The Perfect Situation

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

Charlotte shut down immediately as he spoke his last sentence. She'd heard this phrase too often for comfort, and she wasn't about to get hurt by somebody she cared about again...

"Just stop there, Ben. If you were really just hoping for a fling, then you really shouldn't have taken the time." Her face turned hard once more, but there was a wateriness in her eyes that didn't quite fit.

"Char, that's not what I mea-"

"Shut up! I know exactly what you're about to say, Ben, and I'm not about to stay and take it!" The scowl on her face showed that she really wasn't in the mood. Walking to the window, she crossed her arms, staring out at the lights of Rome flickering on in the waning light, "Just get out."

"Just hear me out, ok? It's really no-"

"Room service." A voice called calmly from the hallway, and Charlotte stomped to the door in frustration, as she hadn't even called the front desk. It was almost as if the world was just trying to be stupid. Ben, on the other hand, went back to the bathroom to grab his wallet, which he'd left on the sink, obviously upset. If only he'd stayed a moment longer...

Opening the door, she was about to tell him to get lost, only to find the barrel of a gun pressed to her temple.

"What a pretty girl Benny-boy got ahold of." A voice spoke only loud enough for her to hear with a mocking jilt.

Charlotte froze, trembling softly, as she stared at the man. He was handsome, maybe two or three years younger than Ben, but with a more sinister appearance. His icy eyes burned into her own with an odd, hungry intensity, and he grinned at her darkly, pressing the gun a little harder and placing a finger to his lips in a gesture to keep her quiet.



He led her roughly to the door of the bathroom, knocking lightly on the door with a knuckle. Ben turned, at first looking a little agitated but soon turning absolutely horror-struck. "Finmore..." He spoke in a low tone, eyes flicking between his colleague and Charlotte, tensed as if ready to strike.

"Don't think about it, Benny." Finmore chuckled, placing a chaste kiss on the nape of Charlotte's neck and enjoying as she shuddered slightly. "She sure is a beautiful one. Since your commission is over, maybe I should just do this myself."

[Aubs]

As much as he’d wanted to lunge forward, Ben knew that for the life of him that he shouldn’t dare put Charlotte in anymore danger than she already had been. The three of them stood in silence, Finmore still holding the pistol against the woman’s head as her delicate frame teetered in fear. She wasn’t sure what to think of the situation, but her eyes said everything- she was terrified for her life. Shit.. what do I do?! What do I do? Ben thought to himself, running through scenarios in his mind. If he moved, Char would die but if he didn’t move she had the potential to die. Regardless of what he thought could happen, many of the scenes didn’t end well. There had to be something he could do.. but what?

Time raced by the seconds, each of them looking from one to the other speaking any words but letting their tense actions scream volumes. Finally gaining the courage to speak out, Ben looked at Char. “Let her go, Finmore..” He pleaded. “She doesn’t deserve any of this- let her go and the two of us can settle this. Don’t bring her into this.. This is between the two of us, be a man and let her go.”

Char paused, as the waterworks soon began. A stream of tears fell down her face. “You two.. k-know each other?” she silently whimpered aloud, shaking more than she had minutes prior.

The two men had been great acquaintances with each other. Originally working together for the same undercover agency, [name subject to change], Finmore had been Ben’s superior both in skill and ranking for many years. Benjamin had looked up to the man, as he’d been taking under his wing and showed the ropes. ‘I certainly owe my life to him, but-’ Ben thought trying to recall the times the two had spent training, traveling the world, and stopping evil when they’d been called upon. For a while, Ben had been the lower ranked official until he’d soon received his own tasks and improved faster than any person on the squad- prompting him to soon gain rank. Little did he know though, within time he’d been taking Finmore’s position, kicking him out of the company and forcing him to start up a rival agency of his own to take revenge.

“Do you really expect me to fall for the sympathy act, Benjamin?” Finmore grunted, clutching Char more against his chest and pressing the gun deeper on her head. “You must take me for the kind type. If I had the chance, I’d blow the both of your brains out, but since it’s either one or the other. I’d rather take something of yours like you did mine.”

"Please.. just let her go."

[Wendy Ann Beckett-Jolina]

Charlotte's mind was racing. Ben knew this guy? How did he? When did they meet? And really, why the hell was a gun to her head?

Tears ran trails down her cheeks as the thought raced through her mind that she might be dead within minutes. Trembling, the lawyer tried to wriggle free weakly, only to feel the barrel of the gun shoved roughly against the side of her head. Her temple throbbed, and feeling the hand that Finmore was holding her still with traveling lower to more inappropriate areas, she knew that death wasn't the only thing this man had planned for her.

"She is cute, huh? Maybe I should get my worry's worth out of her before I go ahead and shoot, hm?" Finmore mumbled mockingly, a coy smile on his lips. turning Charlotte around and tracing her jawline with a finger, he locked eyes with Ben before brushing his lips across her own. The effort not to leap in was evident in Ben's eyes, and he literally shook in the effort it took not to intervene. But luckily, Char saw her opening, though she only prayed that the other man would understand what she was doing.

The woman wrapped her arms around Finmore's neck sensually, eyes sultry as she pulled him to her. Her lips did their job, working against his own in an attempt to distract him for a moment.

Luckily, the guy had a soft spot for pretty women.

Seeing her chance, Charlotte kicked the agent in the balls with all the strength she could, pulling away just as he fell over in pain and running to the door of the bathroom. She'd almost made it out, but the man gripped at her ankle, causing her to fall painfully, and painstakingly dragged her to him. Char cried out, knowing that there was nothing that she could do but hope that ben had an idea to get her out of the mess.

Looking behind her, she saw that Finmore's gun had slid to Ben's feet when the other had fallen, and that her... well, she didn't really know what he was... was already scrambling to grasp it.

And the only thing that ran through her mind was the hope that he had good aim.