#bettel two

Pounding on the door alerts Phantom, the barking startling Twobert out of his gaming session to go answer. He peers through the peephole, eyes widening when he sees several figures dressed in all black. Phantom is scooped up quickly and shoved in his carrier, as Twobert grabs his phone and moves towards the back door. 

“C’mon shush- can’t give us away Phantom!”

The pounding resumes as he starts hearing shouting, moving to the fire escape quickly and heading up onto his neighbor’s balcony. Phantom luckily is satiated rather quickly with a Taco Bell burrito Twobert stashed in his pocket, pressing his back against the door and getting as far away from the edge as possible. He closes his eyes as he hears the figures break in, already trashing the place looking for him. Their boots clomp against the metal deck outside their apartment, and he hears the fire escape ladder squeak.

“He escaped out the back door! He’s gotta be down in the alley! Pan out!”

He lets out a breath quietly, texting his neighbor to unlock their backdoor and open it quietly. There’s a very brief moment before the door slowly slides behind him, the neighbor looking down at him with much concern, as they hear the men yelling around in the alleyway. Twobert is pulled into the apartment quickly, and the neighbor goes to the balcony to try and cover for him.

“Hey, you boys looking for your dog or something?”

“Oh don’t worry about us! Apologies for the noise, miss!”

“Quite alright! I hope you find him!” 

She turns back, coming back into her apartment and locking the door, quickly closing the curtain to cover.

“What in the fresh fuck did you do!?”

“Nothing! Bettel got some, cryptic note saying that he’ll pay for his crimes, but he hasn’t committed any crimes! I’m guessing either they’re after me to try and get to him, or they think I am him. Bettel fled the country a few hours ago.”

“Hours? Oh gods. Do you want me to call the police?”

“It would be appreciated? Bettel gave me the number to some guy at his work and told me he would help me if shit gets bad, so I think I’m gonna call him, if that’s alright with you?”

“Totally. Go in my office, there’s no windows in there and I have soundproofing up. That should be the safest. Does Phantom need anything?”

“He should be fine with his burrito, I hope…”

Twobert goes into her office, hands shaking as he clicks on the number that Bettel sent him. He holds the phone to his ear, trying to settle his breathing.

“Who is this?”

“This is Twobert, Bettel’s brother? He told me he works with you?”

“Yeah? Why’d Betsy give you my number?”

“So… he may or may not be wanted by someone who wants to kill him? So he fled the country a few hours ago to live with an old friend, and a bunch of guys just broke into our apartment.”

“Oh shit, really? I was there when he got the letter, but they’re moving fast if they’re already to break-in levels of pissed off. Probably found out he fled the country and are after you… where are you right now?”

“Name first, I’m not giving you any location unless I know for sure you work with him. Especially since they’re still around the apartment.”

“Fuck- sorry. Ruze, I work as the mayor’s head bodyguard.”

“Oh thank gods he gave me the number of someone who can actually do shit.”

“I mean, your brother works around a lot of bodyguards. Kinda comes with the territory.”

“Alright, I’m in a neighbor’s apartment right now, she’s calling the police and hopefully they’re on their way.”

“Kay, sit tight, I’m gonna grab a few of my boys and we’ll tail the officers, grab your shit, and get you to one of the safe houses, alright?”

“Okay, they don’t know I’m here right now, but I’m not compromising shit. Text me when you’re here, alright?”

“If you don’t hear police sirens first, I will.”

Twobert hangs up the phone, sitting on the floor with his head between his hands in a panic. In less than a day it’s already gotten so much bigger than he thought it would be. His neighbor comes to the door with Phantom at her heels, who runs up to him and starts licking his face.

“Hey, they’re on their way. Just hang in there. How was the contact your brother gave you?”

“He’s the mayor’s head bodyguard, he said he’s gonna come over with some guys and get me and my stuff to a safe house.”

“So you’ll be alright?”

“That’s the hope. I mean, they kept the mayor alive through all those assassination attempts. I hope they’re good at their jobs.”

“Okay, they said this is their priority since you’re actively in danger. So-”

Mid-sentence she pauses as sirens are heard in the distance. There’s shouting outside in the alley, sounding rather frantic. Tires screech against the street as they grind to a halt, and megaphones begin blaring from the tops of their cars. The two of them move back to her living room, cracking open her back door slightly, just enough to hear what’s going on out there.

“Alright boys, we got some calls that you broke into some man’s place looking for him, is that correct?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about officer, we’re just looking for our friend out here!”

“Well considering we have the man himself in our custody saying otherwise, I’m more likely to believe him. We’re gonna take you boys down to the station.”

“SON OF A BITCH-”

Twobert flinches back as he hears a few gunshots, pressing his back against his neighbor’s couch. She goes to him, helping him calm down after closing the door to muffle the sound outside again.

“Breathe, it’s okay. They don’t know you’re here, they think you’re down at the station. You’re safe. Help is here.”

She helps him lay down on his back, and Phantom curls up on his chest, whining. His hand shakily pets his dog, trying to ground himself out of the panic. The noise outside eventually settles, and his neighbor goes back out onto her balcony. Her shoulders relax, turning back inside.

“I only saw six men, and they have all of them in cuffs and being shoved in the backs of the cars. Looks like some tried to run, and others tried to go down shooting. But they got all of them.”

Twobert lets out a sigh of relief, scrubbing his face with his hands. A quiet knock is at her front door, and he ducks behind the couch out of sight. She goes to answer the door, cautious.

“Oh- hello officer.”

“Hello miss, we were told that you were the one that called us?”

“Yes, were you able to get all of them? Are there any more in the apartment?”

“We got six in the alley, and the boys pulled another one out of the apartment. Whoever wanted to nab your neighbor there wanted to be sure they succeeded. But they’re all heading down to the station to be questioned now. Is it alright that we come in and speak to him? Get a statement from both of you?”

“Absolutely, come right in.”

Twobert gets up from the floor, sighing with relief at the sight of the police officers. Phantom doesn’t leave his lap, sensing the stress pent up inside him. The questioning luckily goes smoothly, and they offer to stay until Ruze and his men arrive. He glances down at his phone at a notification, sending Ruze a reply with the apartment number when he sees he’s arrived. Another knock is at the door, and the police answer the door to reveal several larger men.

“Hey, I’m here to escort my coworker’s brother to his new temporary residence. We got a box for him!”

“Of course, he’s right in here.”

Twobert is a little surprised at how his brother manages to work with so many tough looking men but still managed to get threats sent to his work desk. Ruze gestures to the box, to which Twobert throws up an eyebrow at.

“It’s to get you downstairs with the rest of the boxes in case they have eyes on you still. We’ll load you into one of our vans with the tints in the back, and once it’s loaded up, you’ll be able to get out and sit in it properly. We’ll have the other guys bring the rest of your things after us.”

“And you know this’ll work?”

“Hasn’t failed me yet. Now are you getting in the box or not?”