Multi-Dimensional Merchant System

Crouched between rows of bookshelves, Oliver cursed internally at the situation. This was supposed to be a milk run; Just watch out for a college girl for a few weeks and be on his way. And with the amount of security already in place, it really should have been. But things were far more complicated than he expected. He doubted Mr. Hall or Henley expected it either, but that was no comfort with the position he was in.

“H, we need-”

“Put Sophia on.”

Henley's tone, stern and unyielding, caught Oliver by surprise. Were things worse than he thought? What was going on? “We don't have time for that, H. We-”

“Put her on. Now. That's an order!”

Oliver's head snapped back at the anger he heard in the man's voice. Plucking the earpiece off, he dropped it into Sophia's hands and turned back to watch their surroundings. He ignored her speaking softly behind him for a moment as his mind raced. Less than a minute passed before she tapped him on the shoulder, handing the earpiece back, but everything had clicked together. Slipping it back in his ear, he spoke softly but with certainty.

“You have a leak.”

The words hung in the air for long seconds before a frustrated grunt answered him. Henley's voice was tight with anger and worry. “That is my assumption as well. Sorry I snapped at you, but I had to confirm that Sophia was still free and not under duress.”

Oliver nodded slowly in understanding. Of course he was the first suspect; He showed up out of nowhere, hired directly by their boss and completely bypassing their normal protocols...

“How bad is it, H?”

For a second, Oliver could hear teeth grinding on the other end of the line. “Rev is sidelined. The other teams I sent out are facing constant harassment, hit and run attackers on motorcycles. They show up, pop off a few shots, and then bolt. Team 4 lost a tire and is out, the rest are being delayed hard. I'm trying to get something moving quietly, but...”

Oliver was shocked to stillness by the defeated sigh from the imposing man. “Until I find the leak, we're being cut off at every turn. You're on your own, Silk.”

Oliver's shoulders sunk under the grim weight of the statement. He knew he could get out of this easy enough. All it required was him to abandon Sophia and hide himself away in a study room. Once they got her, they would leave and he would be safe...

Glancing at the woman behind him, clinging to the back of his jacket like a lost and frightened child, he immediately discarded the idea. He would never call himself a hero, or even really a good person, but he had promised to keep her safe.

And he did still have a trump card hidden away, though he was loathe to use it unless absolutely necessary. As much as he liked Sophia, there were some secrets he didn't want to reveal.

“I'm ditching the phone, H. Can't risk them tracking it. I'll contact you once we're clear.”

“You-”

Oliver didn't wait to hear Henley's response. Pulling the phone out of his pocket, he ended the call. Turning to Sophia, he held out his hand. “Give me your phone, too. Just in case.”

She hesitated only for a second before digging her phone out of her pocket and passing it to him. Reaching between the books on the shelf, he pretending to hide the phones there as he surreptitiously dropped them both into the System Warehouse and a thought flashed through his mind- 'I really need to upgrade the warehouse. It's just too damn useful.'

Waving Sophia to follow, they padded cautiously away from the spot. His head swung left and right, constantly on alert. Reaching the front of the building, he edged up to the window and peaked out and down to see a team of their attackers watching the front doors. With all the exits covered, he knew it was likely they had men inside searching the building already.

He needed a plan, and he needed it now.

With Sophia in tow, he hurried back to the stairwell. After a quick glance through the window on the door, he motioned for her to wait as he eased it open and slid through silently. His ears perked up at the quiet words echoing up the stairs.

“-in position now.”

Edging cautiously over to the stairs, he crept down just enough to see the landing below. A pair of the attackers stood together, one watching the door leading into the second floor and the other watching the stairs leading up to where Oliver hid. Nearly holding his breath, he shuffled back to the door and through it, an idea already forming.

Leading Sophia away from the stairs, he quickly checked the study rooms along the wall until he found one with a long couch in it that was perfect for his plan. Cheap and plain looking- as he doubted the college was willing to spend much on a couch it would replace in a few years at most, its frame sat flush with the floor and was at least two feet deep.

Tossing the cushions off the couch, Oliver pulled out his pocket knife and cut open the fabric beneath, exposing the frame and springs. A small, grim smile flashed across his face when he saw the simple hooks holding the springs in place before he started rapidly unhooking them. Feeling the tension on the springs, he knew the old him would have struggled. But with his now higher strength, he was able to remove a spring in just seconds before tossing it aside and grabbing the next.

With most of the springs removed, he eyes the supports running across the middle of the couch. It would be a tight fit, but maybe...

“Think you can shimmy your way in there?”

“What!?” Sophia nearly hissed at him, her eyes wide with fear.

Laying a hand reassuringly on her shoulder, he gazed into her eyes for a moment before giving her a confident smile. “I can get you out of here safe, Sophia, but it won't be easy. I'm going to have to deal with at least a couple of those guys before we can move, and I can't do that if you're in danger. I need you to hide here until I can clear the way. I doubt they will be checking under couch cushions for you.”

He chuckled at the silly image, which seemed to relax Sophia a bit more. Patting her shoulder once, he let her go and watched as she awkwardly twisted around and under the supports until she was fully inside the couch. Quickly replacing the cushions, he hesitated with the last one in hand.

“Ignore everything you hear, and don't come out until you hear me say the code word we agreed on... And, if things go wrong, stay there as long as you can. These guys can't keep this up forever; Eventually the police or Henley will show up and they'll bolt. Ok?”

With her reluctant nod, he gently set the last cushion in place. Sweeping all the springs into the System Warehouse, he rushed out of the study room and back to the stairwell. Relieved to see that the attackers hadn't made it to this floor yet. Inhaling deeply, he held it for a second to clear his mind before letting his breathe out with a whoosh. Quickly donning the balaclava he hadn't worn in weeks, he reached out and pulled the fire alarm.

The blaring alarm shattered the silence of the library.

Mark flinched at the sudden blaring of the fire alarm, nearly missing his next step. Catching himself with the handrail, he glanced at his partner, Andy, who had covered his ears and was trying to say something. Shaking his head, Mark pointed at his ears and yelled to be heard.

“I can't hear shit you're saying over this alarm!”

“What the hell happened!?” Andy shouted in response.

“Someone pulled the fire alarm!” Obviously, you idiot. Mark added mentally.

Both men winced at the clamor as they reached the third floor landing. Mark quickly took up position to watch up the stairs, but Andy hesitated before moving to the door. “Mark! What the hell are we supposed to do now?”

Mark sighed. He hated being stuck with the new guy, but someone had to show him the ropes- especially on a jump this crazy. And, seeing as Mark was one of the more experienced guys, it was only natural he got stuck with the idiot.

Or it could have been because he was the one that last pissed off the boss. He wasn't entirely sure which it was, not that it mattered at this point.

“Do the job, kid. We watch while they sweep, just like the last two floors!”

Mark huffed to himself and turned back to watch the stairs. The door behind him slamming open caused him to start and spin in place just in time to see Andy get clocked across the jaw by a baseball bat. A fucking baseball bat!

Andy crumpled to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.

Mark reacted quickly, reaching for the gun under his arm even as his eyes widened in recognition at the person wielding the bat. It was the same guy that had somehow outrun them while carrying their target, and the asshole was coming for him next.

Oliver turned a feral grin on his second target as the first fell. Seeing the hand dipping under a jacket, he knew this one carried a gun just like the other and swung the bat again. The distinctive crack of breaking bones rang out as the bat slammed into the man's wrist. His howl of pain cut off with a grunt when Oliver shoulder checked him into the wall.

Still, the man was a fighter and quick to retaliate.

The fist slammed into Oliver's chest, eliciting a small grunt of pain. Instead of resisting it hard, Oliver allowed the punch to push him back a step. With more room to work, he raised the bat and faked swinging it at the man's head. Arm's came up to protect the head, one hand hanging limp where it was broken, but the expected impact never came.

Instead, Oliver's booted foot stomped down on the side of the man's knee and he went down cursing. With his opponent on the ground, Oliver struck methodically. Threatening swings at the head left the man open to a stomp on his stomach, knocking the breath from him.

Thirty seconds to take out both men, and most of that was spent on the second one.

But Oliver wasn't done yet.