Song of the Chapter: Antihero - Noisestorm (Trap)

(Phantom's POV)

I allow a quick look around the alley corner at the building. "See anything?" I whisper into my communicator.

"Not yet," Aero Chord replies. He's up on the rooftops, an eye in the sky.

I wait another minute or two.

"There," he whispers. "Two men in all black. Both carrying rifles, both with keycards. They're our way in. They're coming toward you. Be ready."

"Got it." I press my back against the alley wall and slow my breathing. As soon as the men are close enough, I spring from my hiding place, tackling one. Aero is there in a split second, seeming to appear out of thin air. He takes the second one, and we knock them out quickly and quietly, dragging them into the alley. I grin in spite of myself. They're going to have nice little reminders of our visit when they wake up.

I take the first one and pull his uniform shirt over his head, leaving him with just his undershirt. Aero keeps watch while I pull off his pants and shoes, too, leaving them in a pile. I make sure I have the keycard and anything else of importance, and then sit him up against the back wall.

"I almost feel bad for them," I mutter.

"I don't." Aero doesn't look at me, still keeping his silent watch by the entrance of the alley way.

The other one is a lot smaller, and as I get a closer look, my heart lurches. "This one's a girl!" I hiss.

"So?"

"So?! I'm not going to undress a girl!"

"Why not?"

"Why not - " I throw my hands in the air. "It's a freaking girl!"

"Stop being so picky and hurry up."

"Why don't you do it?"

He shrugs. "Fine. You're wearing hers. You look to be about her size."

"Was that an insult?"

"Probably."

I take his place by the entrance and stare out into the street. A few moments later, he calls me and I turn around, only to get the pile of clothes thrown in my face. "You're a jerk," I tell him.

"Just put them on." He's already halfway done dressing himself in the man's uniform, slipping the keycard into his pocket and picking up the rifle.

I sigh loudly and pull the girl's shirt over my head. Surprisingly, it fits pretty well, but I'll never tell Aero that. The pants are a little bit trickier, but eventually I get them on, too. I pick up her keycard from off the ground and take her own rifle. The gun makes me uncomfortable, but I pretend it doesn't bother me and copy Aero's movements.

Of course, I've used rifles more than once. My dad had one, and he taught me how to use it. He never specified why, though I asked constantly. I guess he knew what was going to happen. He knew who I was going to become. I only wish I would have known what would become of him. Then maybe I could have saved him and my mother, and maybe even my baby brother. But who knows; I can't change the past.

"Phantom," Aero snaps, and I look up, ripped from the memories. "Come on."

I follow him out of the alley and onto the street. The keycards work perfectly and let us into the building without trouble. We observe for a moment and then walk like the others do, in pairs with straight backs and stern expressions. I try to swallow my fear, with no luck. While I don't mind being in the middle of the enemy, I don't like to be seen - I don't like this disguise plan. I feel exposed, like everyone can see through me.

Aero gently smacks my hand when we come to a stop, waiting by the wall with a few others. "Calm your breathing. It's too loud," he murmurs, keeping his eyes forward.

I take a deep breath and do as he asks, though I get too focused on doing that to notice he's left with the other soldiers. One second, he's there, the next second, I'm alone. I glance around frantically, but he's nowhere to be seen. Everything just looks the same. This isn't my element. I'm on enemy ground, doing something I have no experience with. This mission is going to end before we even reach our target.

I force myself to walk forward. I can't stay here or people will get suspicious. I know I'm wandering, but I try to do it in a way that makes it look like I know where I'm going. Eventually, I reach a door that leads to a wide open area, with white walls and white floors. The entrance is guarded by two soldiers. I come up to them, expecting them to move, but they don't.

"Where is your partner?" the one on my left demands.

"Um ..." I say brilliantly. From here, I can tell this area is some sort of prison, and figure that if Tristam's anywhere, it'll be in here. Maybe I'll even find Ephixa. I have to get in, but I don't know how. "He's already in there. We had a transfer and I had to go get something."

They stare me down and I try my best to keep a straight face and stay calm.

"What's your identification number?" the second soldier asks, none too gently.

"Um ..." My heart is pounding widely and my mind is screaming at me to run. I swallow hard. I'm in trouble. I'm in serious trouble. My eyes dart between the two of them and then I move without thinking.

I dive between them, taking them by surprise. They don't react until I'm already in the open prison area. There's a set of stairs to my left and a long hallway to my right. I choose the stairs, because when I look up, I can see four levels with balconies. If I need to escape, I can jump off.

"Hey!" the soldiers shout. "Stop him!" One comes after me while the other stays and guards the door.

I fly up the stairs and a gunshot rings out through the facility. I flinch as it speeds past, but it doesn't hit me, so I keep going. I leave the staircase at the second floor and keep running, down the hall. There are two other guards on the other side, and they both aim their guns at me. I'm going to die. This was a terrible idea. I'm such an idiot.

The alarm goes off, the facility washed in red. It doesn't hide the ominous rust colored stain on the floor from one of the cells. I almost pause here, but the sight makes me sick, knowing they could have killed someone. The cell itself is empty. Most of the others on this floor are.

My communicator buzzes. "What's going on?" Aero demands.

"Problem!" is all I can say, trying to save my breath for my escape.

"Where are you?"

"Prison thing. White. Cells. Second floor."

He doesn't answer, but a few minutes later, he swings over the side of the floor above and drops to my level, in front of me.

"How did you get here so fast?" I ask.

"If you had just followed me the first time around, we would have both gotten up there with the rest of the group. Do you see Tristam? Or Ephixa?"

"No."

We both jump as a bullet bounces off the metal railing, inches from my hand. We stare at the spot, and then something catches my eye. Two soldiers, walking fast, dragging a prisoner in between them. The prisoner is shirtless, wearing only a tattered pair of jeans and his shoes and has two black lines on his back, forming an upside down 'V'. Even from here, I can tell he's hardly walking at all. He's facing the opposite wall, but I automatically know who it is.

"There," Aero and I say at exactly the same time.

"Come on," he says, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the railing. "We're going to jump."

Although that had been my original escape plan, it doesn't seem so welcoming now. I swallow my fear the best I can and nod. Another bullet barely misses us as we climb up. I don't think they're trying to hit us; just scare us. I think it's working.

I drop myself over the side, hanging by my fingers alone. Aero drops completely onto the first floor, tucking and rolling to avoid hurting himself. I take a deep breath and let go, hitting the ground hard. Somehow, I avoid both a broken leg and a round of bullets, ducking out of the way just in time. Aero pulls me to my feet and we take off again, straight toward the crowd of soldiers blocking our way. Aero aims his gun and they scatter. Someone tackles me as we sprint through them, but I wrestle out of their grip, banging them on the head with my rifle.

The guards on either end of Tristam both finally notice we're coming. One of them picks up our friend, scooping him up like he weighs nothing, and the other turns to face us, aiming his own rifle. I freeze, but Aero ignores the warning and charges him head on. Before the man can even shoot, he's on the ground, pinned down by Aero with a knife at his neck. I take the cue and rush at the second man, and the crowd behind us quickly closes the gap.

Since the man is carrying Tristam, I overpower him quickly and easily, and our friend is dropped on the floor. I crouch down next to him and wrap my arm around his shoulders to help him stand up. "Tristam," I whisper. "We're going to get you out of here."

"You came," he breathes, barely audible. He's barely breathing at all, and I think it's a miracle he's still conscious.

There's a warning shot and my head jerks up, my heart leaping into my throat. There's a man standing there, holding a pistol. I get a sinking feeling as I recognize him as Matthew Jensen, a terrible man who used to do business with my parents. I had no idea he was still in Vancouver. I thought he'd run off after my parents' death.

"Oh, Leo," he says sweetly, gazing at Tristam regretfully. "I sure hope you had nothing to do with this."

I start to stand up and hear the sound of dozens of guns, all different kinds, clicking and readying their bullets to fill me with holes. Instead, I pause and slowly lower myself back down. I glance at Aero to see that he hasn't backed down and is still holding a knife to the guard's throat, but he's watching Jensen carefully, studying him.

The man kneels down in front of me and Tristam and smiles again. "My perfect Leo, why must you always resist me? I only want what's best for you."

"We both know that's a lie," Tristam whispers, struggling to straighten up in defiance.

Jensen taps the artist's nose and laughs. "You can think what you want. I can't control that yet. Someday I will, but for now, you can keep your thoughts nice and safe. Treasure them while you can."

Tristam's gone as white as a ghost. His fingers tighten on my arm, though the grip is still frighteningly weak.

Jensen's words give me the chills. I remember how creepy he'd been to a twelve year old kid, but it seems like he's only gotten worse. "You will not touch him," I hiss, trying to keep my tone down and unrecognizable. I have to fight to keep my burning rage under control. I can't let it out yet.

He just laughs. "Oh, don't worry. I already have." I feel Tristam tense up beside me, his shallow breaths quickening. The man's eyes turn to me and a slow, morbid smile spreads across his face. "Don't think I don't know who you are. Are you our little Phantom?" I fight to keep my eyes facing forward instead of dropping down to my bracelet, but it's difficult and I twitch a little. I don't answer his question and he laughs. "I remember things. It's hard to forgive, but it's even harder to forget."

"What's he talking about?" Tristam whispers.

"I don't know," I murmur. That's a lie. I know exactly what he's talking about. I remember that night like I remember my own name.

"What are you going to do with us?" Aero says, sounding calm and collected, but I can see his anger in his shoulders.

"Why should I tell you?" Jensen shrugs, the pistol in his hand tipping casually. He chuckles again. "Leo will be getting Flight. You ... you will probably be killed." Again, he stares me down. "And you ... your fate will not be quite so pleasant."

My heart lurches. We have to get out of here. I don't like the sound of anything he's saying, and I don't like the stillness. We were fighting for our lives, and now we're frozen and unmoving. I'm afraid I'll do something stupid and get us all killed.

Aero gives me a silent signal with his hand, the one he taught me before we left. The one that means "leave me and get out of here." I can't do that. This wasn't a swap mission. We're not trading Aero for Tristam.

"No," I whisper.

"Oh, yes!" Jensen says. He thinks I was taking to him. "Yes. I have been dreaming about revenge for so long now. Years, even." He leans forward, reaching his hand out.

Tristam flinches and squeezes my arm. I hear his breath catch in his throat and falter as he tries to say something. "No no no no no ..." he whimpers, shutting one eye and turning away from him.

Jensen brushes his finger down the side of his face, giving him that sickly sweet smile. "Yes, Leo. You are mine now."

"Stop it," I demand, swatting his hand away from my friend.

He snatches my wrist with a sudden, painful movement, twisting my arm backward and yanking me forward. I lose my balance and tip over with a yell of pain. "Perhaps," the man says casually, "we need to have a talk, one like the discussion with Leo. He is mine now. I can do what I want with him and he knows it."

Aero repeats his signal with his hand.

"No," I tell them both.

"Alright," Aero says, putting more pressure on the knife against the soldier's neck. He looks up and meets Jensen's gaze. "I'll offer you a deal. You let them go and take me instead."

"No," I repeat.

Jensen just laughs and shakes his head. "I'm afraid that's not much of a deal, is it? I don't get anything I want. You see, very few people are genetically able to survive Flight, and my little Leo here is one of them. But also ..." He smiles. "He is perfect in many other ways. I love my little bird, and I'm not giving him up that easily."

"Then you leave me no choice," Aero growls. He slashes the knife across the soldier's throat and the guard lets out a strangled scream. The artist leaps over the fallen man, lifting the rifle and shooting another of the guards.

"Aero, no!" I cry, but he doesn't listen.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" he screams at me.

I realize he's not going to stop for anything, so I grab Tristam and lift him up to his feet, plowing through the stunned crowd of soldiers. At first, my worry had been that I wouldn't be able to carry Tristam, since honestly, I'm not all that strong, but he doesn't weigh nearly as much as I thought he would. He's only been here for what, five days, and he's already like this.

The guards obviously weren't expecting us to run and Aero to kill, so I push past them easily, breaking into a run. I have to half drag and half carry Tristam along beside me, slowing our progress, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

"I can't run," he finally says, gasping for breath. "I'm so sorry ... I'm going to get you killed ..."

Not killed. I know Jensen isn't going to kill me. He wants me to feel the pain I gave him. "It's okay. We'll get through this. I'm not going to leave you again." I adjust my grip around his waist and he yelps in pain. I almost drop him in surprise. "Are you okay?"

He nods with a grimace and stubbornly pushes forward.

How are we going to get out? We're trapped, and the soldiers have recovered and are coming after us. It's only a matter of time before we'll be caught again.

I don't dare look back at Aero, but I can hear him yelling, fighting against the swarm of guards. Every time a gun fires, Tristam and I flinch and duck, but they aren't shooting at us. They're not even the ones shooting. Aero is.

"Up there," Tristam whispers, pointing up the stairs to the window.

I nod and pull him along, pausing only to fight off a couple of soldiers. We're going to make it. We're going to make it!

The keycard opens the window and Tristam and I jump onto the ladder against the wall. It looks like some sort of emergency exit or fire escape. The soldiers don't dare follow. I think they're more worried about accidentally killing us and Jensen's rage afterward than losing us.

It's raining, making the rungs on the ladder slippery. I have to hold on to both Tristam and the metal - Tristam keeps slipping and I'm afraid he'll fall. He's shivering in the bitter cold, too, since he's shirtless.

Soldiers pour out of the building, swarming around it, searching for us. We drop off the back of the building, staying hidden, and then I pull him into a run again. I know I'm probably overworking him, but if we don't escape, Jensen will do terrible things to us both ... things I don't even want to think about.

And Aero ...

I shake my head. As terrible as it sounds and as worried as I am, I can't think about it right now or I'll get distracted. I have to get Tristam back. We're not going to make it tonight, and we both know it.

"I can't do this," Tristam whispers, his voice shaking. "I'm not strong enough."

"Do it for Braken. He needs you to be strong." I adjust my grip again and say, "I know a place. It's not far." I pull him through the streets, sticking to the shadows like I'm just on another smuggling mission. There are soldiers everywhere, around every corner, but I manage to avoid them all, reaching my destination. "Just in there," I murmur, pointing. "You go first; I'll help you if you get stuck."

The space between the two buildings is barely wide enough for us, but finally, I manage to push Tristam all the way into Aero's and Au5's old alley home. The box is still there, soggy and smelly, and the scratchy blanket underneath it is damp.

Tristam collapses against the wall, gripping the right side of his stomach with his left hand. His breaths are shallow and quick, worrying me. I pull the damp blanket out from under the box and sit down next to him. There isn't a roof or any sort of cover, so the rain still pours on us, but I figure the blanket will give him some sort of protection. I pull off the uniform shirt I'm wearing and help him put it on, and then give him the blanket, and he wraps it around his shoulders with one hand. His right arm rests on his lap, and I finally notice the blood-stained bandage near his shoulder. When he gets the blanket around himself, he rests his head back on the wall. I scoot closer and gently push him down to lean on my shoulder, and instead, he lays down and curls up on my lap.

We sit there for a very long time. I don't sleep, but finally, Tristam does, and I can feel him relax. At last, he's coming back home with us - with me. Aero ... I swallow hard. Aero's not coming back. That much I know.