Chapter Text
“Cover me!”, he hears Vikram sir, just as he entered the area they had cleared. He reacts to the command instantly, and reflexively aimed at the people around them. It took a few seconds for the current scenario to load in his brain. Vikram sir had the IG at gunpoint and their team around them, arms up. He blinks for a few seconds, aiming the gun at Prabakar, as he points it from one person to another.
Just as he was about to ask what was happening, though he thinks he has a faint idea; hears a gunshot and suddenly feels searing pain along his right side. He hears the bullet go through the metal shelf near Vikram sir as he drops the gun somewhere in the pain. Looks like the bullet had grazed him.
He hears more gunshots and pings of the bullets hitting the wall and the racks. He dives out of the line of fire, behind the shelf where he had dropped his gun. The unbalanced dive led him to land on his injured flank, muffling the scream of pain by biting the back of his hand, he takes a deep breath, panting with adrenaline. He pushes himself up to lean heavily against the shelf, wincing in pain. He had had an inkling that Vikram sir hadn’t known about the informant in Vedhas ranks that only visited the IGs office when Vikram sir was busy.
He grabs his gun from the ground and keeps it steady in his right hand. He tentatively touched his injured side and lifted his shirt. And hissed in pain as the fabric rubbed against the wound. It didn’t look like a deep wound. He deemed it safe for now.
He hears more gunshots and is taken back to the time when the team had barged into a warehouse and the rowdys had been ready, firing at an instant, most of them escaped by a hairs breadth, he remembers that a few had gotten shot but nothing fatal. He spies a person alongside Vikram sir shooting at the team, squinting at him as he seemed to look a little familiar.
He scrambles up as fast as he could with his injured side and grabs his gun, and squishes himself into the space between a closely arranged shelf. He figured that it was Ansari who shot at him. Ansari was one of the first member of the team who had made him feel included and not the newbie, he had invited him to a few parties, talked and listened to him and had made him feel comfortable, and the thought of him that might have shot at him, made him sick.
He jerks out of his thoughts as he hears gunshots nearby, he gets on his knees and crawls away from the gunfire grimacing in pain. He slowly scrambled to stand as the shelf turned hollow at the last rack. Just as he turns the corner, he stumbles as he stops suddenly, seeing Giri and Pandyan.
They stare right back at him, eyes moving from his face to his hands. He realizes that he has a gun and stops being the deer in the headlight and aims it at them and they tense, he realizes that they don’t have a gun and feels a little assured and safe. But they notice his clammy hands and how it held a slight tremor.
Giri straightens up and says , “what? Simon told you didn’t he? I wondered how Simon got that far to save that girl, alone.”
He jolted as he heard a gunshot and a shout of pain from the far left of the warehouse. Giri gave no indication of hearing it.
“stay back” he said, voice faltering as Pandiyan takes a step forward uncaring of the gun pointing at him.
Oh really? He said, “where was this hidden confidence when you let Simon come in alone, eh?”
He had been standing at the outer gate, ready with the car. He had waited for over an hour, anxious and riddled with doubt whether the cryptic and vague information Simon sir said was true or not, waiting for Simon sir and the women he said he had to help, Chandra. He guessed he shouldn’t tell them that now.
He prepared to give a warning shot, but his hands refused to pull the trigger at Pandyan. A second later, Pandiyan was at arm’s reach, and tried to grab the gun. Manikandan cursing his lack of courage, and knowing it’s a lost cause to hold onto the gun for long, and as his grip loosened, tried to push it off Pandiyans hand, he twisted his hands enough and with the momentum of Pandiyans hand, the gun flew over their heads, and fell near the shelf and went off, shooting atthe wall and with his sudden luck, slid right under it.
Before he could rejoice at his little luck, he felt something hard and unforgiving slam over the back of his head. His ears ringed as he felt himself become dizzy and fall headfirst into the ground. He winced as his head bounced off the ground. As he lost his conscious, he saw Giri standing over him, his last thought was on how he had once laughed along with him half drunk while watching a movie after a long day of chasing after false leads.
He blinked into consciousness, he felt dazed as he wondered why was he in a warehouse now? Lying down? Oh, he had been hit in the head by Giri! He sat up, his head spinning. His head felt like it was filled with cotton, light and full. He failed to hear any gunshots as he starts remembering the jumbled memories in his head. He panics, had he lost his hearing by taking a hit to his head? But then he heard his hands slapping the ground. He sat up and calmed down a little. He still couldn’t remember the exact sequence of events that had followed after he entered the warehouse.
He sits there, head still spinning and ears ringing. He tried to stand up. His side still stinging from the graze and finally shuffled into his feet. He stands there for a few moments. Letting his body balance and to clear the dark spots from his vision. He hears Vikram sirs voice to his right, behind a metal shelf.
Taking carefully slow steps towards sir's voice, and just as he rounds the corner, he is grabbed by his shoulder, and before he could protest the harsh treatment, feels the cold, blunt head of a gun pressed into his forehead. He stills. He is pulled, back to chest against a person. Loosing his balance, he stumbles into the person and hisses as his injured side is grabbed by them.
Vikram sir is standing ahead. Pointing a gun. “Let him go Vedha”.
“what are you saying Vikram sir.” He hears The Vedha say sarcastically right next to his ear and stiffens up his impossibly tight body to its max as fear courses through his body. “Now drop your gun and kick it over here. Will you sir? ”
He watches tense as Vikram sir hesitates for a second. A quick movement to his right and there’s a gunshot at his feet, startled at the shot he tries to move away, but is yanked back and feels the gun on his forehead again.
“I’m not joking here Vikram, drop the gun and kick it here.” hisses Vedha, the previous teasing in his voice gone. He sees as Vikram sir slowly lowers the gun and kick it off.
He chuckles and says, “I’ll have him for a little while, okay? Promise I’ll take good care of him. Make sure to round up your team while I'm gone"