~Daniel~
Having her in front of him was like a sweet torture, a temptation that was just in arm's reach but still a million miles away.
He hadn't known what he was thinking, trapping her in the classroom like he had, but he didn't see any other way to get her to listen to him and what he had to say.
He hadn't even gotten halfway through his story before one of his handlers called him and disrupted the silence around them, giving her the upper hand and she took him to the ground with more force than he'd expected from her.
Louis and his guard showed up not long after she'd called them from his phone and had taken out his partner who had been standing watch in front of the classroom.
And then they were hauling him through the hallways past onlookers with a busted bleeding nose and swollen purple eye. That Gordon could pack a punch.
"Why did you do it, huh?"
He didn't know who was asking the question but suddenly he was in the back on a car with his hands tied together with plastic zip ties.
"I just wanted to tell her the truth, she's in danger..."
He couldn't keep his eyes open, knowing that he probably had a concussion from where his head had hit the ground after the initial first punch.
"He's passing out, we'll just have to question him when we get to Adler and Son's."
"What's Adler and Son's?"
He heard her voice, bright and shining through his hazy consciousness. Malia was in the same car with him, only a few inches away.
"It's Gordon's security firm. He figured it would be smart to take Daniel there for some more interrogation tactics that our government might not necessarily approve of."
Louis, he could tell by his voice. So he wanted to torture information out of Daniel? That seemed a little counterproductive considering he was willing to tell them whatever they needed to know in exchange for safety for him and his family, he knew Louis would keep Malia safe so he didn't have to worry about that too much, but they didn't know about Robert yet. They needed to know.
"Robert- he's-"
His lungs were on fire and remembered the sharp kicks he had sustained while resisting being hauled away, it was instinct.
"What did he just say? Robert?"
The car became increasingly quiet and he hoped that his words had gotten across as important, because he didn't have much in him before he passed out.
"He's here."
*******
~Malia~
Seeing Daniel in the state he was in on the car ride was something I never thought I would ever have to see. It was one thing to have damage done to yourself, but an entirely different experience to see it done to someone else.
My own blood spilling out onto the ground beside me was something that I could understand, something my mind could comprehend, but when it came to Daniel and seeing his bloody lip and the constant flying of red spittle out of his mouth with each wracking cough, I almost couldn't stand it.
I had been sitting at one of the desks in the classroom when Louis and Gordon had stormed in like an entire army despite only being two people.
Fury seized Louis' eyes and I could tell he was seeing red. Gordon rushed Daniel first and forced his arms behind his back but Louis was the one to punch his lights out, the sound of his fist connecting with his face making a resounding crack throughout the entire room, and I flinched and looked away, not wanting to see the violence perpetuated on someone I used to care so much for.
But Louis didn't stop with one punch. One, two, three...I rushed over to him and had to physically place my hands on his arm to get him to stop, the look on his face so foreign to me since I hadn't seen him so angry the entire time I'd known him.
Once he saw me, he crumpled, his face returning to a somewhat normal state, eyes showing guilt and disappointment in himself.
He melted into my arms and though in any other situation he might have been comforting me, I felt like I was doing the majority of the comforting in that moment.
My fingers found his hair and although I was highly aware of everything else happening around us, for those few seconds it was just the two of us and the relief from finding me unharmed was evident in his features.
While Gordon was loading Daniel and his friend up into the car in the back of the school to keep word of what had happened quiet, Daniel started resisting.
I had almost lost control of Louis then, as he ran up to help Gordon and one of his partners subdue Daniel, albeit going about it the wrong way.
They dropped him on the ground like a dead fish and started kicking his side, almost definitely breaking some ribs in the process, but it seemed to work.
I wanted to yell and scream at them that they didn't need to hurt him and that he would tell them whatever they wanted to know, but they wouldn't have listened to me anyway, and not to mention the fact that we were trying to draw the attention away from ourselves.
I felt so terrible for what they'd done to Daniel and started to wonder if he really was the bad guy in all of this or if I had unfairly judged him, and I thought back to all the harsh things I'd said or done to him since seeing him again...slapping him, kicking him in the groin...I felt ashamed of myself and vowed that I wouldn't let anything else happen to him.
So when he'd uttered Robert's name in the car on the way to Gordon's security firm, I was the first to defend him.
"We don't have to torture him, you know. Before he started acting crazy, he was telling me everything, the gang that he's involved in, what they made him do, all of his assignments, names, important things that we can use to figure out what they're up to, and make sure they never hurt anyone ever again."
I was sitting in the middle with two bucket seats, Louis beside me and Daniel and his partner in the back, Gordon and his partner in the front, and it seemed like they all stared at me in shock even though I knew that Daniel had probably already passed out and his partner was long since unconscious.
"He was seriously just giving you all that information out of the blue? Did he say why?"
I began wringing my hands in front of me until Louis reached over and placed his on mine, zapping the anxiety out of me.
"He said that he wanted to make things right with me, that he heard what Robert had done to me and how he should've stopped it, I guess he felt guilty..."
"It could be him playing on your emotions and trying to get sympathy from you to get closer to you," Louis said, anger lacing through his tone, blue eyes shining with burning anger.
"I don't think so, he was very erratic and kept acting ashamed of what he'd done, like he should've done something sooner but was too scared to speak up."
The men in the vehicle were silent the rest of the way to the security office which turned out to be an imposing three story building with glass walls strategically placed around the building, as if to say nothing could break through them.
Adler and Son's security was impeccably clean on the inside. As soon as they pulled up into a discreet entrance in an underground parking garage, three men in all black came out to help 'unload' or so they'd said, and we all filed behind them while Daniel and his partner's limp arms kept banging against the side of the guard's bodies.
"Where are they taking them?"
"To go see the physician first, then if they're well enough, they'll be put in holding cells while we decide our next step."
I hadn't expected Gordon to answer me but it was only fitting considering it was his firm.
I wondered if he was Adler or the son.
I didn't have long to ponder any other questions as we were ushered into a nice looking sitting room with harsh fluorescent lighting and were told to wait.
And then we were alone, bloodstains trailing down Louis's hands and surely matted in my hair where he'd held me after practically destroying Daniel's face.
I shuddered at the memory and Louis caught my eye, concerned.
He took a step close to me and out of reflexive habit IÂ inched back, not far, but it was enough.
I saw the confusion, pain, and anger flash in his eyes all at once.
The hand he'd outstretched towards me to comfort me was dropped and then he turned on his heel and situated himself as far as possible away from me on the other end of the room.
And then I was really alone...
*******
Author's note:
So what did you guys think?
What do you think will happen next?
What do you WANT to happen next?
What do you want more of?!
Favorite show right now??
Mine is the Bachelor haha my guilty pleasure ;)
Until next time my lovely readers,
Kristen ;)