KISS THE GROUND

"Everybody kiss the fucking ground!"

The sound of glass shattering echoed through the marble halls as Giovanni casually walked into the building after the masked individual who just bellowed an instruction when he burst through the gilded doors of the bank. All eyes snapped towards them and everybody seemed to freeze in a mixture of confusion and disbelief, but none of them let out a fearful scream. They seemed way too perplexed to be afraid if he was being honest.

His eyes travelled back onto Batuhan to catch his eyes squinting in irritation underneath his woolly mask. Then he raised his menacing desert eagle, the metallic gleam of the barrel catching the fluorescent lights above. Without hesitation, the man fired a deafening shot into the air and the thunderous crack caused the stunned onlookers to flinch and cower.

Now the panicked shrieks erupted from the crowd, a cacophony of terrified voices that only seemed to feed Batuhan's glee.

"Did I fucking stutter?" Batuhan demanded savagely, his voice booming with authority. "Kiss the fucking ground, cunts!"

Giovanni could not help but swallow past the nervous lump in his throat.

Then approaching the nearest man who was dressed like a security guard, Batuhan dug his gun into the top of his head and growled, "When I said to kiss the ground, I was specifically talking to you too."

The guard raised his hands in surrender, bobbing his head up and down before slowly descending to the ground.

"Now, the rest of yous!"

The tellers behind the counters scrambled to comply with a shouting Batuhan, hands trembling as they lifted them slowly above their heads. The innocents in the lobby dropped down to crouch on the ground, hiding their faces from them.

Giovanni could feel his heart racing as he tried to steady his nerves, attempting to block out the cacophony of chaos unfolding around him. The sounds of shouting and commotion only added to his unease. He had always preferred to stay in the safety of the car, diligently keeping watch. However, to his dismay, Mick had made a sudden last minute change to the plan, thrusting Giovanni into the uncomfortable role of carrying out the intimidating task.

He turned around to see Marcellin Raphaël holding up the other security guard who was down on his knees with his hands behind his head.

A younger woman wearing a confident stride and a mask walked into the bank, the sound of glass crunching beneath her heels announced her arrival. Marcellin Raphaël, without hesitation, swiftly tossed a duffle bag in her direction. With reflexes honed from experience, she caught it and effortlessly threw the strap over her shoulder. She then proceeded to walk past everyone in the lobby with a noticeable swagger.

For a split second, their eyes locked and he could not help but notice the subtle smile that played upon her almond brown eyes.

She disappeared somewhere around a corner, down to the vault.

This was it—the moment they had spent weeks planning for.

After some time, the younger woman poked her head back out from the wall she disappeared behind and inserted urgently, "I need a key for the gate, Mr B."

"G," Batuhan looked over at him expectantly.

After nodding at him silently, Giovanni quickly moved with a purpose towards one of the tellers while gripping his own weapon tightly in his trembling hand. His heart was beating in his face. When he glanced down at her breast pocket, there clipped neatly to her crisp blouse, he caught her role on a badge: Bank manager.

His stomach twisted with a mixture of fear and determination.

"Where is the key?" he asked her, his voice low and serious to try and conceal the wavering uncertainty that threatened to break through.

Her eyes went wide with terror but to her credit, she remained outwardly calm. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do."

Her gaze darted around the room, no doubt searching for any means of escape or help.

He took a step closer, the barrel of his gun pressing firmly against her side. "Don't play fucking dumb with me," he murmured quietly while narrowing his eyes at her to convey the severity of this. "The key to the vault. Where is it?"

Her face drained of colour and she swallowed hard, her throat bobbing visibly. Her mouth stammered out a plea, "Please, I have kids."

For some reason, his face dropped and his grip around his weapon faltered the slightest.

Behind him, Batuhan immediately silenced her with a menacing glare. "Do we look like we give a shit if you have kids? Give him the fucking key," he growled loudly which caused her to jump, "or I will paint these walls with your brains."

"Please, I swear. I don't have access to the key."

"Who does then, huh? Her? Him?"

"I don't know," she stuttered with a crack in her voice.

Batuhan jumped up onto the counter. "Who has the key to the fucking vault?"

They all remained silent, staring at him with widened eyes.

"No one has access to the key for the vault?" Batuhan glanced around at the rest of the tellers expectantly.

When none of them spoke up or stood up to give Batuhan the key, Giovanni pressed his lips together in irritation. Why did people like making things so fucking difficult?

"Well, I guess if someone doesn't fess up to having access to that key," Batuhan slowly pointed his gun at a little kid which caused his eyes to widen in horror, "I'll just have to start taking some lives." 

His mother immediately stood up, shielding the kid. "No, please, don't."

"Move!"

"B, what are you doing?" Giovanni hissed through his teeth, bewildered by his actions.

Ignoring him, Batuhan yelled loudly, "Are we going to let this woman and her son die all because one person doesn't want to tell me where the key to the vault is?"

Still, nobody spoke up.

"Alright then." Batuhan cocked his gun.

"Okay, okay." Someone eventually exclaimed and he turned around to see one of the tellers holding up a piece of paper. "It's in the safe. Here is the combination."

Batuhan threw his head over his shoulder dauntingly slowly to stare at the man with an unimpressed look.

He was almost afraid that Batuhan was going to do something to the teller, as a show of dominance.

Fortunately, he dropped his gun and let it rest limply by his side. "Next time, I won't ask twice." Then his gaze shifted down to the bank manager and he could imagine a sly smirk curling onto his mouth. "You don't mind getting the combination for me, right sweetheart?"

As the manager fumbled with the combination of a safe, Giovanni could not help but feel a twinge of guilt.

Hopping off the counter, a triumphant smirk curled onto Batuhan's face when she produced a small silver key from the safe, holding it up with a trembling hand.

"Good girl," Batuhan purred at her.

Giovanni could not help but shake his head at his creepy tone.

"Now lead the way to my friend back there."

As the manager begrudgingly guided Batuhan to the vault, he quickly threw over his shoulder, "Make sure that you keep watch in the lobby for me, boys. If anyone steps out of line, don't be afraid to put them down."

Then their retreating forms disappeared behind the wall along with their young hacker. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the terrified little boy who, mere seconds ago, had a gun pointed at both him and his mother watching him with widened eyes.

Giovanni cautiously walked over to him. "Hey, little man."

The mum grabbed him, protectively tucking him under her abdomen.

After giving her a reassuring look, he slowly crouched down to be at eye level with the kid. "What's your name?"

The child hesitantly pursed his lips, then looked up at his mother with an expression that seemed to seek her approval. His mother maintained a cautious gaze, tightly embracing the child with her arms as she blinked at him. He did not blame her for her distrust.

The kid then glanced back at him and answered, "Max." 

"Your name is Max?"

"Uh-huh."

Giovanni nodded silently and then curiously he asked, "How old are you, Max?"

Instead of answering, the kid held up his four fingers.

"You're four?"

Max nodded in response and even though he seemed like he was warming up to Giovanni, he was still wearing a look of distrust in his deep brown eyes. The mannerisms of the boy reminded him an awful lot of his younger brother, Mordoqueo. 

"You like games, Max?"

Again, he wordlessly bobbed his head up and down.

"What sort of games do you like?"

"The one with the cars."

"Yeah?" His eyes lit up beneath his mask as he smiled brightly at the kid's answer. "You like cars?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Guess what?" Giovanni lowered his voice to a whisper as if he was about to tell him his biggest secret. "I really like cars too."

"You do?"

"I do, especially the ones that go super fast and the humming wind tousles your hair just like this." Giovanni brought his hand up to ruffle his unruly curls.

The kid let out a sweet giggle.

The smile on his face stretched from ear to ear. "I like driving them, the sound of their engines spurting out of the exhaust is oddly thrilling. Between you and me, Max, I am not normally in here doing this. I am usually the one driving us out of here." He pointed outside the window at the black Subaru WRX parked.

Max followed his gesture with his eyes. Then he glanced back at him.

"I hate this bit of the job," he admitted quietly so that only he caught the words.

"Then… why do you do it?"

Giovanni hesitated, caught slightly off guard by his question. "Sometimes… adults have to do things they don't particularly like to… survive."

"That is not true."

"No?" Giovanni arched an eyebrow at the kid enquiringly, an endearing smile almost tugging on his lips.

"Mummy always says that you always have a choice."

After glancing up at the mother who gnawed on her bottom lip nervously, he mused, "Is it?"

"Mm-hmm."

"She must have had really good parents," Giovanni said to him while trying to keep his voice steady when he thought of his own parents. "That must be why she is such a good mother to you, right?"

"Yeah," Max responded without even an ounce of hesitation.

"That is good."

Max then averted his gaze, his lips pursing to the side thoughtfully. Then he met his gaze again and reluctantly asked him, "Are you going to hurt us?"

Giovanni instantly shook his head reassuringly. "Nobody is going to get hurt."

Max's face lit up with a wide, toothy grin.

Giovanni could not help but mirror the expression, his own eyes crinkling slightly at the corners.

Just as the moment seemed filled with joy, the young boy's eyes suddenly flickered, focusing on something behind him and he emitted a startled gasp. Giovanni curiously turned around just in time to see a lone man pulling his gun from his waistband, pointing it at him. His eyes were wild and bulging out, his finger poised on the trigger. Instinctively, Giovanni held his hands up.

The silence was shattered by the sudden, sharp sound of a single shot echoing through the air.

Giovanni pinched his eyes shut, feeling a spatter of warm liquid on his face.

His ears filled with a high pitched, incessant ringing that made it difficult for him to focus on anything else.

"Daddy!"

Giovanni slowly pried his eyes open to see the kid running towards the now motionless man, bleeding out on the floor. Behind him was Marcellin Raphaël who just shot him, the nozzle of his gun smoking. The screams of the patrons were muffled. His chest moving up and down from his heaving, he glanced down at Max who was hunched over the dead man, trying to shake the dead man back to life with a cry leaving him.

Then he glanced up at Marcellin Raphaël with a bemused look in his eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"Because he was going to fucking kill you," he growled with a venomous glare, rushing over towards him to push him back scoldingly. "What the hell are you doing letting your guard down?"

"No one was supposed to get hurt."

"What the fuck is going on?" Batuhan demanded after rushing to break them up and when he saw the dead man on the ground, the colour drained from his face. "Shit."

Airi finally returned, her arms laden with overstuffed bags brimming with cash. She swiftly distributed one bag to each person, her movements quick and urgent. "We need to get out of here."

Batuhan had to drag the motionless Giovanni out of the bank. His eyes lingered on the hunched over kid. Max. Just as he left the door, he glanced up at him to lock eyes with him. He did not miss the venomous glare in his bloodshot eyes.