our smoke bombs already deployed as soon as we stepped foot in the door, having to take down two agents who saw us.

It's was a regrettable death but we had to do what we had to do, seconds too precious to waste on immobilising the two men.

My eyes latch onto the door leading to my father's office, the mahogany untouched by our destruction.

I step forward, pushing it open, holding my gun infront of me as I cautiously slide the door open.

The desk sits lonely, papers scattered haphazardly over the wood, a cup of coffee still warm to the touch.

"He left in a hurry." I say, looking down at the pens scattered on the ground, the cabinet behind me pulled open, files pulled out.

"He fled." Holland murmurs, "Of course he did."

I scan my eyes over the files but see nothing of importance, walking for the door as Holland holds it open.

"Let's get the others." She murmurs, shutting the door behind us as we walk the relatively silent hall towards the door leading to his lab, pushing it open and slipping inside.

It clangs slightly behind us, echoing along the cavernous walls.

My eyes sweep the hallways, bouncing from door to door, seeing many ajar.

Holland slips past me, her eyes on a door towards the end of the hall, her shoulder tense.

I follow behind her, glancing into every doorway and finding them bare, ransacked or untouched. 

I make a note to check the ransacked ones if I get the chance, hoping to find what they tried so hard to leave with.

Holland stops at the door, laying her palm flat against the metal before curling her fingers around the doorknob and twists.

I stop at her shoulder, glancing over the room recognising it as the one Holland and Archer were locked in, yet now it's sits empty.

"Where is he?" She says softly, eyes sweeping from one corner to the next.

"We'll keep looking."

"What if he already moved them?"

"He's far too arrogant to do that, he wouldn't think we would be back so soon."

"Yeah, that what I thought last time."

I don't reply straight away, before taking her hand and giving it a squeeze, "Just have hope,"

I let go and continue on.

Holland hums under her breathe, stepping back and turning to the rest of the doors, walking quickly to open them, her gun ready with each step.

Voices murmur behind a thick door and I stop, arching a brow at Holland.

She furrows her brows before her eyes widen, "It's them."

She tries the door, but the lock engages, and she grunts in frustration.

The voices from inside stop.

Stepping back, she levels her gun at the handle and shoots, the flimsy piece of metal collapsing in on itself slightly.

The sound of the bullet hitting the handle is loud in the hallway, echoing across the walls.

My head snaps down the hall, knowing that if any stragglers are left behind, we just drew them to us.

She shoots again, the handle falling from its perch.

Lifting a foot, she smashes it against the door, the metal swinging in with a crash.

Three face stare back at us from where they are trapped, two men, both familiar but in different ways and one woman.

Her eyes latch onto mine, her arms suspended above her by chains, yet her body rests in the chair below her.

The sounds around me silence, my eyes latched onto those chains, memories trying to drag me under murky waters.

"Lilac." Hollands voice snaps me out of it, her body knelt at the feet of Archer, hands moving quickly to untie the ropes binding his arms.

I blink, shaking my head and step into the room when I'm shoved from behind, my legs failing from under me.

I twist mid fall, landing on my knees, facing the sixth person in the room, their face unfamiliar but the look in their eyes so damn similar to a man crawling back from the past.

"Dimitri has been looking for you."

I sneer, "Well, he can keep looking."

He moves forward, foot lifting to connect with my chest, but a body moves into position in front of me, the man's foot hitting Holland in the stomach.

The air whooshes from her lips, knees collapsing to the ground beneath her as she cradled her stomach in pain, her face crumbling.

"He only wants you alive, the others? Not so much." The man murmurs with a gleeful smile.

The man reaches behind his back, appearing with a gun in hand, that he holds to Hollands head, execution style.

My heart beat speeds up in my chest, fear imploding in my mind at the thought of losing my sister after just finding her again.

A roar echoes from beside us, a body slamming into the man from the side, the both of them crashing to the floor.

I blink at the sight, swiping up the gun I dropped on the floor and standing, moving closer to Holland, keeping her at my back.

Archer lays into the man, his fists pounding into his face over and over and over again, blood splattering his tan skin.

"Archer." A voice echoes and my head snaps to the second man, his blonde hair dirty and coated in a layer of sweat and blood - my brothers eyes move to me quickly before focusing on Holland, glancing down her body before looking back at Archer, "He's dead."

"I know." Archer mutters lowly, the words low and tinged with something I can't figure out.

He stands from his position above the man, turning his back on him before moving towards Holland, kneeling in front of her, blood splattered hands curling around her cheeks, lifting her face to stare at him.

"Holland." 

She doesn't reply, blinking at him, shock and despair written in bold on her face.

"Holland." He says again, swiping a thumb under her eye, causing her to blink, her eyes slightly unfocused. "What's wrong?"

"I-" She stops, word choked. "I-" she sucks in a breath, as if forcing the courage into her system to speak. "I'm pregnant." Her hands curl tighter around her stomach, "I-" she sucks in a breath, "Oh god. It hurts."