Hate or Love?

Chapter Two

Andreas' head was spinning as he stared up at Jayce. Jayce stood over him, a knife in hand. The rain soaked through Andreas' clothes, soaking into his skin now. His head was pounding, his ears ringing. He could feel blood seeping out of his head onto the curb below. He didn't understand why Jayce wasn't just leaving him, or stabbing him. He closed his eyes, the pain becoming too much as he allowed himself to go unconscious. He could only pray he didn't wake up on his bosses' floor.

When he woke up this time, the rain had stopped. He was in the backseat of his car, and the seats had blood all over.

"What the fuck!" he sat up suddenly, scrambling to figure out what happened. That was the second time he'd let Leuth outsmart him. He touched the back of his head. There were stitches. Who had given him stitches? Surely it wasn't Jayce, right?

There was no time to ask questions, because the mission was already so fucked. He got out of the backseat, the sunlight hurting his eyes. He definitely had a concussion, there was no doubt in his mind. He got in the driver's seat, trying to be gentle shutting the door. He was parked at a convenience store. He grabbed a pair of sunglasses from the centre console, glancing at the time. It had been an hour. They were definitely in the air by now, long gone.

"Fuck..." he muttered, grabbing a handful of cash and going into the store. He went to the fridges first, grabbing a coke and then grabbing a pack of Advil and going to the front. He put it on the counter, and the man scanned them.

"Was there a blue Toyota Corolla here an hour ago?" he asked, and the man looked at him.

"Yes, there was." the man replied, scanning the Advil.

"$4.57." the man added, and Andreas put a $5 bill on the counter. The man counted it and handed him his change.

"Did you get the license plate?" Andreas questioned, refusing the change and grabbing his drink and the Advil. The man put the money back in the register, raising a brow curiously.

"I can check security cameras." he replied, and Andreas glanced outside.

"Yeah, I just need a license plate. I'm an undercover cop, they're some bad dudes." Andreas lied, and the convenience store owner looked at him curiously.

"Proof?" he asked, and Andreas sighed.

"I don't have my badge, just please believe me? Why would I lie?" Andreas questioned, and the man shook his head.

"I need proof. A call from a supervisor or something." the man insisted, and Andreas frowned.

"Alright, I'll call my captain for you." Andreas went into his phone, dialling a number.

"Hello? The fuck do you want, Andreas?" a female voice answered.

"Hello captain, this man doesn't believe I'm an undercover cop. Could you confirm for me?" Andreas explained quickly, without alerting suspicion, and handed the man his phone. The man was quiet, and Andreas waited patiently. After a few moments, the man handed the phone back.

"I'll be right back sir." he said, and went to the back. Andreas waited out front, quietly. A few minutes passed, and the man came back with a piece of paper.

"Here it is." the man handed it to him.

"Thank you so much." Andreas chucked an extra $1 bill on the counter, and walked out. He went back to his car getting in the front seat. He looked at the piece of paper, and dialled the number again.

"Hello?" a familiar voice answered the phone, and Andreas opened his drink.

"Hi. My name is Andreas Kagios, I work for Arthur Bates-" he was cut off abruptly.

"I know who you are, asshole. I have the caller ID on." the woman snapped, and he smiled.

"Lovely to hear from you too, Quinn." Andreas replied, and she scoffed.

"Eat my ass. What do you need?" Quinn demanded, and something clattered in the background.

"Are you busy? I can call back." Andreas offered, and she grunted. There was a yelp in the background.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you." she replied snarkily, and Andreas frowned.

"What're you doing?" he questioned, and then she grunted in effort.

"I'm working. What do you need?" she repeated her earlier question, and he sighed, looking at the paper.

"I need you to find a car." he answered, and he heard a door slam on her end.

"Alright, easy peasy. Let me get home, send me a message of the license plate, or whatever you have. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." she responded, and he heard her car start.

"Will do. Bye." he said, and she grunted in response.

"Bye." she hung up, and he took a picture of the piece of paper. He sent it to her, waiting for a response. He sighed, leaning back, and only then did a piece of paper on his dashboard caught his attention.

Andreas,

Hope your head is alright. Can't believe I knocked you out again.

Sucker. Enjoy the concussion assface.

-J.L.

He muttered under his breath, cussing out Jayce despite the fact that Jayce had saved him, in a way. He hated the bold little fucker. Suddenly, his phone buzzed with a text back from Quinn.

Who's plate is this?

He stared at the text, wondering if he should answer honestly. It was Quinn, hell, if he lied she'd inevitably find out. So he told what he liked to call the kind-of truth.

A target.

A pause, and she was typing again. He started his car waiting.

I'm calling you.

Suddenly, her name filled the screen, and he groaned. This typically meant that she knew he was telling the kind-of truth.

"Listen up jerk off. I'm looking at traffic cams right now, and unless your new target is Jayce Leuth, you have some explaining to do." she snapped, anger in her voice.

"I told you the kind-of truth, Quinn, come on!" Andreas exclaimed, pinching the bride of his nose.

"Why are you after him? Are you finally going to ask him on a date?" she taunted, and he could hear a smirk in her voice. He went red, and he wasn't sure if he was blushing or he was mad.

"I am not asking that dick on a date, Quinn. I'd much rather date you!" Andreas exclaimed, and Quinn scoffed.

"I don't think Arya would be too pleased with that." she mentioned her girlfriend, and Andreas rolled his eyes.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"Tell me why you're after him and I'll think about telling you." she replied, and he could hear the hint of satisfaction in her voice. He sighed softly, resting his head on the steering wheel.

"He's protecting a target." he replied, and she chuckled.

"He is doing more than that, according to the traffic cams an hour ago." Quinn commented, and he heard the clicking of her mouse in the background. Shit, it must be the whole fight in the rain she was referring to.

"Have you guys talked about that night?" she inquired, and he almost hung up on her.

"Where are they." he demanded, his tone no nonsense now, and she groaned in exasperation.

"They're on the coast. Sending you exact coordinates right now. They're stopped at some gift shop, you better hurry if you wanna catch him." Quinn commented, and Andreas' phone buzzed with the text. He took one look at it and put it into his GPS, pulling away from the convenience store.

"Thank you, Quinn!" he exclaimed, and hung up, tossing his phone onto the passenger seat.