449: Critical

Critical

  Connor just found out that his fiancee was in France. It was close to the Paradis and he wished to go there to see her. But since Quinn's birthday is in five days, he must stay. He went to the playroom to check on her baby. Somehow, Kal was pouting at Victor, nearly crying when his toys were gone. He doesn't know what happened but Quinn was busy organizing her toys color by color in the middle of the playroom. She even pushed away from the trail roads for Kal's toy cars. 

"What happened?" Connor asked as Kal approached him and pointed at Quinn. 

"Cars… Kin-kin…" 

"Oh," Connor patted him. "I'm sorry, Kal. Let's set up your toys on the other corner." 

  Somehow, Cole was already collecting the toys and rebuilding the road for the mini-car toys. 

"Look, your brother is already rebuilding it." 

  He sniffled and pouted. Then, he rushed to his father who whispered to him and spoke to him. The poor little boy just let Quinn do whatever she wanted. Cole as the big brother among all of them tried to fix everything so there won't be any chaos. Connor leaned over the sofa just close to Victor. 

"What did my daughter do?" He asked them. Violet snickered and covered her mouth as Victor grinned. 

"Your daughter is savage. She just loves bullying Kal. And it's very unfair to Kal." 

"I know. I have to lecture her again." Connor sighed. 

"Oh," Violet took out her tablet. "Johanna had planned for Quinn's birthday. From cake to decorations, to souvenirs." 

"Oh," Connor checked. "Adorable." He nodded his head. "I spoke to the planner." 

"I had it sorted out so you don't have to change anything." 

"Great. I don't have to stress it all out." 

  He removed his slippers as he stepped over the carpet and approached his daughter. He sat in front of her as she glanced at him and continued organizing her toys. After lining it up, she roamed her eyes at it and when it seemed to be missing a green color, she pushed herself up to stand and walked toward Kal and Cole. She picked up Kal's running green toy car and walked back to her corner and placed it before blue. She clapped her hands and Kal approached her with a pout. 

"Quinn, you should ask Kal before taking that car." 

  Quinn picked up the red block since she had a lot of it and extended it to Kal. 

"No. I wan—car." Kal crossed his arms. 

  Quinn looked down at her toys that were lined up and picked up Kal's car and gave it back to him. Then, Kal went back to his corner as Quinn messed up the toys that she organized, crawled to Connor's lap, and started crying. Everyone looked at each other and raised their brows. The baby is being dramatic. 

"Quinn, it's not your toy." He said softly and patted her head. "You shouldn't take it without Kal's permission." 

  But she was crying hard and everyone just shut their mouth. 

"Quinn, it's bad." 

  She shook her head and pointed at his mouth. Then, she pointed to the fridge. Then, she scooped his face and she bit his nose. 

"Ow!" Connor carefully pushed Quinn and put her down. "That hurts and it's bad." 

  Quinn still looked adorable even though she was crying. He stood and picked her up as he took her to the fridge. She stopped crying and she pointed to the green candy bar box. 

"It's not for you." He said but she frowned at him. 

  He picked it up anyway and gave one to her. She pointed back to where her toys were. Then, he put her down as she organized her toys again and now, with a green bar to complete the color. She clapped her hands and crawled to her father and kissed him. Connor was glad that she completed it but her tantrums are something. She's a perfectionist or maybe more.

"I can't stay mad at her." He mumbled and looked at Victor and Violet. They nodded their heads. Then, Quinn walked toward Kal and hugged him. Kal, who was a sweet boy hugged her back and kissed her cheeks. Then, she became a good girl, sat down, and watched them play with the toys by letting them race. 

"Wow," Keira wanted to clap. "Now we know where the temper came from. We need to let her finish whatever she wants to do, perfectly and her mood will" she snapped her fingers. "Instantly change into a good one." 

<

<

<

<

  It was already night in France. They gave her a two days break. Those two days, all she did was sleep, eat, and exercise. She needs to be more fit for the next suicide mission. Johanna dressed up wearing a new pair of camouflage suits. Then, she put her trench coat on. She tied her hair up after spraying it with a blond color. Then, she put her contact lens on. 

"I don't know why you are with me all the time," Johanna mumbled and took the red lipstick. 

"I am here just in case you have a mental breakdown." 

  Johanna laughed so hard and turned to him. 

"I wouldn't have a mental breakdown when you are around. You are so funny." 

  Gray rolled his eyes and twirled his wine glass. 

"You are the one that will get a mental breakdown, don't you think?" She put her lipstick on. 

  Indeed. Gray couldn't eat well because he was stressed from all of the gem hunting that they were doing. He doesn't know what the gem does but even the Dragon Empire was mixed in. It must be something very, very weird. And he guessed that it wasn't all about money. 

"You know what's in that gem, right?" 

"Hmm," She only hummed and put her eyeglasses on. He followed her and drove the car to the countryside. The chopper was waiting as he stayed at the station. He can't go further there. 

  After a few hours, they landed 100 kilometers from the spot. Johanna drove her motorbike. A peaceful city. Johanna doesn't want to cause chaos but she doesn't have a choice. She enjoys it anyway but the killing? Not much at all. 

  She was humming a song while driving her motorbike. She went a few more rounds before she stopped in front of the gate of another clan that is protecting the emerald gem. She exhaled as she closed her eyes hard. 

  Then, a loud explosion was her cue to get in. She drove her motorbike through the gate as she jumped off the bike, letting it run toward the gate as it crashed. It was a beautiful Swedish Mansion. Ran fast as she swung her katana to block the bullets. She went through aggressively and swung her swords with grace to get in. 

  Because she wanted to end the mission right away without killing that much. It was protected underground and the Charles Empire already hacked the entrance giving her access but the most dangerous part is the laser blades surrounding the gem. 

  She felt weak suddenly. But she managed to turn it off while throwing her kunai directly to the main fuse. It sparks as the lasers disappear. She checked if there were more traps. But a man came out with a claymore. He's at least 5'9 with golden blonde hair, a chiseled face, and a lean body. She bet that the man was stronger than the agents. 

"Ohh, hi handsome." She waved at him. The man titled his head and scanned her from head to toe. 

"What do you want from this gem?" He asked in fluent English. 

"Well, I don't want anything from it. My hands are tired and they want me to take it." She sighed. "It's hard, you know. I am tired and all." She sighed. "Can you just hand me the gem? And all of these will be the end." 

  The man sighed and pointed his sword at the floor. 

"No fun at all." 

  She chuckled. 

"I know." She sighed as she slid her sword back into the case on her back. 

"You can take it." The man said. She shrugged at him. 

"Really?" 

"Nope." The man shook his head. "Come on. We should fight at least to make it thrilling." 

"Dude, we are not in a Hollywood movie. Give me a break." She complained,

  Johanna's eyes dilated as she noticed a woman standing in the secret door at the strange man's right. She already recognized the suit. Then, she stared at him as he went to the computer and locked the room. It was odd that there was another lock. Then, he turned off the cameras. 

"How about chess?" He asked. 

"Yeah, sure." She walked straight to him without caring about any other trap. Then, he gestured at the seat in front of the luxury chessboard and pieces. 

"Choose your color, milady?" 

"I'll go black."  0

"Great choice." 

  After twenty minutes, Johanna came out, looking lethargic. A chopper was already above waiting for her. She tosses the bag to them as they check on it. Then, they pulled her up and she collapsed. 

  Her body has never been weak like this. She doesn't know what's going on with her body. Maybe it was the side effects of the drug that they've been injecting into her. Although Connor did everything to remove it from her system, there were still a few that might have sneaked. 

pqdm.com