Snowbird [18+] ✔️ Complete

| XXXIV |

The Pirates turned out to be stealthier hunters than Ashelin had thought possible. She'd imagined a drunken full frontal assault, during which she could sneak into Hoyt's compound. But they were quietly knifing privateers in the darkness like professionals. She couldn't help but be a bit proud of Vaas' army.

Penthouse with Hoyt and one of his men. Pagan texted. Yuma itchy.

Ashelin smiled. She bet Yuma was raring for some action.

One more text. Prisoners in basement.

She slipped by two fallen privateers into a side door, closing it quietly. She wasn't sure how long she had before they were discovered, but she sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to alert the enemy.

She made her way slowly down a staircase to the left. She heard the low chatter of a tv and peeked around the corner where there were three privateers lounging around a table. There were guns strewn about, but none in their hands.

She took a deep breath, calculating how fast she could take them out and what their reaction time might be.

Before she could act, there were gunshots outside, and the privateers sat up abruptly. She saw no sense worrying about noise now, and bent around the corner, firing three times.

Two of them dropped, but she only clipped the third and he yelped, grabbing a rifle from the table. Ashelin shot twice more and caught him in the belly. He slumped to the floor and she hurried past, reloading she she jogged down the corridor.

There were many steel doors in the dank hallway and she dragged open the first to her right. It was empty, but she noticed a camera in the corner. She checked the hallway but there were no cameras there. She didn't want Hoyt to know she was visiting just yet.

She hauled open door after door, all of the rooms empty. The second last one housed an unconscious boy that looked to be in his late teens, and she paused. There was no time.

She shot out the camera and hurried inside. She untied his wrists and left the door open to give him a chance if he happened to wake up.

Last door. This was it. Was Vaas still alive? She almost didn't want to open it.

She took a deep breath and slid the heavy metal.

She barely recognized the figure inside. Face sunken, bruised and bloody. But when he raised his green eyes to hers, she saw the pirate she knew.

The fire was still there. The animal was still there. And when Ashelin let out a choked sob of relief she saw there was still a man in there.

"Snowbird," Vaas drawled, voice hoarse.

Tears flowed down her face as she took a step forward, and then remembered the camera. She shot it and then dropped to her knees in front of him, eyes level with his. Her gun hit the dirt floor.

She took his face in her hands and leaned her forehead against his, taking a deep ragged breath to drink in his scent.

"Did you have a good time in the mountains?" Vaas smiled lazily, half crazed from isolation.

"Oh, yes." Ashelin smiled back. "I brought back souvenirs."

"Place has gone to shit." He trembled at the sight of her, unable to figure out if he was hallucinating or dead.

"That's ok, I'm doing some housecleaning," she promised. "We'll get this place back in tip top." She resisted the urge to curl herself around him. There were more and more gunshots outside. They had to get to the penthouse.

She checked her phone.

Yuma left to 'help defend', I'm making small talk with Hoyt. Pagan texted. Save me from boredom.

"We gotta go." Ashelin untied Vaas' hands and helped him stand. He was surprisingly steady on his feet.

"Where are we going, hermana?" he asked.

She pressed a gun into his empty hand and grinned. "To get Hoyt."