Brontide

Chris hurried to close the windows and curtains, while Rae watched. He kept an eye on Jeremy out of the corner of his eye. He had heard about his type, but how did he not see it before? How did he not suspect it? It wasn't until gunfire had shattered the windows and the three of them hit the deck when a pair of dog tags fell out of Jeremy's shirt, only validating what Chris had read on the computer file.

It was simple, could've passed for a weird fashion statement. One of them had Jeremy's information, like always, and the other had a circle with the letters "WCA" engraved into it. How had he not suspected it sooner? Chris knew that Jeremy knew exactly what he did. There was no other way that Chris would know what the WCA was unless he was part of the East Coast Organization, ECO.

"Chris," Rae called him, her expression calm but panicked at the same time. "What. Is. Going. On."

"Why don't you ask him?" Chris jerked his chin towards Jeremy, who awkwardly looked away.

"You mean you knew that would happen?" Rae looked at him, confused.

"Of course not," Jeremy rolled his eyes, "Why would I take you there f I knew?"

"I don't know anything anymore," Rae groaned, rubbing her eyes.

"What are you doing out of Los Angeles, anyway?" Chris snapped.

"What are you doing preying on innocent women?" Jeremy glared at him.

"I could ask you the same thing," Jeremy sat down next to Rae, and Fran hopped away, casually rubbing up against Rae's leg before running off.

"You guys!" Rae was yelling now. "If someone doesn't tell me what's going on in five seconds, I'm going to shank a hoe!"

"You want to know what's up? Fine," Chris glared at Jeremy. "Your friend there comes from a massive alliance of the most brutal criminals who don't kill, but torture information out of people until they crack. He's not a killer, probably not a techie. No, he's a spy. He's probably here to-"

"Your boyfriend's a merciless murderer that widows wives and orphans children for no reason but extra cash!" Jeremy interrupted, standing up and yelling at Chris rather than telling Rae.

Rae sat on the couch with her arms limp at her sides, jaw open in disbelief. She kept looking from Jeremy to Chris, who both looked like they were about to melt.

"This is a mean joke," she said monotonously.

"Yeah," Jeremy and Chris said simultaneously, looking at each other with nothing but hatred.

Chris grabbed his keys, gesturing for them to follow. Rae got up right away, but Jeremy hesitated. Chris turned at the doorway, pursing his lips.

"You could stay here and have George the robot snipe you," Chris said.

"George, too?" Rae gasped.

"Or," Chris ignored her, "You could take the 50% chance with me and not get your throat slit today."

"Why?" Jeremy narrowed his eyes.

"The same reason you haven't put that knife in your back pocket to my neck yet," Chris smirked. "It's a little too much for Rae to handle."

Jeremy showed a hint of a half-smile as Rae frustratedly stomped her foot.

"I'll explain later," Chris muttered, going out the door as Rae and Jeremy followed.

He half-jogged down to the parking garage, giving his beautiful black car a longing look.

"Sorry, Roxanne," he mumbled. "I'll miss you."

"What?" Rae asked, looking to the car.

Chris stepped up to the car, opening the trunk and lifting up the layer of soft carpet that hid what was underneath. He stuck a revolver in his waistband, throwing another one to Jeremy. He figured that Jeremy would know how to use it.

"Like the Impala!" Rae said, slightly delirious.

Closing the trunk, he took Rae's hand and led her past the car, all the way down to the end of the garage, where an old truck was parked. He climbed up into the drivers seat, nodding for Rae and Jeremy to follow. Jeremy came in right away, tucking away the gun.

"Wait, I've totally seen this truck before," Rae blinked. "In the alley that night I saw- Oh. My. God."

"Get in," Chris almost begged. Rae got in, looking behind her as he sped away.

"Please tell me the complete truth," Rae said softly.

"When we get there, okay?"

"Okay."

Chris drove until they were out of the city, all the way to the abandoned warehouse he used for "persuasive" purposes. The three of them went inside, everyone on guard as they searched. Rae grabbed Chris's arm, pulling him in.

"Tell me. Now."