~I know I'll be your anchor,

Just close your eyes and see~

SEPTEMBER 2ND

Moments prior, Gemma had been scared to death, seeing her boss point a gun at her. But after seeing that he had the will and the way to fire it, and especially at an infant, she found the resolve that she hadn't had before. That what was why opening the doors was the best decision, even it wasn't part of the plan. Yes, now the police were going to be called, but at least these innocent people would be safe.

When the realization hit Nicholas, he lashed the gun out to hit her in the face. Defiance in her eyes, Gemma glared at him, not flinching. That pain was nothing compared to what she felt every single day. "Away from the computer."

"Yes, Mr. Cowell." As she moved towards Louis to help him off of the floor, Nicholas looked at his audience left. Simon sat in a chair, crossing his legs with a smile. Eleanor was trying to make sure her daughter was okay, while Zayn was also crouched on the floor with them.

"What do you want us to do?" Bella questioned, advancing towards him.

He lowered the gun for a moment. "Gigi, Eleanor, go stop the others."

Without waiting for her teammate, Gigi ran out of the room towards the service doors. Eleanor stood up and advanced towards him with the same level of anger as when her and Louis had started arguing. "You tried to kill my daughter. And you're not walking out of this room alive, Nicholas."

Louis moved to stand next to Simon, watching Zayn wavering in place, watching the cameras. "He wants to leave," The dad whispered to his boss.

"Go, Zayn!" Simon sighed, knowing that there was no need for him there. The scrawny man took off out the doors, knowing that he had to make sure that Liam was okay. That was his first concern.

Right as Zayn disappeared from view, Harry entered and froze in the doorway as the gun was positioned on him. "Lou?" He questioned, seeing that Gemma seemed alright. His boyfriend responded with a nod. Then Harry looked back at Nicholas.

"Bella, escort Gemma and Harry out of the gates. Put them in a car, and Gemma, you're driving away from here." Bella crossed the room to grab Gemma, who reached for Harry once he was in reach. Then the trio was gone, and Louis watched the rest play out on the cameras.

Eleanor's voice broke his attention, desperate. "Please Louis. Get Fin out of here." She was begging.

He didn't respond one way or the other, but took a step towards her carrier so that he could at least have his arms free. But then the gun was on him. No words passed, but it was clear that no one was meant to move.

The last frame the cameras showed was one of the three black cars in front of the gate being driven away. "I did that as a favor to Gemma. I figured she'd turn eventually, but I do wish her the best. I'll probably have to find a new assistant now. I don't suppose you know anyone, Simon?"

Simon did finally respond, but not to that question. "You care about Gemma, but everyone who came before her, you didn't?" He didn't mean that in the sense of love, but he was planning to start his monologue now and no one could stop him. "Nicholas has no regard for human life. He'll kill all of us in a heartbeat. There's more people than could fit on my fingers who have died. I'm sure Gemma had to do a lot of the paperwork for all that - the fake death certificates, covering up people's existence. Real people, dead over this dumb game we play. And he'll kill all of us too."

"And how are we going to stop that, Simon?" The desperation came through in Louis' voice. If there was a plan for this, then he hadn't heard of it. But Simon knew that something like this couldn't be planned down to a script and the position of people in the room. So he was winging it, which was very unlike him to do. "You promised me that she would be safe."

"The cameras in here are recording. If he touches Fin, I'll roast him. Regardless of the rules."

That caught Nicholas' attention. "You'd go down too? Over a baby? Because if I'm in jail, you're sharing a cell with me, don't you know? We're family after all." The rules dictated that if one of them turned the other in, then the favor would be returned.

Simon advanced towards his brother, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Louis and Eleanor, who stood a yard apart. "Family doesn't mean blood." The words were spit out like venom, like a weapon, like words he had sewn onto his skin so that he would never forget them. "You make your own family in this world." He looked over at Louis, who nodded smoothly. "My team made themselves a little family, all of them. I don't think you can say the same about your guys. They'd kill each other, given a chance."

"The police are probably on the way," Eleanor noted. "So we've got to wrap this up.

Moving a couple of steps closer to his brother, finally he saw down the barrel of the gun as it was on him. It must have been a gut instinct, knowing that his brother wouldn't kill him just yet; he moved around the desk to press the speaker. "Get out of here, guys."

Anyone who was still following the plan at that point would have then known that it was time to abandon ship with whatever they had. What difference was a couple of diamond necklaces going to make in the end, after all? Hearing the phrase from Simon filled Louis with as much comfort as he was going to get in the moment - the others were going to get away, they were going to be safe.

He tried to move half an inch towards Eleanor. "How does this end, guys?"

"I really will shoot you if you move again, Louis."

"Stop it, Louis," Eleanor chastised.

"Oh, you're taking the side of your boss? Because he's evil? And you're evil?"

"I'm not taking his side because I support him. I'm taking his side because I don't want OUR daughter that YOU brought here, to DIE!"

The bickering started again, and Simon merely folded his arms and tried to keep an assured smile on his face. Nicholas paced, watching the room to make sure no one made any sudden movements or otherwise. He finally allowed himself to digest what his brother's team had been up to. "So you were really going to rob me robbing other people?"

"Seems we've been pretty successful."

"It's not over yet." The implication was that Bella and Gigi were going to stop the truck from leaving and kill the others. Nicholas had already seen Nick and James' unconscious forms from the cameras on the wall, but Gemma had turned them off before she had left her desk again. While the door was open, there was still no way of knowing what was happening in the rest of the house. "And if you've won, your guys won't get too far. Before the police catch up. You think you're so clever, Simon. Have you really thought of everything?"

"Everything," He repeated with confidence. "Because I care about every single person on my team. I don't want them to get hurt."

"Well how well is this working out? Here's Louis, and his precious daughter, right on the other side of my gun. In harm's way. You must be shaking with anger by now." Simon began to move again, prompting the gun to change to him. Louis took the initiative to move one step closer to his baby mama. "Stop testing me, Louis!"

As Nicholas' attention went back to Louis, Eleanor begged once again, near tears. "Please, Louis! Please stop! Think of Fin."

"I am." His blue eyes were calm, as if he had everything figured out in his head. Louis looked up at Simon. "I'm following the plan. I trust Simon with my life."

"You shouldn't," Nicholas laughed.