Out of The Frying Pan Pt.2

It felt a little like old times as Jake gathered everybody the following morning around the dusty old kitchen table. Echoes of his past following him as always. Though this time instead of leading a large gang of bloodthirsty, treasure hungry gunmen in to battle, he led a huddle of scared teenagers and anxious women. An army doctor and a deaf kid. Six brutes that may or may not know how to handle a gun, that may or may not have ever robbed a train before.

He knew Isabella could handle herself, he knew Mia was as deadly as she was beautiful. He knew Leon would move heaven and earth to keep the people he loved safe. Ripley and Valerie had proven themselves scrappy and able to hold their own, but it was all a gamble. The highest stakes imaginable in the life of each of them and the life of his daughter.

The mug of strong coffee in his hand tasted extra bitter.

"So, one last time. We ride to Annesberg." He says flatly, looking over a map spread out on the table. "We should get there before noon. Leon and Yuliy and two of Leanna's men get a room at the inn while the rest of us ride on through Roanoke Valley, get to the bridge here." He taps his finger on the map and takes a sip of his coffee. "We hunker down for the night. The train is due in at Annesberg Station at 10am."

Jake flicks his eyes toward Leon, who perches on the sink counter top with a tense jaw and an overly polished gun in his hand. "You four need to board nearest the back that you can. There's a shift change due. Take out any waitin' security - quietly. Hide them well. Try not to kill em."

One of Leanna's men grunts.

"Take their ID's and get on board. If anyone comes in to your cabin, keep your heads down but don't act suspicious. You're security switchin' shift. Nothin' out of the ordinary." He awaits the nods of acknowledgement and soon gets them. Drawing in a deep breath, he goes on. "The rest of us set up camp at the bridge, it's gonna be a cold night so I hope ya'll brought somethin' warm. At first light, Mia and Valerie are gonna take the horses to the rendezvous point here." He taps the exit point of a long tunnel that lead out toward Bacchus Station. "Ride like hell. It's a straightforward route but real isolated, so don't stop for no-one and get our horses where they need to be."

Mia nods and glances to her side, expecting to see Valerie agreeing to her task. But the white haired teenager is nowhere to be seen. Blinking, Mia looks across to Leon and catches his eye. He frowns. Valerie had slipped away unnoticed by all, it seemed.

"I'll.. talk her through it." Mia shrugs.

Jake just nods. "Train should reach our bridge tunnel by noon, or shortly after. Izzy, Ripley, Faith.. the rest of you.." He gestures to Leanna's men. "It's gonna be a rough landing, jump like I told you and don't break your goddamn ankles cause we don't have the time. Leon and Yuliy will have the last two carriages secured for you to regroup and get your shit together, but you're bound to attract attention so be ready for company."

"What are you doing?" One of Leanna's men grunts, arms crossed and puffing his chest like a cockerel.

"I'll be on the exit side of the tunnel." He rumbles in return. "Jump down to the forward cabin, take out whoever's feelin' brave and get the driver under control. He takes us to the Bacchus tunnel. We stop, load up the gold under cover, take it to Mia and Valerie and the waitin' horses. Ride to Leanna's drop off point and leave it there. If it all goes smooth, nobody gets hurt, and it'll be a long damn time before anyone raises the alarm. We'll be in the clear."

Hank chuckles, nodding his head and rubbing his hands together. "You make it sound like a piece of cake."

Jake stands straight and nods a little. "It should be, if all goes to plan and everyone keeps their shit together."

"If it doesn't?" Ripley grumbles, arms folded around herself.

"Well, then. Plan B." Jake says quietly.

"What's Plan B?" Faith pipes up, standing slightly to Ripley's side.

Pursing his lips for a moment, Jake draws a breath. "It's a lot bloodier than Plan A, a lot noisier, a lot less likely we get out unscathed. So lets.. just.. do our best. Yeah?"

There's a wave of anxiety that passes palpably around the gathered group, but also chatter of excitement from the six of Leanna's men that had been promised riches and a life of riley when all of this was said and done. The gold would set them up for life. But most importantly, it would get his daughter back. He didn't give a single damn about money at this point, so long as he met his fate knowing his little girl was in the clear.

Glancing toward the beams of light sneaking in through the slats of the boarded up kitchen window, Jake puffs his cheeks and tips the last of the coffee out in to the sink. "Let's get movin'." He commands.

Leon drops down from the counter top as people begin gathering their things. "I'll go find Valerie." He murmurs.

Jake catches his eye before he leaves, the two men sharing a look that said more than a thousand words. Nodding slightly, Leon makes his silent promise and takes his leave.

Chewing on his lip a moment, Jake's brought around from his distant thoughts by the feel of a hand on his arm. Expecting Mia or Isabella, he's a little surprised instead to find Yuliy offering him a timid smile. Returning it, he lifts his hand and ruffles the boys hair affectionately. But instead of making him fluster and laugh like it usually did, it makes the kid's face fall.

The next thing he knows, Yuliy's flung his arms around his middle and squeezes for dear life.

Taken aback, Jake hesitates for a moment before comforting. Returning the embrace and then pulling away to retrieve Yuliy's hat from his belt. He sets it on the young man's head firmly and squares his shoulders, prompting Yuliy to do the same. In the time he'd known the kid, he'd picked up a few pieces of his language here and there, Leon had been instrumental in helping him learn.

The gesture is simple enough.

"We got this, kid." He says and signs at the same time. "Be brave."

As others filter out of the house with their belongings over their shoulders, Leon grimly trudges back up the stairs. He didn't need to guess where Valerie was, he felt it in his gut and sure enough as he reaches the top stair he discovers the door in to their Father's room of horrors open again. Drawing in a deep breath he nudges it further and steps inside, finding his sister standing at the foot of what had once been a bed to her.

A wooden table with leather straps that used to hold her down. It was discolored with patches of blood that had dried and sunk in to the grain. Medical trays still littered the room, full of gruesome tools reserved for surgical wards in hospitals normally.

"Val?" He questions her quietly, and her icy blue eyes lift from an etching on the wood and pierce her brothers heart.

"They won't ever let him out, will they?" She asks. Her voice a tiny whisper.

A frown furrows his brow. "No, darlin'. He ain't ever gonna hurt you again. Or anybody."

"What if he escapes?"

"He wont."

"You did." She reasons.

Leon's brow hitches and he sighs, moving further in to the room. Eyeing their fathers dire creations like they may come to life and attack at any second. After all, bringing things back from the dead had been his want all along.

"That's cause I had a family to break me out. People that cared enough to do it. He ain't got a friend in this world."

Reassuring, he holds his hand out toward her. "Now we gotta go return the debt."

Valerie swallows and traces her fingers over a darkened spot in the wood. No doubt her own blood, long since become a part of this place. "Jake's not going to live through this, is he?"

Hesitating, Leon decides on truth. "Probably not. He's willin' to lay his life down for his daughter. We just need to see this through, do our best. Then that little girl's gonna need every one of us to be her family instead."

Considering this for a moment, Valerie nods ever so slightly. "Lizzie's lucky to have a Father that would do that."

"She is. But you got me, sweetheart. Always. And Isabella.. Mia.. all of em. We'll be alright." He reassures.

Valerie lifts the smallest smile toward him and draws in a deep breath. Moving around the table, she pulls open one of the drawers in a large chest and rummages for a moment before pulling out a key. Leon follows her as she heads for the door and once out in the hall she pulls it shut on the room and twists the key in the lock, sealing it tight.

Leon rests his hand gently on her head, stroking her hair. She leans against him for just a moment and then leads the way downstairs, hurrying outside where the others saddled and loaded up their horses. Isabella watches as the youngster hurries out in to the trees and then hurls the key to that room as far as she can throw it in to the rotting leaves and woodland scrub that surrounded the home.

They all hear her yell of effort as she throws it, everybody pausing and looking across in curiosity.

"Everything okay?" Isabella asks as Leon arrives beside her.

He nods, setting his hat on his head and reaching for River's reins. "Gettin' better." He smiles.

Jake mounts Yasha as the sun peeks over the trees. Somewhere, a ships horn breaks through the mist rolling in from the docks.

"Lets move!" He hollers out to them.