The force of the blast completely knocked me off my feet and threw me, shoulder-first, into the disposal bin like an NBA pro's vicious slam-dunk. As luck would have it, someone had chucked in a bunch of flattened cardboard boxes that day, and I had a relatively soft landing. I immediately curled into the smallest ball possible and covered my head with my hands.

The sound of the explosion was thunderous. Vibrations rattled through the metal of the waste disposal bin and into my bones. I heard steel screech and people scream. Shrapnel rained down from above; one sliced open my forearm and I grimaced. There was also blood trickling from my temple. 

As long as the ceiling holds. Oh dear jumping jackanapes, as long as the ceiling - 

I heard a deep-seated groaning, followed by a humungous crash, then another, and another. The long line of pillars in the middle of the bunker was collapsing, which meant so was the ceiling. No sooner had I came to that realization did a wide crack appeared above me, followed by a bulging downward distension. 

"Shi - " was all I managed before a block of concrete came descending. I flinched, bracing for impact.

The concrete block struck squarely against the side of the bin and split into half. One fell outside, while the other landed in, narrowly missing my feet. It fractured among impact and bounced a fist-sized chunk right smack into my face. It was like getting slapped by an iron. My head spun.

Gradually, the rumblings subsided into an eerie sort of quietness. I could hear ambient noise from outside; the sounds of traffic and the city seeping through. I wondered if there were any walls left in the aftermath.

I felt dazed, and there was ringing in my ears. I was pretty sure I was concussed. Clutching the edge of the bin, I managed to get to my knees and peer out. 

Jasper's plan had worked beautifully. For a minute, it seemed that no one but me was left alive in the completely torn apart building. High above, the sun shone undisturbed straight in. I watched a fluorescent light dangle for a moment from a broken wire, before shattering into pieces.

Then I saw movement. 

Cognac wriggled out from beneath a dead body - no, two dead bodies. One of them was missing an arm - it was only by the cauliflower ears that I managed to identify it as belonging to what had been Jesús DiMaggio. 

The other body was clad in a now dirt-streaked and torn white pantsuit.

Both the Octagon chairman and head of security had come together to protect Black and Tan's child prodigy with their lives.

I watch Cognac stare at his mother for a moment. His emerald green eyes were unblinking but moist. I watched his jaw work up and down as he tried to process this information, and for a moment, I could see him for what he was - an orphaned child. For a second I almost stood up and called out to him, wanting to tell him that it was going to be okay.

Then he caught sight of me.

Even from here, I could see the hatred blaze in his eyes. I wanted to shrink away from the wrath that emanated from this ten-year-old boy. My fingers scrabbled dully for the gun on my hip.

Then Cognac stood up, and ran. He sprinted to the back of the bunker, pushed open the door and disappeared from sight. As he stood up, his blue sneakers kicked against the back of his mother's hand - which was still clutching the Blackcroft case. 

The will!

It was less of a climbing out from the bin and more of a toppling. I forced myself up and dragged my feet over. My hands trembled and I shook my head, trying to clear the dizziness. There was the sound of static in my ears, and abruptly I remembered the rest of my team.

I pressed the earpiece. "William? Emrys? Kaylan? Come in! Anybody there?"

Two muffled gunshots were my only reply.

"Kaylan!" I shouted. For a second I thought I heard Emrys' voice. "Emrys? Are you there?"

Silence. There was a pop of feedback, and suddenly Emrys' voice came through, crystal clear.

"Easy, easy," he was saying. "Easy does it. Here, have some water."

A very familiar voice rasped, "Who are you?"

"Friends of your sister," came Kaylan's curt answer. "We're here to help you out."

One mission goal - down. William's voice came in. "Guys! Are you alright? The blast temporarily shorted the comms, I've got it back up now. Is everyone okay?"

"We're good over here," Kaylan said. "Took advantage of the explosion to knock out the guards and retrieve Eric. Emrys is taking him over to the van now; I'm going after Hayley."

"I thought I heard gunshots," I said. "Did you kill them?" I had trouble imagining that - Emrys would not have been able to fire with a broken arm, so it had to have been Kaylan who did the firing. Kaylan might have been a bad boy, but I doubted that warrant enough skill for a gun.

A slight pause. "That wasn't us," Emrys said, sounding puzzled. "One of the guards got hit in the head by falling concrete while we rushed the second and Kaylan socked him in the jaw with a beautiful right uppercut. No guns needed."

"Then who-"

"The older brother killed the younger one," came William's hushed, horrified whisper. "Two shots to the chest."

For a second I was stunned. Re had killed his own brother. Pretty much a second Jasper in the making. 

"You better get out of there," William said, "because Jasper is heading your way right now."

"Right, okay." I bent down and pulled the Blackcroft case out from Madame Debicki's grip. "Let me just - "

"Hello there, sweetheart," came a voice behind me. 

Fricking flippety hell. 

There was the sound of a gun cocking. "Mind turning around so I can see my fiancée's face?"

Gritting my teeth, I obeyed.

"Ah!" Jasper smiled. He looked as devilishly well put together as always. "I see you've found our little family heirloom. May I?"

Re stood next to him, calmly pointing a sleek Beretta my way. I didn't miss the chilling specks of blood on the sleeve hem of his outstretched hand. Behind him were four other men I'd never seen before. All had Blackcroft tattoos on their biceps and rivaled Jesús in size. Next to Re, Damian stood expressionless. 

I hesitated for a fraction too long. Re fired at the ground next to my feet and I jumped.

"The next one will be at your head, sweetheart," Jasper said calmly. "The case."

I handed it over. The second I did, two of Jasper's men relieved me of the gun at my hip and tied both my hands behind my back. One man, the larger one, had a smirk on his face I didn't particularly care for. He took his own sweet time patting me down, rough hands lingering on my waist. When he got too close to my chest and I was about to head-slam him in the eyes, Jasper gripped him by the wrist.

The larger man wince visibly. 

"I think that's enough now, Barat," Jasper said quietly. Our engagement ring winked and gleamed on his finger.

"Yes, boss." Barat stepped away, massaging his wrist. 

"Take the other three and scout the rest of the building. I don't need survivors." My blood chilled at his words. Barat nodded and the four men left. Now, it was just the four of us.

Would he kill me now?

Jasper turned the case over in his fingers. It was pretty roughed up but otherwise intact.

"You're lucky it survived the blast," I said. "That was a big risk to take, if we had lost the will-"

"Weren't you hearing a single word I said? Black and Tan never had the will."

I frowned. "But that's impossible. They have the case! They stole it from us. How do you know-"

Jasper sighed, like he was a parent dealing with a petulant child. Not that I could ever imagine Jasper in any form of parental role. 

"Think, Hayley, think. They stole the will from us. They had the means and skill to infiltrate the most well-guarded part of our stronghold. You think they would just stop at that? Don't you think that, if they knew the location of the X-Files, they would go right after it? Instead of wasting their time dallying with us?

"You think they care who the don is?" Jasper continued. "No! The whole point why they stole the will in the first place, was to find out the location of the X-Files. Once they had that, that's when the real blackmailing would start. But they never did blackmail us. So they don't know. So they can't have the will. And I'm about to prove that, right now."

Jasper found the spinning lock in the center of the cylinder. I was about to open my mouth and say that no one should know the password except for the current don and the next heir, but swiftly shut up as Jasper expertly turned the dial one way, then another. There was an audible click and a small cylinder drawer popped out. 

Jasper pulled it wide open, revealing - 

Nothing.

Emptiness.

There was stunned silence for a second. Then the brightest and widest smile I had ever seen crossed Jasper's pale face as we all realized that his bet and deduction had paid off. 

He turned to me. "See? Empty."

Damian spoke for the first time. "If it isn't here, then where is the will?"

Jasper shrugged. "Frankly, my dear Damian, I couldn't give a damn. Is it lost? Did it get damaged during the theft? Did Black and Tan accidentally set it on fire? Who cares? All that matters now - is this."

From his pockets, Jasper pulled out a tightly rolled piece of paper. It looked like aged yellow parchment, and when he slotted it inside the cylinder drawer and shut the case close, I realized what he had done.

Jasper turned to Re, smiling. "Congratulations. You are now the don's executive right-hand man."

"You black-hearted scumbag," I spat. "You knew this whole thing was a trap. You sent my father to die on purpose!"

"Careful, sweetheart. I'm not sure I like your tone. You are, after all, looking at the face of the next Blackcroft don."

"And you." I looked at Re. "How could you? You knew about this - and you didn't say a word? How could you let Jasper kill your family like this?"

Re didn't even blink. His eyes were cold. "Actually, I was the one who came up with the idea."

"And when he came to me, proposing this most brilliant plan, I knew at once he was an asset I needed in my vision of Blackcroft's future." Jasper looked proud as he clapped Re on the shoulder. "Well done. And you too, Damian. You picked the right side."

Damian nodded, once. He did not meet my eyes.

"The Blackcrofts won't trust you," I said. "You won't be able to control them. Not without the X-Files."

"Who says I don't have the X-Files? Oh, I know where the X-Files are. I've known that for a long time." Jasper clicked his tongue in pity. "You're very out of touch, aren't you, Hayley? Perhaps it's time you find out just exactly what I've been doing. Take a seat."

Before I could even look around for a chair, Re had shoved me to my knees. My wrists were zip-tied while Jasper's Louboutins paced leisurely around the floor.

"Since the first day we were born, every single Blackcroft has only one aim in mind - to accumulate power.  The men accumulate power by completing missions, gaining favors and trust. The women accumulate power by marrying their desired target. Not even the children is innocent of this. I've seen it - even on the playground, the strongest one is always the leader, always the one with the most followers and friends.

"And I was no exception," Jasper said. "But I was not content to settle for lesser ambitions. By the time I was eight, I already knew that nothing short of being a don would satisfy me."

Here I tried to adjust into a more comfortable position and immediately felt the muzzle of Re's Beretta against the back of my head.

"So I did all I could. I followed orders. I completed every mission. I did every single thing the executive management told me to - kill him. Take that. Destroy this. Make her disappear. Blow up that building. Wipe out that family. The better I did, the more I got noticed. The missions came thick and fast; I had barely any time to breathe before the next one arrived. There were times I never slept for days on end. But I did it all. For Blackcroft.

"And when they finally sent me on the most dangerous mission of all, to assassinate a key UN ambassador - an action that would have been called treason to our country - I thought to myself, this is it. This is the ultimate test, the ultimate gauntlet. And when I returned victorious, I thought, surely I had proven myself now. Surely I had shown that not only did I have the skills to lead Blackcroft, I was the most exceptional candidate. I was the one."

Jasper turned to me, eyes glittering. "But I was wrong."

Behind Jasper, Damian slowly brought his hands down from his back.

Jasper went on. "I overheard them in the meeting chamber. Now that I think about it, it's sort of an honor to have an emergency meeting called on my account. The top dogs of the executive management, all discussing what to do about me. An 18-year-old boy. And they came to an unanimous conclusion.

"If only he was more controllable," Jasper mimicked mockingly. "If only he was less fire and more malleable steel. Then we could have him, a puppet on the throne. But his ambition is too great, and his will stubborn. There is no choice. We must eliminate him. Do you know who they called to do the job?"

I shook my head.

"Jonas. My brother. Sent us both on a mission. The plan was to have me die as part of the mission's casualty. But I flipped the tables right around. I killed Jonas instead." Jasper's eyes were glowing with a sort of maniacal fever I had never seen before, as he sunk deeper into his reminiscence. "That was when they knew they could never hope to stop me."

Damian was reaching, very slowly, for the gun slung at his hip. Behind me, Re shifted his footing and Damian's hands froze.

"But I knew the time was not yet ripe. I was after all, 18, barely adult. I needed to gather more influence, more people. More favors. So I pretended that the death of my brother had disillusioned me. I pretended that grief made me become nothing more than a subservient killing machine, and that my career dreams had all but vanished. The executive management was wary at first, of course, but as the years went by with no movement on my part, they relaxed. And I slipped off their radar. Exactly what I wanted."

Jasper twirled the case in his hands. "I spent those years understanding the politics of the higher echelons. It's a right-on mess, I tell you. I also spent those years building my network of people and influence. During that time, I still believed that power had only one form - violence. But that was naïve thinking. I had planned a great ambush to remove the annoying obstacles in my way. A slaughter of the old, doddering fools who believed a teenager like me could never lead our great empire. It didn't work. They were simply replaced by even more old, doddering fools."

My eyes flashed at this information. "That was the Black and Tan ambush, wasn't it? And you pinned it on Thomas. You let him take the fall!"

Jasper looked amused. "Why yes, quite accurate. You know, you aren't as dumb as you look."

I wanted to claw his eyes out.

"After that failed attempt, I realized that power in the form of influence and control was a lot more effective than pure violence. For me to achieve that, I needed the X-Files. And believe me when I say that no one, absolutely no one, knows where they are except for the don." Jasper shrugged uncaringly again. "It's either that, or all the men I tortured had very high pain thresholds. So naturally, the next step I took was to go after the don."

I stared. "You killed Grandpa Anthony?" If this was true, then Jasper had committed the worst sin ever in Blackcroft law.

Jasper snapped his fingers. "Here's where a stroke of luck came in. The very night I chose to strike, Black and Tan did too. I didn't know it then of course, but their plans unknowingly complemented mine. I wonder if you recall how Anthony died?"

I nodded. In honor of my grandfather's 76th birthday, the entire family had come together to throw a lavish celebration. My grandfather had retired early on account of too much red wine, but the next morning we found him dead in his bed of an apparent heart attack. No foul play was suspected and we put it down to too much excitement at his old age.

"That was a great party, wasn't it?" Jasper remarked. "Loved the wine. A beautiful 1945 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, if I remember correctly. Anyway. I digress. I didn't know it then, but one of the waiters at that party was a Black and Tan agent, and he slipped something in Anthony's drink, which caused him to take a dizzy spell and retire early. I took the opportunity to slip away and accost dear Anthony just before he stepped into bed. Oh, it took some coaxing, but eventually I got what I wanted - the location of the X-Files."

"Then you killed him," I snapped.

"Sadly, I was deprived of that pleasure. No, I did not. The Black and Tan drug kicked in then, triggering his heart attack. Quite impressive technology, considering it escaped detection post-mortem. But what I had failed to take account for, was that while I was busy asking Anthony questions, Black and Tan were busy stealing the will. Now I could no longer reveal that I knew where the X-Files was - because if I did, I would immediately be pinned as the thief."

"And that's why you want the will before anyone else," I said slowly. "If you recovered the will, you could say you had to check it for authenticity ... which meant opening the will and reading it. Thus giving you knowledge of the X-Files."

"B-I-N-G-O! Of course, recovering the will first meant I could also exchange it for a fake one of my own, naming me don. Either way, the will would play into my favor." Jasper shook the case. "And it has. Now all that's left is to bring this case back to the Blackcrofts, report a successful - albeit somewhat casualty-heavy - mission, be hailed savior and named leader. I couldn't have asked for a better play-out of my plan."

"The Blackcrofts would never trust you," I snarled. "Not when they find out what you're like. A traitor and lying coward, who hides behind the men he sends to die then claims all the credit-"

Jasper struck a square blow right across my face, before grabbing a fistful of my hair and yanking back. His other hand came up and encircled his fingers tight around my throat. He squeezed, cutting off all airflow, and I choked, wheezing.

"Who says I'm letting you live to blabber your mouth?" he hissed. In one swift move, he pulled out his gun. A well-used, and well-polished Smith & Wesson.

"All that's left for me, is the tying up of loose ends."

Somewhere in another part of the building came a burst of gunfire. The communications receiver attached to Jasper's shirt crackled. He smiled.

"And I believe my men have found some of those loose ends. I know I'm looking at one right here."

Jasper cocked the gun.

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aiyaiyai

✨ t e n s i o n✨

hope you guys liked the little background revealed on Jasper! I figured my readers should know the story of that one dude we all love to hate xP

this one's for mystery-14! I hope your journey through "vast supermarkets" to find a William of your own has proven fruitful xP