Page 17 of Agony

Bullets punched holes in the walls. Entering the kitchen, Justice continued to fire. A bullet hit the counter, spraying Formica and wood chips through the room.

His second bullet ended in Watson’s head. He walked over and tossed the pictures of the victims on Watson’s chest.

BANG!

Fuck!

Justice whirled and ran back to the entrance of the dark living room.

“Fish!” he hissed.

No answer sent a chill up his spine and he ducked low and rolled into the room to take cover behind the arm of the sofa.

The hooker had her gun drawn.

Had she shot Fisher? He couldn’t tell. Fisher was squatting next to a glass wall unit.

Damn it! He’d told Fisher a hundred times to bring a backup weapon along with those swords.

The hooker took a step closer and aimed the gun at Fisher.

Snick.

Justice blew off the bitch’s head before she could pull the trigger. Racing across the room, he yanked Fisher up to his feet and shoved him toward the back of the house. Reaching their planned exit, they eased out into the noisy darkness and Justice shut the door before he grabbed Fisher’s hand and raced across the backyard and into the neighboring alley.

Adrenaline would keep Fisher on his feet until Justice could find a safe place to assess the damage. It was another dark alley before Justice finally stopped and pulled Fisher around.

Fisher felt the man’s hands shaking as they swept over him, yanking at his clothes and feeling down his arms. Justice crouched in front of him, running his hands down his legs.

“Where did she hit you?” Pure panic filled the big former soldier’s voice and Fisher reached down to yank Justice up.

He crowded in close. The heart beneath his cheek was racing and Justice was panting.

“She missed.”

“Fuck.” The word came out strangled from Justice.

Fisher’s own heart was pounding. She’d missed him by a fucking hair. He’d been so focused on cutting up the asshole in front of him, he’d completely missed when she’d pulled a gun.

They stood hugging for a long fucking time and Fisher was okay with it. They’d eventually call in the cleaners to take care of the site and make their way back West, but for a few more seconds, they could take this moment in time.

His arms squeezed Justice tighter and the man cradled him closer as if recharging.

Right then, they both needed this.

Justice was still feeling the after-effects of the job a few days later.

Fisher, on the other hand, didn’t seem phased by it, but then again, Fisher hadn’t been in his shoes. When the man of his thoughts came into the bedroom, Justice pulled himself up to rest against the headboard.

The cleaners hadn’t been able to get there before the cops, so that meant Chicago law enforcement was searching for vigilantes. Good damned thing they lived out West and Real, the Genesis commander, would take care of anything that turned the law in their direction. If Genesis couldn’t make that happen, then there was always their boss, the former Secretary of Defense.

Fisher flipped the laptop in his hands around and scrolled through the Erebus job boards.

“Oh, this one looks good.”

“No rest?”

“Old man.”

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