—Rin's Father's death—
Lore post
It was quiet this time around. No laughter, no teasing remarks that would usually fill Rin's apartment when her father and older brother were around at her place.
The apartment felt... empty. Devoid of any actual cheer and energy it would usually have. No upbeat music, no soft humming or the sound of clattering or chatter in the kitchen when she baked and talked with her dad on the phone.
She was currently sitting in a hallway, just after the service, most people apologising and sympathising with her and her brother's loss.
Most of it was a blur to her—the service, the prayers—everything had passed by way too quickly.
Then there was the burial. Most of the GCPD were there to pay their respects, giving some speeches on how brave Rin's father was in the line of duty.
Rain poured during all of it—like the weather knew how she actually felt without showing it. It was expected, really. The grieving.
A parent's death was never easy for anyone. But it hit Rin like a million bricks, the burden of losing someone so important to her weighing down on her, not letting her breathe.
Then the arguing started. The screaming and bitter words between her and Chen.
"You're not the only one hurting, okay?! I know it's hard, but you've got to listen to me! God, how can you be so self-centred?"
One argument led to another, and Chen just ended up leaving, and she ended up alone.
She was alone and she had no one to rely on. Rin couldn't bring herself to reply to any of her friends' texts, ignoring them or just saying she's been busy, when all she really did was rot in her bed and eat ramen.
It felt like it was her fault. That she could've prevented it if she had just listened to her dad and stayed put.
She didn't even know how she got into that situation.
One minute she was walking home late from the lab, and the next she had a cloth over her mouth, somebody grabbing her from behind and abducting her.
The state she was in was hazy when she woke up at an abandoned factory. Though, she wasn't alone— there were about twenty other people there with her, their hands and feet tied up just like hers.
There were mostly women in the room, with two men—one bulky with a scar on his cheek, while the other had a tattoo sleeve on his right arm. They were both holding guns, conversing within themselves.
Rin was sure this was a human trafficking shtick. She's heard and seen the missing reports from both Babs, and her father.
It was dark out, she was sure of it by the missing roof panels of the old building.
Grunting and sitting up softly, one of the men noticed, moving towards her.
"Oi, stop squirming around– unless you wanna end up like the other two gals who tried to get away."
He nodded his head towards the further corner where two women—no, two girls—were sitting, one having a bruised cheek while the other had a bleeding, busted lip.
The sight made something churn in her stomach. Those two girls weren't any older than fifteen—she was sure of that.
So, against her better judgment, she spat at the kidnapper, a disgusted noise coming out of him before Rin got hit with the butt of the assault rifle the man was holding.
The pain throbbed on her cheek as the man grabbed her hair, pulling it back as she grunted.
"You fucking bitch—"
"That's enough," the bulkier guy barked out. "Boss wouldn't like us destroying any of the goods."
The tattooed man backed off, letting go of Rin's hair before walking back to his post. She scoffed and grinned, trying to provoke the guy again while the bruise started to bloom on her cheek.
"You hit like a sissy bitch."
She muttered out with a grin, the other women were slightly panicked and concerned about what she was doing.
The man, clearly agitated by her behaviour, proceeded towards her aggressively, grabbing Rin by the throat.
"What did you say, you piece of shit?"
"That.. that you hit like— like a sissy... bitch," she choked out, still holding her grin. The man, clearly having a fragile ego, slapped her before grabbing her by the collar.
"You want to say that again? Huh?"
Another slap. And another.
Rin was heaving, her lip dribbling with spit and blood before the bulky man intervened again, grabbing his comrade by the shoulder whilst shaking his head.
"Enough. You're going to get yourself in trouble with the Boss if you continue this. Just put her into the corner with the other two."
The night continued to drag on, Rin knowing for sure that her being missing would not be overlooked by her brother, let alone her father. She stuck to a routine, never breaking it, so her not being home by now would cause alarm.
"Why... why would you provoke that guy like that?" One of the girls asked quietly, as if scared that she'd draw attention to herself again.
"Just in case one of them tries to do something to you two," Rin mumbled, coughing gently spitting out the mix of blood and saliva pooling in her mouth, groaning softly at the pain.
Her father would come. She was sure of it. She was sure that Babs—or Oracle in this case—would've found out where she was.
Rin knew Barbara would know her location, because the stupid bastards didn't even bother to check or take her necklace off. Obviously, the pendant had a tracking chip, and this was one of the reasons why there had to be one.
She only hoped that they'd get there before it was too late. The sounds of two vans parking were heard not too far away, jolting panic through the women as the two men started to drag them one by one out.
Everything after that came too quickly—gunshots were suddenly heard, heavy footsteps echoing while the mobs shouted and barked orders to keep the "goods" intact.
Throughout the confusion, Rin managed to get herself out of the flimsy rope ties. Amateurs.
She found a shard of glass not too far away, grabbed it and freeing the rest of the women and girls who were still in the room.
Freezing when she heard hurried footsteps, Rin looked at the entrance—sighing in relief when she saw her father.
"Dad–!" She ran up to him after freeing most of the women from their binds. "We need to get them somewhere safe—"
"I know, I know, sweetheart. Come on, I have a safer place from here, where my men can get you to safety."
While being led towards the spot where Rin and the other abductees were supposed to get picked up from, her father got radioed by one of the officers, needing him there.
"Rin, head to the designated area, and. Stay. There. Understood?"
The man held his daughter's shoulders, making sure she got the message. Rin nodded all while being given a handgun.
"You know how to use this, use it when you have to. I'll be back, okay?" He kissed her forehead before running back towards where he was needed.
Ten minutes. Ten minutes passed, and Rin was antsy. She looked around her, the women keeping close to each other as they waited for help.
A beat. Another.
"Fuck this—" she muttered to herself as she walked towards one of the women. "Safety button, use both hands, cock it, aim, shoot. Got it?"
The woman nodded, taking the gun from her before she headed out to scope for any officers who were supposed to come and save them.
Carefully treading through the area, Rin found herself by one of the entrances to the factory. Trying to check for any danger in the area she suddenly froze when hearing someone cock their gun behind her.
"S–stay where you are-! Don't move!" A shaky voice shouted, making her tense up. Not good.
She made sure to keep her movements slow as she turned around to face the man aiming his gun at her. He was standing about seven feet away from Rin, give or take, and he seemed frantic.
She was either going to die tonight or—
"Rin–!" A voice called out from her right, not too far off—her dad.
"Dad, no—!" she called out as the man hurried towards her, one of the metal beams covering his view of the shooter.
Two gunshots. A scream. Multiple heavy footsteps were rushing towards the area she was in.
The man was tackled by one of the officers as Rin caught her father, her expression pale.
Blood.
Blood was soaking her fingers as she hugged her dad, his back having been shot.
"No, no, no, no—dad, no–" Rin cried out, trying to put pressure into the wounds, but her father grabbed her hands into one of his instead, shaking his head and shushing her weakly, as if to tell her that it was going to be okay.
Tears pricked her eyes, her vision distorted and blurry, unable to stop them from running down her face.
"You're... you're safe. It's going to be alright, sweetheart.. your safety is what matters to me most." He coughed weakly, wiping a few stray tears away with his thumb, all while smiling at her.
"Dad–" she choked out, her throat feeling tight as the realisation of everything came crashing down faster than a tidal wave. "Dad—"
"I'm always going to be here." He pointed at her heart, a few tears seeping down the corners of his eyes. "I love you.. it's not your fault."
He murmured out, his tone going soft and his breath slowing as Rin tried to keep him conscious.
"No– no, no, no-! Dad, stay with me-! I love you too, no- no, no—" she cried harder as finally one of the officers pried her away from him.
"Let me go-! Dad—!" She kicked, punched, and screamed but she got held back as the paramedics put her father into the stretcher, placing a white cloth over him, confirming his death on the spot.
He was gone.
