Kia woke up slowly. Her eyes struggled to open due to the fact that her head was still dizzy and her eyelids were swollen shut. However, she wanted to escape the nightmares. She also needed to be on her feet before Vajesh. If Vajesh came through before her, she was going to be screwed.
Her mind went back to the wrestling matches she always watched with her father. When two wrestlers clash after a big move, they end up unconscious on the canvas. The first wrestler to wake up and get up always had a great advantage.
Kia pushed her knee forward and tried to get on all fours. She heard a grunt from Vajesh. He was also coming through, snaking his way out of the darkness. Aware of the urgency of her situation, Kia pushed herself forward. It was like standing up from a pound of thick mud. The more she tried to get up, the more the floor tried to pull her in.
Vajesh started moving. Her window was closing. She planted her right foot on the floor, her left knee still bent. Her vision was blurry. She shook her head to clear things up, then looked around her. Her gun was under the coffee table. But her taser gun was right where she dropped it. It was out of juice.
Kia searched her pocket for an extra cartridge. She pulled it out of her pocket and picked up her taser gun. As she reloaded the weapon, she heard Vajesh's grunts get louder and more coherent. She needed to knock him out again.
He got on all fours and looked up to her, back arched like an animal.
"You… you bit…," he didn't complete his sentence before lunging for her like a tiger.
Kia slammed the cartridge in place, aimed, and fired just in time. As soon as the bolt connected, Vajesh fell to the side. He curled up in pain and began to spasm violently. Kia showed him no mercy. She kept the current flowing until she was sure he had had enough. When the current stopped, so did the movement of his body.
Kia let out a sigh of relief and sat on the floor. She took the next few minutes to catch her breath before walking to Vajesh's body, dragging him to the bedroom, and cuffing him to the bedpost. She dragged a chair from the kitchen, sat at the door, and waited for him to wake up.
As she waited, she took note of a very strange fact that had occurred so far and was happening now. Vajesh wasn't bleeding. Some of his blood had splattered on the floor, but a pool had not formed where he was lying unconscious. There were bloodstains on his clothes where the bullets had hit him, but the size of the bloodstains was way too small.
"Three shots. He should be dead or dying," Kia whispered to herself as she tried to make sense of what was going on.
Vajesh coughed slightly and came to. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at her. But this time, he didn't spring on her. He saw the gun and relaxed. The next thing he noticed was the cuffs attaching his hand to the bedpost.
"Is this really necessary," he said with a smile.
"Seeing as you basically beat me to a pulp, I will say yes."
"You also tried to kill me. Shot me thrice. I'll say we are even."
"We had a deal. And rather than keep your end of the bargain, you tried to kill me. We are far from even, Vajesh. You owed me. Now, you owe me even more."
Vajesh clicked his tongue. "Why do you want to meet with Baglor anyways. He is a crazy dude? Or are you one of those girls that see his handsome face and think he would be the man of your dreams or something."
"I told you. I want to be in the game at the very top level, not some errand girl you get to send around to clean up messes here and there."
"If you want in, springing up on Baglor isn't the way to do it. You want to work your way to the top."
"No. I'll pass."
"If this is about getting him to like you like some romantic fairy tale."
"It isn't."
"If it is," he insisted. "It's not going to work. Baglor has a particular type and baby girl you are not it. You are too thin, too small, and too weak. Besides, Baglor is a rolling stone. Even if he likes you, it would only be for a little while. In the end, he would break your little heart. The way I see it, you are better off working with me."
"Thanks for the love and concern. I'll pass," she said as she picked up her phone. "Now, let's try this again. Tell me the number to call. Don't try anything funny. I don't mind knocking you out again."
"Fine," He said and called out the digits.
Kia dialed the number, and it connected after two rings.
"Hello," who is this said a smooth and deep voice on the other end of the line.
"Am I speaking to Baglor Bagaratti?"
"No. Who gave you this number?"
"Vajesh."
"Vajesh? Vajesh gave you this line to call. "
"Yes. In fact he is here with me."
"Give him the phone."
"Not yet," Kia said. "He got picked up by my colleagues. Was dead to rights. I managed to get him out. In return, I would like to have a meeting with Baglor Bagaratti."
"Very funny," the man on the other end of the line said. "Did Vajesh put you up to this? Tell him that I am not in the mood for his games."
Kia put the phone on speaker and slid it to Vajesh. Vajesh eyed her for a brief second before bending low and speaking to it.
"Hey Vicenzo."
"Vajesh? What the fuck is wrong with you? Whats going on and where have you been? And who the hell did you give my private line to."
"She is a cop."
"A what? Are you crazy? What the hell is going on here, Vajesh."
"The broad ain't lying man. I got picked up. They had all this hard evidence against me and stuff. I need to leave town. But that's by the way. The broad would like to meet the big man."
"Baglor?"
"Who else?"
"That's not going to happen."
Vajesh looked up to her as if to say, "I told you so."
"Try again," she mouthed.
"She is serious man," Vajesh said.
"I don't care how serious she is."
"You better care," Kia said angrily. "If you don't get Baglor on the phone ASAP, I'm taking your boy here back to the station. The choice is yours. Well, technically, it isn't. Deliver my message to Baglor and let him make his decision."
There was silence on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of the line getting disconnected. Kia was shocked, but she tried not to show it.
"Seems your boys don't really like or value you. Back to jail it is. Would you like to go back conscious or unconscious? I'm fine either way."
"Come on, we can still work something out," he pleaded.
"No way. Already told you that I'm not risking my career for middle management errands. Awake or asleep," Kia said, raising her stun gun.
"Awake, he grumbled."
"Sorry. Don't trust you," she said with a mischievous smile and got ready to stun him. Her finger was on the trigger and ready to squeeze when her phone suddenly started ringing.
"Pick up and put it on speaker," Kia ordered. "Now."
Vajesh obeyed. It took a lot of awkward movement for him to reach the phone and pick up the call with his tongue, but he managed to get it done.
"Baglor agreed. He wants to meet the crazy woman who has the guts to summon him. Can you assure us that this isn't a set up?"
"It isn't?"
"Fine. We will verify ourselves. Meet us in an hour at the abandoned Wayne Warehouse. I shouldn't have to say this, but I will. Don't try anything funny."
"Same to you," Kia said, and the line disconnected.
Vajesh kicked the phone back to her. "Be careful what you wish for, he said. Now you have it. Let's see how well you like it. Baglor isn't what you think he is."
"So he isn't a murderous bastard that runs his gang with a iron fist," she said as she slid the key to the cuffs to him. Cuff your hands behind your back and slide the key back.
"He is," Vajesh said as he picked up the key, undid the cuff, and cuffed himself behind his back. With a flick of his wrist, he threw the key back to her. "But he is more. Way more than you can even imagine or fathom."
Kia led Vajesh to the parking lot and made him get into the trunk. With him in the trunk, she walked a few paces away from her car and called Jean.
"Hey Jean."
"Shit, I've been worried sick. How is it going? Did he escape?"
"Tried to."
"Fuck. Are you okay?"
"A bit roughed up. But I would be fine. You know, the captain said I can't handle myself alone and I always rely on you for protection. Guess he was wrong. I handled myself quite fine without you."
"What? The captain is talking crazy. He has no idea how many times you have saved my ass with your quick draw. Anyways, what's going on? Fill me in."
"I am about to go meet Baglor. Wayne Warehouse."
"Wait a minute. It worked."
"You sound surprised."
"No… Just… Hell who am I kidding? I didn't actually think Baglor would bite. I've got to report to the captain. Give me a minute."
"No…," but Jean clearly didn't hear her as the line went dead.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," she cursed repeatedly, kicking the tire of a nearby car over and over again. Her phone rang, and she picked up. "Detective Kia Ling here," she answered, already knowing that she was speaking to the captain.
"Kia, is it true? Baglor has agreed to meet?"
"Yes. I'm on my way to meet him at the old Wayne Warehouse."
"Good. Very good. Where are you?"
"At the safe house."
"Alright. I want you to wait there. Jean would meet up with you soon."
"Why? If both of us go for the meet, the whole operation might fail."
"Yes. That's why he will go alone. Jean would find an excuse. He says you got roughed up. That could be a great excuse. You got too roughed up and he needed to take you to the hospital and step in. Or maybe, you were a bit scared and preferred that he represents you."
"With all due respect, captain, where is all this coming from? Why are you trying to pull me off the case?"
"To be honest, I didn't expect you to take the case. I was only trying to scare you into quiting. But then you accepted the case and to came up with a good idea. Saw no arm in allowing you to give it a shot. But I didn't really expect you to get this far. Somehow you have and I must say, I am hell impressed. But this is our biggest shot ever at bringing that bastard down. We need to put our best foot forward. We can't take chances. Jean is better at this than you. It's time for you to be a team player, Kia, and let the big guns get on the field."
"I'm always a team player."
"Yes you are. And I want you to be just that once again. Jean is the man for the job. Hang tight and he would be on his way."
"Sir, I'm afraid that wouldn't be possible."
"I beg your pardon."
"I started this, I'm finishing this."
"Do you understand what you are saying?"
"Yes I do. I am disobeying a direct order and would be punished for insubordination. I might even get fired. I know the risks and I accept it."
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and this pause quickly grew awkward. Eventually, the chief hung up, leaving Kia to translate what his silence meant. She had seen and heard him angry many times. But silence, that was a new level of rage.
Kia didn't care. She didn't get beat up and almost killed just to get placed back on desk duty. At the very beginning of this assignment, she knew she was putting her life at risk. After overcoming the fear of death in pursuit of her goals, nothing could stop her from going as far as she humanely could, not even the wrath of the captain or the threat of firing. For what is the loss of a job to the loss of life?
Kia got into her car and drove off, racing to meet the apex of crime and darkness in all of Bane City