the song for this chapter is "Icky Thump," by The White Stripes :)

***********

Icky thump
With the lump in my throat
Grab my coat
And I was freaking
I was ready to go

***********

Harry

   It had been one week since Tate and I decided that we were going to make a run for it. Poor Abel had been working on the fake software morning and night, trying to perfect it, and he finally did. 

  Just as I had predicted, Whit was more than happy when I informed him that we would be done earlier than expected. I couldn't deny that the lies I had been feeding him over the last week left a bad taste in my mouth, but I knew that I had to do it. 

   Maybe one day he would learn to forgive me, but I had to learn to live with it even if he didn't.

    Tate and I already had everything that we needed to be packed ready, prepared to leave at a moment's notice. 

    I knew that it would probably take them at least a day to figure out that the software was fake, which gave Tate and me plenty of time to get on our flight to Spain. 

    If I didn't have the job that I have, I'd be a lot more nervous about this. But going off the radar for me was like second nature. I was used to not only killing people face to face, but also doing it behind the scenes, or making it look like an accident.

    The people who would come after us may be able to. find us eventually, but I'll make sure to give them a damn hard time in doing so.

       Today was the day that this shitshow was supposed to go down. Everyone at the Fort was buzzing with excitement, and Abel and I were playing the part perfectly. Even Tate managed to keep her calm cool and collected aura as she sat at the conference table with us while we waited for Whit and Grayson, lazily pushing her foot off the ground to swivel back and forth in the chair. 

   I told Abel that he could let Niall in on what was going on once Tate and I had already left. As much as I didn't want to, I was holding off on telling Will. After the confrontation he had with Tate on the plane, my guard still remained up. 

   Abel had run a few mock tests and used it to hack into some petty accounts and shown Whit, and that was all he needed to see. He trusted Abel with everything, so he had no reason to start doubting him now.

    The doors to the conference room swung open, revealing the smug faces of Whit, Grayson, and James, and they all strode into the room, swinging their arms and looking as though they were on top of the world.

    "Good morning gentleman, and women," Whit quipped, nodding his head towards Tate.

 She gave him a lazy half-smile and threw up a peace sign in response. 

   Neither of the men sat down, as it was nearly time for us to leave, we had just been waiting for their commands.

 "Okay, so, everyone familiar with the plan? Grayson goes to meet with Quinton, and while James, Tate, Niall, and I wait in the cars, Harry, Will, and Abel will go in to install the software. And then, we get the hell out of there," Whit spoke, and all of us nodded in agreement. 

      Grayson cleared his throat and we all turned to him.

 "I would just like to thank all of you for your assistance in this matter. I know we all are looking forward to looking past our differences in order to take down that bastard Beck. It has been a pleasure working with you all," he spoke.

   We all murmured our polite replies, but I was just itching to get this over with.

 "Well then, are we ready?" Whit asked, seeming to read my mind.

   We all stood and exited the conference room. Tate gave me a subtle nod of encouragement as she walked past me to trail behind Niall. I felt better knowing that she would at least have him to look out for her while we were inside. 

    The plan was for Grayson and James to take one car, and for us to take two other cars on the way there. Which worked out perfectly, as I planned on making a run for it as soon as we were finished here. I would be driving one of the cars with Tate on the way there, and then once I had to go inside, she would wait in the car with Niall and Whit.

  We went down to the first floor and everyone else went outside to the cars, but as we were about to exit, Ralph stopped Tate and me.

  "You take care of her, Styles," he instructed, pointing a warning finger in my face.

  "I will, Ralph, I promise," I assured him.

   He reached out and hugged Tate, and I chuckled lightly as they pulled back and he looked up at me again, and I expected another nagging comment, but instead, he pulled me in and gave me a one-armed hug, slapping me lightly on the back.

    I was so shocked by his actions that I was just frozen for a moment or two, before I was finally able to return his action, lightly patting him on his back.

  "You take care of yourself too kid. You're not that bad after all," he mumbled, and I don't know why, but his words meant a lot more to me than I thought they would.

  I pulled back and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Ralph, you're not too bad yourself," I grinned.

   He rolled his eyes but smiled a little bit.

  "Alright, be careful guys, I'll see you soon," he waved us off as he turned around.

   And I kind of faltered for a minute because I realized that he actually probably wouldn't see us. Maybe ever again. 

   And he just fucking warmed up to me. 

    I placed my hand on the small of Tate's back and guided her out to the back parking lot, where Whit was sitting in one of the cars in the passenger seat, the door wide open, his leg carelessly hanging outside of the car, tapping on his watch.

 "Tick tock Styles! Let's fucking go!" he cried out dramatically. 

 "Calm down, I'm going, sheesh!" I replied, putting my hands up defensively and laughing a bit as Tate and I walked over to my car. 

   The second that our doors were closed, Grayson and James started driving, Whit, Niall, Tate, and I following closely behind. 

   Tate was looking down at her hands in her lap, twiddling her thumbs.

 "Are you okay?" I asked.

  She let out a sigh. "Yeah, I just...you're sure we can get away in time?" She asked softly.

 I reached one hand over to grasp one of her smaller ones, squeezing it gently.

 "I promise, baby. Don't worry. It will take them at least half a day if not a full one to realize that the software isn't doing what it's supposed to," I assured her. 

  "And Abel will be okay?" She questioned.

  "Yes, Abel will be okay. Don't worry about anything. We will be on a plane to Spain before you know it," I smiled, quickly flitting my eyes over to hers.

   "Okay, you're right," she sighed and relaxed into the seat a bit. 

  The rest of the drive was pretty silent, as I think both of us were trying to mentally prepare ourselves for what was to come. I watched as I saw brake lights ahead of us, and shortly after, Grayson's car pulled to the back entrance of a building, and we parked behind him.

     Tate and I got out of the car and I walked her over to Whit's car. Right as we approached, Will and Abel got out of the car.

    Tate stared up at all of us, her mouth pressed into a straight line before she finally spoke.

 "Be careful, okay? All of you," she instructed. We all nodded and smiled down at her small frame before she hopped into the back seat of the car.

    Right as we were walking past the car, the front window rolled down, and we saw Whit leaning over Niall.

  "Remember guys-" he began, but I cut him off.

   "Yeah, yeah, yeah, get in, get out, no screw-ups, no loose ends, and no witnesses," I groaned, repeating a very common phrase we heard from our boss before a mission.

    Whit smirked at us and rolled his eyes. "Okay, hotshots, go do the damn thing then," he laughed, flicking us off. 

    We all approached Grayson and James, who were leaning against the side of their car without a care in the world. 

    "Alright, gents, let's do this thing. The control room for everything is down the hall from Beck's office. His office is on the third floor, and the only other people who should be in that hall are three security men. Beck is such a fucking prick, he needs a whole damn floor to himself. Use the stairway to get up there. You need to split up once you're on the floor. Abel, you go down the right side of the hall to the control room, and Will and Harry, you two need to man the left side, that is predominantly where the security is. James will be sitting in the middle in the waiting area to keep an eye out for you," he instructed, going over the same plan we had already heard a million times now. 

      "Got it," Will sighed, sounding just as annoyed as I felt for having to listen to the same speech on repeat.  

     "Okay then! Brilliant! James and I will go enter through the front entrance, while you all go in through the stairwell!" He rattled on, but the three of us were already walking to the stairwell door.

    "I think if he had said one more thing, I would've blown his brains out, alliance or not. We are fucking professionals for fuck's sake, not toddlers," Will grumbled.

    "Agreed. You guys know I love a well-laid plan, but fuck they need to shut up," Abel quipped and I chuckled at his little snappy moment.

    "Abel, you have a gun on you, right?" I clarified, not wanting him to be on his own and unarmed.

   Abel smiled proudly as he lifted up the edge of his shirt, revealing the pistol tucked into his waistband.

   "Look at you! You're becoming a natural!" I joked, and he shrugged as we reached the door to the stairwell.

   "Might have to replace you guys at this point," he sighed sarcastically. 

  We cut the laughter as soon as Will picked the lock to the stairwell, slowly pulling the door open and allowing Abel and I to slip inside, and closing it gently behind us before following us up the metal stairs.

      Will and I held our guns in the ready position, sandwiching Abel in between us as we made our way from floor to floor. 

   Finally, we saw the number three etched onto the back of one of the doors. I looked back at Abel.

   "You ready?" I whispered.

  "I was born ready, Styles," he replied softly, smiling a bit as he spoke. 

  We had already seen a layout of this floor, about as many times as we had been instructed on what to do once we got there. So, when I opened the door, Abel went to the right, while Will and I went to the left.

   The walls were all a dark mahogany wood, that almost looked red in the lighting that they had.

 Will and I crept down the hallway, being ready and alert for any and all security that we could possibly encounter. 

     I furrowed my brows as we continued to walk down the hallway. 

  There was no one here. 

The only door that was even on this hallway was at the very end. I looked back at Will, to find a similar expression to my own etched onto his face. 

  "Where the fuck is everyone?" he hissed, bringing his gun up a little more and looking around. 

 "I have no fucking clue, maybe they're in there," I suggest, jerking my head towards the door at the end of the hall. 

     I kept walking until I finally reached the door, but what I saw written on the small plaque did nothing to reassure me in any way.

   It made me feel like my heart fucking stopped. 

  "Does that say what I think it fucking says?" Will whisper yelled next to me.

  "Yeah, it fucking does," I seethed,

   Right there on the door, etched onto the plaque, were the words:

Electrical Facilities.

    Which is where Abel was supposed to be, not us. 

My stomach churned inside of my body and I felt my blood boiling with anger.

  There was no way we made a mistake. We had studies those blueprints until we had headaches.  This was a fucking set up. The only question now was, 

   Who the fuck were we being set up by?

 My heart plummeted when I heard the shouts from the other end of the hall. 

 "Will! Harry!" I heard Abel's voice shout from the end of the hall.

 Will and I instantly reacted, turning on our heels and sprinting to the opposite end of the hall.

 My heart was pounding in my head and I knew Will probably felt the same way.

 Abel was all of our little group's adopted little brother. No one messed with him. 

 I needed to know what the fuck was going on. Right fucking now.

Will and I skidded to a stop when we located Abel, but who we located him with left my head spinning. 

   "Grayson? What the fuck?" I shouted, pointing my gun at him.

  Grayson had Abel pinned up against the wall, and my eyes trailed down until they landed on what was tightly grasped in Grayson's fist.

The software.

  "Mr. Styles, Mr. Brennan don't you know that it's rude to ignore people?" An irritatingly familiar voice suddenly spoke out, and I had to stop myself from pulling the trigger right then and there as Quinton and James suddenly stepped out from around the corner. 

   "Let him go," Will snapped, venom dripping off of his lips. 

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't. But I can assure you that your little attitude won't help your friend out one bit," Quinton replied smugly. 

  "What the fuck is going on here?" I asked as calmly as I could, not wanting my anger to cause Abel to get hurt.

  "It's honestly a really funny story!" Quinton chuckled, clasping his hands together in front of his chest. "You see, while you all thought you were so smart in forming an alliance with Grayson, little did you know, he had already formed an alliance with me," he smirked.

   His smug little expression only grew as he watched all of our faces drop.

He clapped his hands together, laughing. "Ah! Yes! This was just the reaction that I had been hoping for! See, we knew you had come into contact with the software, and so, well, basically, you did all of the work for us in cracking it! I should be thanking you!" He continued, and I was so close to snapping his neck, and if Abel's life wasn't at risk, I would have already done it.

   "Why the fuck would you let us kill two of your men? And what about that tech guy you killed, Grayson?" Will snapped, his words barely making it out of his tightly gritted teeth. 

   Grayson threw his head back in laughter, and James awkwardly chuckled. He looked a little regretful but at the end of the day, he was just as much of a lying bastard as Grayson and Quinton were.

  "That fucker was actually going to rat me out to you all! I couldn't let that happen! And as for the men you killed when you thought you were saving James, they were just a couple of useless trainees. You of all people should know how expendable things and people are when you have a goal in mind," Grayson replied, an evil grin on his lips. 

    I was way past a boiling point in my anger. I was a bitter ball of flames and fury as I stared them down.

  "Who the fuck was coming after us then? At both of the safehouses?" I demanded to know.

   Quinton tutted a bit before replying. "Well, my boss is a rather impatient man. He wanted to have some insurance just in case for some reason the alliance fell through. He's been after this for quite a long time," he explained.

   "Your boss?" Abel suddenly asked.

   "Did you really think this all ended with me? This goes much deeper than just me or Grayson," Quinton chuckled.

    Suddenly, Quinton shifted his eyes over to me, a devious look on his face.

"Oh, and Styles, I bet you're wondering why James and Tate walked home together that one night, aren't you? How is that little girlfriend of yours? She is rather fit I will admit," he laughed.

    I took one step forward but Will put his arm in front of me to block me.

 "Shut the fuck up. Don't make me put a fucking bullet in between your teeth," I seethed, ready to rip them all to shreds far worse than I had to the men who had taken Tate in Scotland.

   "Oh, calm down," Quinton sighed dismissively. "Anyways, as I was saying. We've known Tate's little connection with this software for years now. That's why James bought an apartment at the Lotus anyway. We've been watching her mother and her for a long time. We were planning on taking her or her mother at some point anyway, but once you perked up at the mention of her name, we once again decided to let you do our work for us," he chuckled darkly. 

     My grip on the gun tightened, and I wanted so badly to bash it against his skull.

  "It's probably a good thing you got to her first. Looking as good as she does, there's no telling what we would have done if we had grabbed her," he continued to prod me, trying his best to set me off, and it would have worked if Abel's life wasn't in danger.

    "Who the fuck do you work for?" Will demanded, just as enraged as I was.

  "Oh, don't worry, I'm sure you'll find out eventually. But for now, I have a little gift for you all! In return for doing quite literally everything for us, I'm going to allow you all to live. You have five minutes to get the fuck out of this building, or I will kill all of you, and then I'll take my time killing your little girlfriend outside," he threatened looking right at me. 

     I gritted my teeth together so tightly, I feared my teeth might break.

  "Thanks again for all of your help," he sneered. 

   Grayson tossed him the software and he caught it, slipping it in his pocket.

  "Your time starts in three, two...one," he spoke, and Grayson shoved Abel towards us.

 I wanted to shoot them, we all did, but we couldn't risk Tate's life, or anyone else's for that matter, so we all started running back towards the stairs, hearing the three pieces of shit chuckling faintly behind us as we sprinted back to the cars. 

   The metal stairs creaked under our feet as we descended down them at a record speed. 

 "Fucking pricks!" Will shouted, angry puffs of air leaving his lips as we finally reached the first floor, throwing the door open and sprinting to the cars. 

  "Abel, Will, you take one car, I'm getting in with them to fill them in. We will meet at the Fort. Abel, I'll tell them everything," I huffed, and Will gave me a confused look.

 "Harry, are you sure?" Abel called out hesitantly.

  "I have to now, we don't have a choice! Tell Will in the car!" I shouted, turning around and sprinting towards the other car.

    I flung open the back door to reveal a very perplexed looking Tate, looking startled at my appearance. I jumped in the car and slammed the door behind me.

  "Fucking drive!" I screamed, and Niall and Whit looked at me in confusion.

  "Styles, what the fu-" Whit began, but I wasn't having it.

 "We have exactly two minutes to get the fuck out of here before we all die, so I suggest you put your fucking foot on the gas, Niall," I demanded, and he immediately turned the car on and began flooring it out of the parking lot.

   Tate stared at me with her mouth open, and Whit turned around to yell at me.

 "Do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" He screamed.

   I gripped the back of Niall's seat tightly and felt myself fuming.

   "Yeah. We have a fucking problem."

AN: WOW. I BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GONNA HAPPEN? I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! ILY ALL SO MUCH! xx