Withdrawals

*Bump*
Lena watched as the pill bottle bumped gently against the inside of the drawer. She simply stared at it for a while, before being brought to her senses by Eva's shout from the living room.

"Hurry up!"

She grabbed the bottle quickly along with a coffee packet. Then she moved to the coffee maker, opened the lid, placed the filter, and used a teaspoon to pour in the right amount. These basic steps which came so naturally to her before were things she had to walk herself through in her mind now. 

She closed the lid and pressed the button on the top. And all she could do was wait with bated breath for the coffee to brew.

There were ten minutes left, then five, and eventually one. 

Every drop felt like a year being taken off her life. Lena looked over her shoulder to see Eva still watching the TV with the same bored expression on her face. 

The thirty seconds remaining couldn't have ticked down more slowly. 

Lena tried desperately to keep her mind off of what would happen if she failed. 

Finally, the coffee was ready. She trembled greatly as she pulled the beaker towards her.

"I got it from here.", Eva said.

Eva was right behind her now. Lena jumped and closed her hands tightly to hide the bottle as she turned to face her.

Eva grabbed the cup off the counter and stuck it in Lena's face. It was clear what she wanted. Resigning herself to her fate, Lena slowly tipped the beaker and watched as her only hope slowly fizzled away.

Her mind raced, trying to come up with a way to salvage the situation. But Eva pulled away from her before she could.

There was nothing else Lena could think of. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Sugar!"

Eva stopped walking. She turned to look at her.

"...What?"

"Um... W-Would you like some sugar? Maybe some milk? O-Or cinnamon maybe?"

Blinking twice, Eva took a sip from her cup, snorted, then extended her cup over to Lena. 

"...Some milk.", she said.

The cup felt heavy in Lena's hands as the feeling returned to her palms. She turned her back to Eva as she opened up the fridge. 

Opening her other hand slightly, she managed to turn the lid on the bottle with her finger and slip a single pill into the cup. She left the bottle in the fridge and replaced it with a carton of milk. After pouring in a little bit, she turned around. 

Closing the fridge, Lena returned the cup to Eva and anxiously watched her down the entire drink in one gulp. Eva wiped her mouth before returning to the living room. But before she could get far, the cup fell out of her hand and shattered against the floor. 

Eva had her hand on her head. Her body was starting to spasm. It seemed the coffee and sleeping pills weren't mixing too well. She looked at Lena as her henchmen rushed over.

"You... What did you-"

She could only say so much before passing out on the floor. 

In an instant her henchmen raised her guns at Lena.

"What did you do to her!?"

Lena opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, her phone started ringing. That gave her an idea.

"D-Don't ask me! Rin's the one who put me up to it!", she said.

The two henchmen looked at each other before looking back at her, a bit more conflicted now.

"How about you talk to him?"

She reached into her pockets slowly as the two henchmen watched her closely.

***

Rin spoke as soon as he heard someone pick up.

"I'm going to need your help."

Through the phone, he heard someone he wasn't expecting.

"Rin...", Lena said.

His tone softened in response to her voice.

"How are you? What's happening?"

"...I did what you asked."

Her response made no sense. She was clearly in a lot of trouble, but he couldn't understand what she was trying to say. He asked one question.

"...Where's Eva now?"

"She's down."

-Down? 

He thought about that word for a bit as he listened to some sort of struggle happening. A man's voice came through next.

"What the hell is going on? What did you do to her?"

Rin chose his next words very carefully and did his best to speak in a quiet, but threatening voice. 

"What do you think I did?"

He paused for a bit before continuing.

"I poisoned her. And the only way she's surviving is if you get the antidote from me."

"...What do you want?"

"She has an hour at most. Bring her and Lena to the bank now."

***

*SCREECH*
After rushing everybody into their car in a matter of seconds, henchman one pressed all the way down on the gas pedal and bolted down the road.

And on the other side of things, Rin was running back over to Klein and Miles.

"The plan is on. We need to go now!"

Rin was frantic and although confused, both Klein and Miles got up almost immediately to follow him outside and into the car. He briefed them on the situation on the way over.

They had a head start, so they were able to make it to the bank before the others. As soon as they parked, Rin started pushing Miles out the backseat. 

"It's going to be tight, but wait for my signal, okay. You have your earpiece?"

Miles nodded and hurried inside.

The other two stood outside the bank entrance. It was starting to get dark. Soon enough, a car pulled into the bank driveway and one look at its reckless driving made it clear who was behind the wheel.

Rin and Klein stayed in place just long enough to be seen and then retreated through the bank's entrance to lure them inside.

The two were captured on camera, entering the bank in a panicked state. Rin looked around restlessly, trying to burn as many details of his surroundings into his memory as possible. 

Before long, the two henchmen came bursting through the door, dragging Lena along with them. And immediately, one of them raised his weapon to Rin's face. 

Screams flooded the hall, and the bank's sirens started blaring instantly. But no shots were fired immediately. All of the bystanders started cowering on the ground in fear as the two groups spoke to each other. 

"Where is it?", the henchman asked.

"I'm not just going to give it to you... First, you need to hold up your end of the bargain."

Rin tilted his head in Lena's direction and the two henchmen looked back at him wordlessly. After standing there for what felt like ages, they finally pushed Lena forward. 

*Ba dump*
The two henchmen looked at Rin expectantly. But he didn't meet their gaze. Instead, he was studying every corner of the room, taking note of as many things as possible.

*Ba dump*
Lena's location in relation to him, the placement of the tables in the room, and particularly the pathway to the back exit of the bank. 

*Ba dump*
He shut out the sounds of his heartbeat and the sirens blaring around him until he knew the space like the back of his hand. 

Then as the sun fully set outside, he let out a smirk in absolute triumph.

"Now."

*WUMPH*
The lights went off. Darkness filled the room along with a bunch of gasps. And in that brief moment of confusion, Rin grabbed Lena's arm then ran with her as fast as he could for the back exit.