Post by Robb (Owner) on Nov 3, 2024 19:54:03 GMT -8
Olly had been waiting for her for a while after the show ended. There was no reason to worry, she had the Reeves sisters watching her back, and even though he had no sympathy or respect for them, he could count on the fact that they would keep her safe as long as she was in there.
He put out the half-smoked cigarette on the gym wall when he saw the door opening, she didn’t like it when he smoked. With most people, he wouldn’t care. Actually, he would probably light them up one after the other, chain smoking just to annoy them. But McKena Hardy wasn’t “most people”, she was a fellow Division member, a former tag team partner, a friend.
Especially after Faith’s death, Mac truly did her best to pull him out from the hole he was digging for himself. Not that he asked her to do it, or that he felt he needed a shoulder to cry on, but there have been days when just feeling her presence around, when seeing her smile would be the comfort he didn’t know he needed. But those days were rarer and rarer now. Oftentimes he would just ignore her attempts to approach him, to have a friendly conversation, maybe even get him to open up and take off a bit of that weight he was carrying on his back.
“Hey Mac.” He greeted her with an inkling smile. She asked him to wait for her at the end of Ignition’s first episode. With everything that went down with Charli and the Southie clan, with how she outsmarted them frustrating their plan to jump her on the controversial Student vs Trainer match, expecting a retaliation wasn’t by any means a longshot. The Division Mansion wasn’t too far, a fifteen minute walk, a little over a mile east. It was a pleasant night, a star-studded sky over their heads and moonlight illuminating their steps as they began to walk away from the building.
“Looks like your plan worked.” He didn’t ask for permission. His gesture, as kind and considerate as carrying her back was, carried that brusqueness that was almost a trademark of her friend’s personality.
McKena let out a tired laugh as she glanced over at Olly, a small smirk crossing over her lips. “Yeah, I guess it did work out, huh? Not the smoothes plan, but sometimes all you can do is throw yourself into the fire and hope it burns everyone else worse.”
Hardy paused for a moment, looking up at the star filled sky as they walked together. McKena was contemplating life lately, and as she looked up at the constellations, it was as if she were looking for the answers to all of her questions. “It feels like every day is a new war. Between Charli and everything else that’s been going on the last few years, it’s like I’m constantly fighting to prove something.” McKena’s voice softened slightly as she was showing her vulnerability. “I just… I don’t know, Olly. I’m tired. So damn tired.”
Mac paused, trying to choose her words carefully, still scared to reveal too much but feeling the urge to let some of it out, though everything inside of her, all of her being, wanted to tell Olly everything. “I… I look around, and it’s like, I don’t know who I am anymore or how I fit in. I don’t know who I am anymore…”
She trailed off, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck. “I just… I just wish someone understood what I’m going through. What all of this has been doing to me.” McKena swallowed hard before forcing a tired smile. “But yeah, you’re right. My plan worked.” She quickly changed the subject as she let the silence settle between the two. McKena gave him a sidelong glance to see how Olly would respond, wondering if he would catch the weight of what she was trying to say without fully saying it.
“No, I get it.” His reply came after a long moment when the soft sound of their footsteps on the autumn leaves was all that could be heard in that unusually quiet night. “Feeling like you’re losing yourself every day, little by little. I can relate to that.” It was a rare moment of honesty for someone who never truly disclosed his feelings to anyone. And it took McKena off guard. “Feeling like a leaf in the wind, getting pushed left and right by events you can’t control. I’ve been there too.”
McKena’s steps slowed as her gaze became fixed on the leaves they were stepping on while listening to Olly. She didn’t expect him to open up and relate. “Yeah… it’s like, every single decision that I make feels like it’s not even mine sometimes. Like I’m just going through the motions and doing things for everyone but me. I don’t fight for myself.”
She exhaled, her breath was visible in the cold, crisp air. “And when I try to stand up and fight, when I think I’m finally doing something for me? It feels like I’m just digging a deeper hole. I don’t even know who I’m doing this for anymore.” Mac glanced over at him, a hint of vulnerability once again in her eyes. “But you already knew that feeling, huh?”
He nodded, a million thoughts racing through his mind. “I do, But I feel like I reached the bottom of that hole, I can’t dig any deeper and there’s no way I can climb out of it.” There was a profound sadness in his voice, his dark eyes glued on the ground under his feet. “But you still have the chance to save yourself, you still have the chance to take control and embrace who you really are.”
He stopped, finally lifting his head and turning it to meet McKena’s. “You still have people who care about you, they can help you with that.” Another pause, as if the simple words he wanted to say refused to come out of his lips. “I can help you with that.”
Mac didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. The weight of everything she had been holding back, the walls that she had kept up for so long, finally broke under the simple, honest offer of help. McKena quickly wrapped her arms tightly around Olly, burying her face into his shoulder. She clung to him as tears began to stream down her face as a flood of emotions began to overwhelm her. Everything that she had been feeling; the pain, the fear, the exhaustion… It all came out. For a moment, for the first time in over two years, McKena felt seen and it was just what she needed. Someone who understood her.
Her sobs were shaking her body, her tears wetting his shirt. He held her tightly for what seemed like an eternity. He always felt a connection between them, he always suspected she had feelings for him. And buried deep under that pain weighing his soul, perhaps he was feeling the same. His hands moved from her back to her shoulders, rubbing gently up and down her arms.
I’ll do it.
It happened in the blink of an eye, like a switch being flicked. He pushed her back into the wall with all his strength, the back of her skull hitting the bricks violently. She didn’t even have the time to be surprised, everything around her became darkness before she could even realize what happened. Her limp body fell forward, right back into his arms. He held her a little longer, almost cradling her as he gently laid her on the ground.
His eyes remained on her still body, a trickle of blood smearing her jet black hair. He reached inside, lighting up another cigarette. Next he picked up his phone.
“It’s done.”
Julian’s voice could be heard coming from the phone, he sounded unbothered. “Bring her back to the manion and we’ll decide what to do with her once she’s here. This is just the beginning.” He paused for a moment. “Be quick. We have more plans to discuss.”
“We’re five hundred feet away, send Ozzie.” He wasn’t going to wait for an answer, aware that it would likely be negative. He shut down the call instead, and sat next to McKena’s body.
His hand moved over on her injured head, a gentle stroke through her hair. “You’re free now.” He said, leaning his head back against the same wall and waiting for Ozzie to come.
Ozzie strolled up under the cold moonlight, his footsteps crunching on the gravel as he slowly approached Olly and McKena, both near the wall outside. He took in the sight of McKena being unconscious with a devious smirk. Ozzie’s gaze dripped with disdain as he looked at McKena next to Olly.
“Well, isn’t this a pretty picture,” Ozzie sneered as a twisted grin played on his lips. “The fearless Antihero, McKena Hardy, down for the count. All of that talk and fire and here you are, out cold. It’s almost poetic.”
Oz crouched down, leaning close enough to MCKena. “Traitors always end up like this, don’t they? Thinking they can just walk away from The Division, from Julian, from you, from all of us. Naive as hell, if you ask me.”
Ozzie straightened up as he gave Olly a smug look. “Nice work, Olly. I suppose she never saw it coming, huh? Then again, I suppose they never do. You must have played on her feelings well, didn’t you? It’s fun putting on a facade to get someone to let their guard down and then BAM! You crush them.”
Ozzie’s gaze drifted back to McKena. “I don’t understand why we have to take her back to the mansion. Why not just leave her here to rot?”
“We’re not bringing her back to the Mansion.” Olly spoke as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet. Ozzie glanced over at him, shooting a confused and perplexed look to his fellow Division member. Was he going to disobey Julian’s orders? That would be so uncharacteristic. “You’ll take her back. I’m done here.” He walked past Ozzie, shooting one final glance to Mac. And again, that cold grip squeezing his heart, a pain he was getting familiar with. Another piece of his soul ripped away, another friend left behind. A single tear forming in his eyes when he thought that well was exhausted back in May.
Ozzie tilted his head as he looked at Olly with a furrowed brow. “Oh, so you actually cared about her, huh? The ‘dumb bitch’ got under your skin or what?” Ozzie said with sarcasm. “Out of everyone in The Division, I figured you’d be the last person to go soft. Maybe you’re not as cold-blooded as you pretend to be.”
Ozzie paused, letting his words hang in the air before a grin crossed over his lips. Ozzie was always jealous of the relationship that Olly had with his older brother, Julian, and he saw this as his opportunity to finally get under his skin. “I wonder what Faith would think right now, seeing you like this… almost playing hero for someone else. Pathetic.”
Olly’s fist clenched at the mere mention of Faith’s name. He turned around, meeting Ozzie’s taunting grin… And he clocked him with a right hand straight on the face. The young Savell never saw it coming, never would he have thought that Olly, his brother’s right hand, would go this far. And the worst was yet to come.
Ozzie started to squirm, trying to regain a vertical position but Olly was almost instantly on top of him. With one knee, he pinned Savell’s hand, blocking the other one with a firm grasp on the wrist, trapping him on the dirty ground.
“Do you know what’s cold, Ozzie?” Calm, low, hsi voice possessed that dark vibe that instantly made it threatening. Olly’s free hand reached down his leg, pulling out a switchblade from inside his boot. He flicked it open, hovering it in front of Ozzie’s eyes for a moment before the blade pressed against his cheek. Not to cut him, just to make him feel that it was there, inches away from his eye.
“Can you feel it, Oz?” He spoke again, this time getting closer to the young man’s face. “This is what is cold. A tool. The arm that wields it now? That’s not cold. Rage, frustration, sadness, love even. Those are some of the emotions that can drive it, but the arm can work through them and finish the job it was supposed to do.” With a swift yet controlled flick of the wrist, he ran the blade across Ozzie’s cheek. It wasn’t a deep cut, just enough to draw blood without leaving a permanent scar. Not that the young Savell needed one to remember this night.
Olly cleaned the blade on his jeans, closing the weapon and putting it back in its place. He slowly stood up, letting Ozzie free. And yet, he didn’t move. “This is the difference between you and me, Ozzie. This is why Julian chose me as one of the Division trainers and you’re one of my students. Remember that.”
A low groan came from behind him, but he didn’t turn around. “She’s waking up. Now do what you came here to do.” He started to walk away, without waiting for a reply or confirmation from him. “And the next time you mention Faith, you better be doing that to defend her name from your friends talking shit. You hear me?”
Hours later, at The Division mansion, McKena Hardy lay unconscious on the cold marble floor of a dimly lit room. Her wrists and ankles were bound, a bruise forming on her temple where Olly had struck her. Slowly, her eyes began to flutter open, her vision blurry, her head pounding.
Jack’s hand found hers, giving it a weak but reassuring squeeze. “Ain’t your fault, Mac… They’re gonna pay for this. Trust me… They’ll pay.”
The camera slowly panned away, capturing the two of them—Jack, broken but defiant, and McKena, holding him close, her gaze hardening with the promise of vengeance. The scene faded to black, leaving only the memory of Julian and Ozzie’s laughter hanging in the air.
He put out the half-smoked cigarette on the gym wall when he saw the door opening, she didn’t like it when he smoked. With most people, he wouldn’t care. Actually, he would probably light them up one after the other, chain smoking just to annoy them. But McKena Hardy wasn’t “most people”, she was a fellow Division member, a former tag team partner, a friend.
Especially after Faith’s death, Mac truly did her best to pull him out from the hole he was digging for himself. Not that he asked her to do it, or that he felt he needed a shoulder to cry on, but there have been days when just feeling her presence around, when seeing her smile would be the comfort he didn’t know he needed. But those days were rarer and rarer now. Oftentimes he would just ignore her attempts to approach him, to have a friendly conversation, maybe even get him to open up and take off a bit of that weight he was carrying on his back.
“Hey Mac.” He greeted her with an inkling smile. She asked him to wait for her at the end of Ignition’s first episode. With everything that went down with Charli and the Southie clan, with how she outsmarted them frustrating their plan to jump her on the controversial Student vs Trainer match, expecting a retaliation wasn’t by any means a longshot. The Division Mansion wasn’t too far, a fifteen minute walk, a little over a mile east. It was a pleasant night, a star-studded sky over their heads and moonlight illuminating their steps as they began to walk away from the building.
“Looks like your plan worked.” He didn’t ask for permission. His gesture, as kind and considerate as carrying her back was, carried that brusqueness that was almost a trademark of her friend’s personality.
McKena let out a tired laugh as she glanced over at Olly, a small smirk crossing over her lips. “Yeah, I guess it did work out, huh? Not the smoothes plan, but sometimes all you can do is throw yourself into the fire and hope it burns everyone else worse.”
Hardy paused for a moment, looking up at the star filled sky as they walked together. McKena was contemplating life lately, and as she looked up at the constellations, it was as if she were looking for the answers to all of her questions. “It feels like every day is a new war. Between Charli and everything else that’s been going on the last few years, it’s like I’m constantly fighting to prove something.” McKena’s voice softened slightly as she was showing her vulnerability. “I just… I don’t know, Olly. I’m tired. So damn tired.”
Mac paused, trying to choose her words carefully, still scared to reveal too much but feeling the urge to let some of it out, though everything inside of her, all of her being, wanted to tell Olly everything. “I… I look around, and it’s like, I don’t know who I am anymore or how I fit in. I don’t know who I am anymore…”
She trailed off, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck. “I just… I just wish someone understood what I’m going through. What all of this has been doing to me.” McKena swallowed hard before forcing a tired smile. “But yeah, you’re right. My plan worked.” She quickly changed the subject as she let the silence settle between the two. McKena gave him a sidelong glance to see how Olly would respond, wondering if he would catch the weight of what she was trying to say without fully saying it.
“No, I get it.” His reply came after a long moment when the soft sound of their footsteps on the autumn leaves was all that could be heard in that unusually quiet night. “Feeling like you’re losing yourself every day, little by little. I can relate to that.” It was a rare moment of honesty for someone who never truly disclosed his feelings to anyone. And it took McKena off guard. “Feeling like a leaf in the wind, getting pushed left and right by events you can’t control. I’ve been there too.”
McKena’s steps slowed as her gaze became fixed on the leaves they were stepping on while listening to Olly. She didn’t expect him to open up and relate. “Yeah… it’s like, every single decision that I make feels like it’s not even mine sometimes. Like I’m just going through the motions and doing things for everyone but me. I don’t fight for myself.”
She exhaled, her breath was visible in the cold, crisp air. “And when I try to stand up and fight, when I think I’m finally doing something for me? It feels like I’m just digging a deeper hole. I don’t even know who I’m doing this for anymore.” Mac glanced over at him, a hint of vulnerability once again in her eyes. “But you already knew that feeling, huh?”
He nodded, a million thoughts racing through his mind. “I do, But I feel like I reached the bottom of that hole, I can’t dig any deeper and there’s no way I can climb out of it.” There was a profound sadness in his voice, his dark eyes glued on the ground under his feet. “But you still have the chance to save yourself, you still have the chance to take control and embrace who you really are.”
He stopped, finally lifting his head and turning it to meet McKena’s. “You still have people who care about you, they can help you with that.” Another pause, as if the simple words he wanted to say refused to come out of his lips. “I can help you with that.”
Mac didn’t say a word. She couldn’t. The weight of everything she had been holding back, the walls that she had kept up for so long, finally broke under the simple, honest offer of help. McKena quickly wrapped her arms tightly around Olly, burying her face into his shoulder. She clung to him as tears began to stream down her face as a flood of emotions began to overwhelm her. Everything that she had been feeling; the pain, the fear, the exhaustion… It all came out. For a moment, for the first time in over two years, McKena felt seen and it was just what she needed. Someone who understood her.
Her sobs were shaking her body, her tears wetting his shirt. He held her tightly for what seemed like an eternity. He always felt a connection between them, he always suspected she had feelings for him. And buried deep under that pain weighing his soul, perhaps he was feeling the same. His hands moved from her back to her shoulders, rubbing gently up and down her arms.
I’ll do it.
It happened in the blink of an eye, like a switch being flicked. He pushed her back into the wall with all his strength, the back of her skull hitting the bricks violently. She didn’t even have the time to be surprised, everything around her became darkness before she could even realize what happened. Her limp body fell forward, right back into his arms. He held her a little longer, almost cradling her as he gently laid her on the ground.
His eyes remained on her still body, a trickle of blood smearing her jet black hair. He reached inside, lighting up another cigarette. Next he picked up his phone.
“It’s done.”
Julian’s voice could be heard coming from the phone, he sounded unbothered. “Bring her back to the manion and we’ll decide what to do with her once she’s here. This is just the beginning.” He paused for a moment. “Be quick. We have more plans to discuss.”
“We’re five hundred feet away, send Ozzie.” He wasn’t going to wait for an answer, aware that it would likely be negative. He shut down the call instead, and sat next to McKena’s body.
His hand moved over on her injured head, a gentle stroke through her hair. “You’re free now.” He said, leaning his head back against the same wall and waiting for Ozzie to come.
Ozzie strolled up under the cold moonlight, his footsteps crunching on the gravel as he slowly approached Olly and McKena, both near the wall outside. He took in the sight of McKena being unconscious with a devious smirk. Ozzie’s gaze dripped with disdain as he looked at McKena next to Olly.
“Well, isn’t this a pretty picture,” Ozzie sneered as a twisted grin played on his lips. “The fearless Antihero, McKena Hardy, down for the count. All of that talk and fire and here you are, out cold. It’s almost poetic.”
Oz crouched down, leaning close enough to MCKena. “Traitors always end up like this, don’t they? Thinking they can just walk away from The Division, from Julian, from you, from all of us. Naive as hell, if you ask me.”
Ozzie straightened up as he gave Olly a smug look. “Nice work, Olly. I suppose she never saw it coming, huh? Then again, I suppose they never do. You must have played on her feelings well, didn’t you? It’s fun putting on a facade to get someone to let their guard down and then BAM! You crush them.”
Ozzie’s gaze drifted back to McKena. “I don’t understand why we have to take her back to the mansion. Why not just leave her here to rot?”
“We’re not bringing her back to the Mansion.” Olly spoke as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet. Ozzie glanced over at him, shooting a confused and perplexed look to his fellow Division member. Was he going to disobey Julian’s orders? That would be so uncharacteristic. “You’ll take her back. I’m done here.” He walked past Ozzie, shooting one final glance to Mac. And again, that cold grip squeezing his heart, a pain he was getting familiar with. Another piece of his soul ripped away, another friend left behind. A single tear forming in his eyes when he thought that well was exhausted back in May.
Ozzie tilted his head as he looked at Olly with a furrowed brow. “Oh, so you actually cared about her, huh? The ‘dumb bitch’ got under your skin or what?” Ozzie said with sarcasm. “Out of everyone in The Division, I figured you’d be the last person to go soft. Maybe you’re not as cold-blooded as you pretend to be.”
Ozzie paused, letting his words hang in the air before a grin crossed over his lips. Ozzie was always jealous of the relationship that Olly had with his older brother, Julian, and he saw this as his opportunity to finally get under his skin. “I wonder what Faith would think right now, seeing you like this… almost playing hero for someone else. Pathetic.”
Olly’s fist clenched at the mere mention of Faith’s name. He turned around, meeting Ozzie’s taunting grin… And he clocked him with a right hand straight on the face. The young Savell never saw it coming, never would he have thought that Olly, his brother’s right hand, would go this far. And the worst was yet to come.
Ozzie started to squirm, trying to regain a vertical position but Olly was almost instantly on top of him. With one knee, he pinned Savell’s hand, blocking the other one with a firm grasp on the wrist, trapping him on the dirty ground.
“Do you know what’s cold, Ozzie?” Calm, low, hsi voice possessed that dark vibe that instantly made it threatening. Olly’s free hand reached down his leg, pulling out a switchblade from inside his boot. He flicked it open, hovering it in front of Ozzie’s eyes for a moment before the blade pressed against his cheek. Not to cut him, just to make him feel that it was there, inches away from his eye.
“Can you feel it, Oz?” He spoke again, this time getting closer to the young man’s face. “This is what is cold. A tool. The arm that wields it now? That’s not cold. Rage, frustration, sadness, love even. Those are some of the emotions that can drive it, but the arm can work through them and finish the job it was supposed to do.” With a swift yet controlled flick of the wrist, he ran the blade across Ozzie’s cheek. It wasn’t a deep cut, just enough to draw blood without leaving a permanent scar. Not that the young Savell needed one to remember this night.
Olly cleaned the blade on his jeans, closing the weapon and putting it back in its place. He slowly stood up, letting Ozzie free. And yet, he didn’t move. “This is the difference between you and me, Ozzie. This is why Julian chose me as one of the Division trainers and you’re one of my students. Remember that.”
A low groan came from behind him, but he didn’t turn around. “She’s waking up. Now do what you came here to do.” He started to walk away, without waiting for a reply or confirmation from him. “And the next time you mention Faith, you better be doing that to defend her name from your friends talking shit. You hear me?”
Ozzie wiped the blood off his cheek, a twisted grin spreading across his face as he looked up at Olly, entirely unfazed by the blade or the pain. “Oh, Olly… Did you really think a little cut would rattle me?” He let out a dark chuckle, brushing his fingers over the thin line of blood. “All you’ve done is show me how weak you are for her. Kinda sad, really.”
He stood up, adjusting his clothes and throwing one last smirk in Olly’s direction. Ozzie’s gaze drifted to McKena, her face starting to show signs of consciousness, and he leaned down to scoop her up. As he hoisted her over his shoulder, he looked back at Olly, his grin as arrogant as ever. “Don’t worry, I’’ll make sure she gets the welcome home she deserves.”
He turned away, beginning to walk back toward The Division’s mansion. But as he moved, McKena stirred slightly, a faint, broken murmur escaping her lips. “…Olly…”
Ozzie paused just long enough to throw Olly a mocking glance, letting the weight of her whispered plea hang in the air. With a satisfied smirk, he continued forward, her voice growing fainter with each step as he carried her back into the darkness.
As her senses returned, she became aware of two figures standing before her. Julian Savell, smug and towering, and beside him, Ozzie, who looked down at her with a sadistic glint in his eye. Julian leaned forward, clasping his hands together, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he watched her struggle. “Welcome home, McKena. So good to have you back with us. You didn’t think you could just walk away, did you?”
McKena’s heart raced as she tried to piece together what had happened. Panic set in as she pulled at her bindings, her voice shaking. “Please… where’s Olly? Olly!”
Ozzie laughed, adjusting his fur coat and pushing his sunglasses down just enough to sneer at her, taunting her helplessness. “Oh, sweetheart, Olly’s not coming to save you. You’re here to pay the price for betraying The Division. Think of this as… a little reminder.”
Julian crossed his arms, nodding in agreement. His expression turned colder, more menacing, and he leaned down close to McKena’s face. “You made your choice, McKena. Now, you’re going to regret it.”
McKena’s eyes filled with tears, her voice rising in desperation as she looked around, pleading, “Olly, please… somebody…” Her breathing quickened, tears slipping down her face as she saw no way out. “Please, Olly… Help me!”
Suddenly, the door burst open, and in walked Jack Graves. His face was a storm of rage, his fists clenched as he took in the scene before him. His gaze locked on Julian and Ozzie, his voice a low, dangerous growl. “What the hell is going on here?”
Julian raised an eyebrow, surprised but not immediately threatened. He straightened up, letting out a soft chuckle. “Jack, I didn’t expect you. But as you can see, this doesn’t concern you. You might want to walk away.”
Jack’s eyes blazed with fury as he took a step forward, unflinching. “Walk away? Not a chance. You’re not laying a hand on her. If you need someone to take your beating, then beat me.”
Ozzie rolled his eyes, glancing at Julian with a smirk. “Oh, here comes the hero act. How noble.”
Julian hesitated, clearly torn between his desire to maintain control over Jack as an asset and the chance to punish him for this defiance. But the fury in Jack’s eyes left no room for negotiation. “Fine. If you’re so eager to be a martyr…”
He nodded to Ozzie, and together, they advanced on Jack. In a heartbeat, the two launched a brutal assault, fists and kicks raining down as Jack fought back with everything he had, determined to protect McKena. But the numbers and sheer cruelty of Julian and Ozzie quickly overwhelmed him. McKena screamed, tears streaming down her face as she struggled against her bonds.
“Stop! Stop it, please! Don’t do this! Let me take it! Jack, no!” The beating was merciless, with Jack enduring every blow, his face bloodied and bruised. As the assault finally came to an end, Jack lay motionless on the floor, barely conscious, his breaths shallow. Julian wiped a spot of blood from his knuckles, looking down at Jack with contempt.
"Call the Division doctors. Make sure he’s patched up just enough so he can remember this.” Ozzie sneered, pulling out his phone as Julian leaned down, his face inches from McKena’s.
“Consider yourself lucky, McKena. I had much worse planned for you. But Jack here, well… I actually like him. So I went easy.” McKena’s tears blurred her vision, but the anger building within her was unmistakable. She spat in Julian’s face, her defiance shining through despite her fear. Julian merely laughed, wiping the spit away with a smug grin.
Ozzie, still chuckling, cut the ropes binding her wrists. McKena wasted no time, scrambling over to Jack’s side. She gently lifted his head, her voice breaking as she whispered, “Jack… please, wake up.”
Jack’s eyes fluttered open, just barely, and he managed a weak, pained smirk. “Don’t… don’t cry for me, darlin’. I’m fine.” But even as he tried to reassure her, the damage was clear. Julian and Ozzie watched, unphased and pleased with the torment they had inflicted, as McKena clutched Jack, tears streaming down her face as she begged him to stay with her.
McKena cradled Jack’s head in her lap, her fingers trembling as she brushed the blood from his face, desperate to offer any comfort she could. Jack managed a faint smile, his Southern drawl just barely audible through the pain. “Ain’t nothin’… Just a scratch, darlin’. Don’t you… worry about me.”
But his words did little to soothe her; his broken state only deepened her anger and despair. McKena’s eyes shifted to Julian and Ozzie, who stood watching with satisfaction, reveling in the destruction they’d caused.
Julian leaned over, his voice low and dripping with cold amusement. “Remember this moment, McKena. This is what happens when you cross The Division. Jack may have saved you tonight, but next time, there won’t be anyone left to take your place.”
Ozzie chuckled, adjusting his sunglasses as he shot McKena one last, mocking look. “Sleep tight, sweetheart. I’m sure Olly sends his regards.”
With that, Julian motioned to Ozzie, and the two turned, walking out of the room with their laughter echoing down the hallway. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving McKena alone with Jack. She held him close, her tears falling onto his battered face as she whispered apologies over and over, her voice broken. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I’m so sorry… I never wanted this.”
As Jack’s voice faded, McKena clenched his hand tightly, her eyes narrowing with a newfound resolve. The cruelty she’d just endured, the price Jack had paid for her, ignited a fire within her. She wasn’t going to let this end here.