When the Raven Comes

[Unbreakable Justice]

The sound of his bedroom door opening woke Elijah, but he didn't say a single thing as he remained hunched over his counter. He let out a slow sigh and buried his face in his arms, not wanting to move until he had to. His entire body hurt, he was exhausted for he had barely gotten any sleep in nearly two days now nor had he eaten since he made tacos. For someone who was use to eating three meals a day and snacking, he was out of juice rather quickly.

That little kiss to his brow did wonders for him as he raised his head up from his arms and looked over at Natalie as she settled in to eat. He gave a tired smile and sat up before climbing off the bar stool to feed himself as well. "You're welcome," he told her while he pulled a bowl down off the shelf and opted to join her for the un-noodled experience. Still, he grabbed a french bread loaf and put it down in front of them to tear off a piece as needed. He dunked his in his bowl quietly while he ate up the chicken and vegetables with his other hand. Boy was he a good cook.

"How are you feeling? You look better, even if you are in some ugly olive fatigues," he noted with a soft smile before biting into his soggy bread.  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

"I feel better, felt like I got hit by a truck." Natalie replied eyeing the bread. Tearing off a piece, she realized she was probably more hungry than she let on."I have no idea what you mean by ugly. Baby barf green is in this year."

She looked to Elijah and his sunken frame as the little ball of guilt in her gut fell a little lower. "You should probably take your bed back for a while." she said nudging him gently. "You shouldn't have to trade your health for mine after all that...I...I guess I've never been any good at handling stressful situations. When I was a kid I fell of my dads boat and hit..."

Natalie's voice trailed off slightly, knowing at some point she had told this story before, but that wasn't the only reason she stopped. Knowing now that Regina had malicious intentions, she was thinking back now to what set everything off between them. Deep in the corner of her thoughts, she started to question if that was ever an accident at all.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Elijah nodded about her agreeing that she actually did feel better. He watched her eat the bread he pulled out while he nibbled at his own food. In the middle of a bite it was mentioned that he could use some good sleep. He nodded at the statement but made no move to take her up on the offer. Just continuing he ate his soggy bread and the pieces out of the stew, softly moaning as it felt better to settle into his stomach already.

"I can't just rest though," he finally spoke up after a few more ravenous bites. "I struck up a deal with Victor, your family guard, that I would keep you safe while we figured this out. He's the one who called me earlier. I left the room in hopes to not freak you out over who I was but that proved to be useless... Anyways, I worry that who went after you last time is still looking and I can't be off guard, sleeping, if he shows. I need to be ready at all times. I can't just let you be vulnerable for my sake."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Snow knew Victor? Natalie looked from her bowl with a puzzled look wondering what stars had to cross to bring those two together. Hopefully it was all on good circumstances and that phone call wasn't actually a threatening one. As interesting as a scrimmage match between the two would be, now wasn't the time to entertain thoughts like that.

A breath fell from her lips sharply, part letting her thoughts settle into a corner for now, the other part almost exasperated to hear he didn't plan to sleep. Pressing her teeth into a hard line, she tucked her bottom lip between them and stood to her feet to wrap her arms around him instead of leaning across the barstool awkwardly. Pressing her cold clammy face on the nape of his neck, she nuzzled her warrior gently and squeezed her arms tightly.

"You can't wear yourself out for me, Elijah." she said in a nearly apologetic tone. "We've been here for hours and he hasn't shown up yet, so that should mean he doesn't know where we are, right? We have that, meaning we have time. You should at least take a powernap or something or you'll start to run on empty."

She kissed his cheek gently before her mouth fell into a crooked line. Natalie knew they were equally stubborn, but she also knew there was a chance she could charm him to sleep if need be rather than wait for him to crash.  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow took the last few bites out of his stew, leaving him with a brothy mess beneath it. He pulled another piece of bread free to keep munching at when he heard Natalie rise from her chair. He looked over at her curiously only to have her wrap her arms around his back and push her cold face against his hot neck, inducing a shiver out of him. Confusing filled him as she argued for him to sleep and shower yet again. Her reasoning was sound and the more sensible one out of the two of them. He was acting like a little scared kid again and it was making him feel stupid when she was the more sensible one. Snow was the one that was suppose to be in control, not the target of a murder.

He lifted his bowl to drink down the rest of his food and put it down before opening up his side to her. He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her closely. With a soft sigh he nodded before giving her a quick squeeze. "I want you to get me if anything starts looking strange or crazy, alright? Don't let me sleep through something just because you think I need it. It's my job to keep you safe. It's also my wish to protect you," he smiled softly to her as he stood to put his bowl in the sink. "Have as much as you'd like. There's more leftovers in the fridge and cookies above the refrigerator."

He turned his back to her and grabbed the back of his shirt to pull over his head, giving a glimpse of the massive scarring on his pale back before he shut the door to his bedroom. He dropped everything as he walked to the bathroom, stepping out of his jeans and underwear as he went.

After he slipped into the bathroom and started the warm water, making it as hot as he could stand it before pouring some salts and oils into the tub. He put them back on a cupboard shelf that was dedicated entirely to such things. Upon Michael's discovery, he was informed most guys didn't keep such an array of bathing things. When you were beat up on a regular basis though and prone to PTSD, it was good to have something that could take that all away for a while. He would take smelling feminine for relief any day of the week for that.

So he soaked in the tub for almost an hour, dozing off a little through it as the scents and feeling of it on his skin was wonderful. Since the water started getting cold though, he managed to coax himself out to dry off and pull on some fresh underwear once he was in the bedroom. He bandaged and cleaned everything again that he needed to avoid any more complications on this trip. Finally he pulled on some fuzzy pajama bottoms then just dropped into bed. Within seconds he was out without needing a blanket or really a pillow under his head. He was too tired to care.  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie nodded in agreement. She was smiling softly at her little victory when he stood and started to undress as he walked into his room. Before ever taking note of his catalog of scars, she took notice of his amazing build and gorgeous frame. Seeing all of his wounds did make her smile fall a little though. She didn't like the thought of how he might have possibly accumulated all of those injuries, let alone the idea that people gave them to him.

Natalie looked down at her bowl, knowing she would be pretty satisfied to finish this off with some of that fresh bread. Once she heard the bath running, her frown deepened a bit immediately jamming her thoughts of the night before into the back of her head. It was hard to do when looking at her wrist, feeling the slight ache that accompanied her attempt at ignoring it, but she finished her bowl and stood to put the left overs away and wash their dishes after the sound of running water stopped.

Though large and well decorated, Elijah's home was very quiet. Natalie wondered how much time he spent there between his jobs. She knew it could be tough to enjoy having a home working just one job, but his required him to travel too. It was any wonder she got to see him at all.

Wandering into the living room, Natalie found a space on the sofa and wrapped herself in a nicely scented quilt from the back rest. She had decided that the best way to get her mind off of all of the things plaguing it was to lose herself in a few movies. Maybe she would be able to relax enough to fall asleep too.

It was some time into the early morning hours when Victor finally stopped to refuel. Mason stared discontently out the window with his thoughts flying around his head. It had been a quiet trip for the most part and he seriously wondered how Victor could go this long without pausing, he had to be tired and he was getting too old for this s**t. Mason wondered how long Kevin had been onto Regina's bullshit. In fact, how far did this whole thing go? She didn't really think that everything that happened with his dad's company was their fault did she? It definitely wasn't Natalie's, she was just a little girl.

A stiff 'Tsk' slipped out his throat at the very idea of trying to understand his mother's reasoning. Part of him demanded answers, but the rest knew he either wouldn't like what he found out or it would just leave a void of more questions. He hated it all the same. Even more so, he hated not knowing if Natalie was okay. Mason wouldn't be satisfied with Snow's word alone. His idea of alright could have been vastly different given his lifestyle, a bullet wound to the shoulder for all he knew could have been the equivalent of a scraped knee, there really was no telling.

As his thoughts continued to drown him, Mason decided to step out the car for a cigarette, his idea of getting some fresh air. It wasn't his first trip out to see Victor's family, but it wasn't very often that he did so granted that his wife Stephanie much rather have Natalie's company, it seemed.

Withdrawing his lighter from his pocket, Mason stepped away from the pump out of caution, looking through the window of the convenience store where Victor remained inside. In that moment, they made eye contact, Mason raised a hand in a passive wave, taking half a sec to await his responding gesture. Victor simply stared out the window. Not at him. Past him.

A panicked lump grew in his chest as he paused halfway through his second drag. The smoke danced in his airway for a moment longer than standard before he slowly and carefully let go. Through the window, Victor looked down at his phone before gripping the bags on the counters and hurrying outside. Mason stayed in place, now almost too terrified to move. The hair frozen on the back of his neck finally sent a signal down his spine that begged for a sensation less than jumping out of his own skin as Victor closed the distance between them, grasping Mason's shoulder and pulling him aside fast enough to reach for his handgun in the same movement.

Mason exalted, dropping his cigarette to the ground and watching as Victor searched high and low in the back seat of the car, finger nearly wrapped around the trigger.

"Victor..." he finally managed. He didn't answer, just kept scanning the roof of the car until his hand grasped something invisible to Mason planted around the area where the light was. It was maybe the size of a button, but the look in Victor's eyes read that it was absolutely horrifying. There was a buzz, he looked at his phone again.

Without a word, he threw the food in the back and pointed to the young man, "Get in. Change of plan."

"What's happening Victor?" he stammered watching the man's face growing pale.

"He's been ten steps ahead this whole time kid, we have to to back, right now."

Victor watched Mason's terrified face react as he hurried inside the car. He couldn't stop kicking himself in the a** for this. How did he not think of this? That this man wouldn't know where to go, which cars to bug. He almost led that sick ******** right to his family.

Victor looked at the text messages again, noting the docile look on Mason's face in the image taken from the back seat. This guy wanted them to be scared, and it worked.

He deleted the messages and started one new to Snow.

Being watched. Can't go home, won't come to you. After I shake him we need to settle on a safe place to ride this out.
-V  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow slowly rose from his sleep as if he had just been woken up from being knocked unconsious. He was slow to take everything in, his movements deliberate and choppy, and his eyes barely focused. Even if he did get a good chunk of sleep, he felt like he needed another eight years of it. Still, he slowly rose up from his spot to sit on the edge of his bed, rubbing his eyes while he unplugged his phone. Scrolling through it, he read Victor's message with a blank stare. While he understood what the message said, he hardly reacted. He just stared at it queitly as if he were awaiting himself to be taken to that place where he was needed.

After a few minutes of silently sitting, he finally rose from his spot. He stretched upon standing, working sore muscles back into functionality before opening his nightstand and a small box that had his replacement hearing aids since he couldn't remember what happened to the right ear one he was wearing and the left ear was broken.

"Natalie?" he finally called out as he started leaving his room, looking for her. Noticing his blanket off the back of the couch was missing, he looked there to find her curled up on the couch. "The bed is yours if you want it back."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Kevin was a patient man. Years as a physician taught him this virtue long before ever becoming a parent. When he became a father was an entirely different matter in itself, granted he was blessed with fairly tame children. And when it came to his empire, the virtues he learned came in use more so than one would think. Being patient, meant being observent, doing so, you notice when even the slightest thing is off.

Like when your daughter was supposed to be home two days ago and your son nor driver have returned your calls.

He tried not to be concerned, but he knew something was deeply amiss, and call it paranoia, but he had a feeling it had everything to do with Regina. The smart thing would be to stay quiet, act as though nothing was wrong. Granted that she hadn't set foot in the West wing had to mean she had no idea Victor was his mole, nothing lead her back to him. Yet.

The right thing would be to call the police, but Kevin was no fool, he knew Regina had them in their back pocket ever since Mason's hit and run charge magically vanished a few years back.

Not usually the one to remain still and not do a thing, having cancer simply reinstalled values he never lost.

Quietly, he sat, and waited, contemplating if maybe he should call them soon.

For a long while, Natalie fought consciousness while sitting and waiting for Elijah to wake up. Part of her wanted to dream away the horrors of the last few days, but that need for sleep and warmth was met with a heart throbbing sense of alertness. She was so worked up over the smallest things, from the sounds of the incoming storm to forcing herself to get warm, she felt so easily frustrated it nearly brought her to tears. She wanted to be able to deal, she wanted to be so much stronger than this, but God help her, any sense of comfort left her completely. She was just sitting and waiting now for something horrible to happen, some whirlwind of nightmarish events to topple over them. At this point, she only knew to fear the worst.

With her head heavy with endless doubts, Natalie closed her eyes for what felt like a brief moment, only to be woken up by the sound of Elijah's kind voice. Her eyes met his offer with haze and a heaviness that some might note on a person's face after crying for extended periods of time. Running a hand over her eyes as though it would wipe away the heavy feeling, Natalie stood to her feet and closed the distance between them just enough to lace her arms around his waist.

Standing there for a moment, Natalie thought of what she could possibly say after just taking the liberty of hiding herself in him like a child. Her forehead rested on the firm curve of his chest with a soft breath leaving like a wish to just pass all of her thoughts to him, save for all of her worries of him getting hurt more, maybe.

"I can't convince myself that we're safe." she said quietly. "I know what I said before, about him not knowing where we are, but...Maybe I was just saying that to make myself feel better more than anything."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow stepped backwards for a moment as Natalie lunged for him. The suddenness of their close contact was startling to start off with. As she burried herself into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Slowly he walked her back to the couch to sit himself down on before pulling her down into his lap to keep holding her.

"It's going to be alright, Nat. I promise. You're safe here, we can cook cookies together, have dinner, you make me fancy coffee... I'll even get some video games set up for you if you'd like. Whatever you need I'll give you if it will bring you peace for I cannot promise anything," he told her as he rubbed her back while cradling her in his arms. He kissed her brow before chewing on the inside of his cheek. He rubbed his cheek bone for a moment before turning silent once more.

In truth he ha no idea what to do to help her out. Normally he only fought for himself, tried to survive for himself, and struggled alone. He had no idea how to handle all this emotional stuff externally. There had to be an alternate option for handling such stressors. Yet he had none. Not a single thing. So he just held her.

After a few minutes of simply rubbing her back, he began to hum. It was a slow tune at first, deep in his chest. Then a lighter tone started. The melodic tune radiated out of his chest and through his vocal chords as he hummed one of the slower Halo theme sonngs. Snow closed his eyes and held her close as he kept at it, fingers dancing over her back with occasional pressure as he worked out the knots in her back, still silent but his humming.  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie fought to control the depth of her breaths as her eyes shut tightly. Elijah was doing a remarkable job to comfort her, but realistically she knew that they couldn't stay like this forever. He had to leave eventually, for supplies or other, and there was no telling what awaited outside these reinforced walls. It made her heart ache and quiver just thinking of this mess they were in. Her thoughts scattered, unable to think clearly of what they should do. At the moment, she really didn't want to think of anything at all. If anything she wanted to just appreciate Elijah's efforts right now. Her brain felt like it was rolling on waves with thinking of right this moment and the anxieties that came with what tomorrow.

Her arms draped around him slowly, careful to not actually touch his back. She couldn't imagine the phantom pain he might have felt at just the thought of her touching his bare skin. Natalie let out a smaller breath than before and brought her face from his chest to resting on his shoulder, feeling her entire body rocking slowly.

Thoughts now gravitating to him, she wondered if he's had anyone to comfort like this before. She imagined being a mercenary was pretty lonely, coupled with growing up practically on his own. Her heart twitched a little to think this was just his instinctive reaction. Natalie couldn't imagine the things he'd done, not did she really desire to. Whether if he had killed good people with families, or drug lords that tore families apart, everything in her wanted to believe that the man doing all of this for her, the Snow she knew, was a good person. A wonderful person.

Her cheek pressed to the nape of his neck with her voice halting in her throat. She was unsure what to say in a time like this. Something that told him how much she admired his efforts or appreciated him entirely without actually saying that she had fallen for every side of him he showed her. 'Maybe he would appreciate hearing that though,' she thought.

Words seemed to be failing Natalie yet again. With a small sigh, Natalie pressed her lips into a hard line before readjusting herself in his arms. Carefully, with a soft touch and a much more sound mind, she cradled his face and brought it to meet her forehead softly.

Natalie inhaled again, feeling the gust of air fan the warmth in her cheeks as she kissed him gently. "I'm...I'm glad to have fallen for you."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

His gentle humming kept up as he kept stroking her back, letting her hands wonder where they wanted to as she pressed her face into his neck. He looked down at her for a moment and smiled as he nuzzled up against her a little more, his five o'clock shadow brushing her skin. His fingers trailed up her back to the bottom of her neck where he kept working at the tense muscles there. Yet she still kept fidgeting in his arms. Snow raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her to feel her hands on his face and her forehead on his.

"Are you - " he began to asked her before she pressed her lips to his. It felt so weird for him to have someone be this intimate with him. He was so use to having passionate affairs without emotional connection. However this girl laid up against his sore body was grabbing at his heart. Taking it for herself. It made him feel like he was no longer of this earth, she his keeper and guardian though he was the one behind the trigger that kept them safe.

Leaning down he pressed his lips to hers again, being just as gentle as she had been but he held it a little longer. When he finally pulled away he was smiling at her. "I'm glad you're not terrified of me and chose to fall for me. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind for us though when it came to dating. My hopes were that we would get a few more cute dates at the coffee shop or order pizza in. To be honest though, this is a bit more intimate." He shook his head for a moment before kissing her once more as he shifted for her to settle between his legs instead of laying on top of the sore muscles anymore.

"Sorry if I'm not so good at this though, I've never had to comfort anyone before. Or really been comforted myself."

He looked down to her for a second before he sat quietly as he thought. After a while he realized when he took his shirt off earlier, she'd probably seen his chewed up back and had questions. However if it were him, he wouldn't jump to ask questions in fear of being rude. To him, it wasn't so much rude as troubling; he hated reliving it a thousand times over. In sharing with her though, he hoped to take her mind off what she was struggling with.

"Y'know, I think I've met you before... Not for a long amount of time, but briefly when I was laid up in the hospital for that year. You had your head wrapped up in a bandage from what I know now to have been that accident. I didn't remember it until you were talking about it again, I was quite heavily drugged while I was in the hospital for the most part.

"I don't know if you remember me, but I'm pretty sure I had been stuck in a wheel chair at that time. I told you how I'm a Veteran, right? I didn't get discharaged from it though because my term was up, instead I left because I was badly wounded in combat. While I was in Kuwait my team and I were out on patrol after a report of gunfire in an area under the Army's protection... I moved to get out of our Hummer to check what was going on when an RPG hit the side of our vehicle, my side, and flipped the thing into a building almost as if it were some toy. I hadn't been buckled in at the time and already started leaning out the door so I took the worst of the shot. I broke my back from being thrown in the cabin so by the time everyone was getting out to attack who hit us, I was all but useless but for surpressing fire out of the small window space I had that I could see through...

"Anyways, I got shot in the leg after that which shock ultimately finished me off from. I woke up in the helicopter on the way back, they drugged me, and I woke up again back in the States. I was told my team all survived with me taking the worst, but I don't know what happened to them.

"There was actually this guy who was in charge of my rehabilitation that you remind me of too. His name's Kevin, I don't know a last name, but he's the one who made sure I got past the self loathing and walked again. I owe everything I am to that man because he's the one who got me through all that when I didn't have anymore fight at the time. He's a nice guy, but boy does he know how to light the fire under your a** if you start giving up," he grinned before shaking his head. He leaned down and kissed her again, gently holding her face in his callused hand. "If you have any questions for me though, feel free to ask. I'm an open book for you - as long as you aren't trying to get information on my Army service, I can't give top secret information, even to you."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Nodding softly, Natalie gave Elijah a small, but honest smile. What relieved her the most was to hear him say there were actual plans in motion before all this, but what they had right now, this was good too. It was painfully honest and maybe more real than anything she had ever seen. The kind of love she could compare this to was barely teetering on tolerance let alone affection. With that, it went without saying that part of her worried that maybe she wouldn't have enough experience to know what real love felt like. But seeing Elijah at that moment doing what he could to comfort her, and knowing that all they wanted was to put each other's worries to rest, that was enough to ease the tension in her heart.

Her expression softened as Snow went on to describe a familiar disposition with an even more familiar name. She remembered his facility like it was just yesterday, the 'rehab lab' everybody called it. The more she thought about it though, the more incredible this chance meeting became.

A small scoff escaoed, seemingly brushing away any remaining disbelief. "Dr. Kevin Young? Salt and Pepper Johnny Quest hair? Had a purple mug with him all the time?" she asked with a stale smile slowly glowing with faint traces of life. She watched for any hint of familiarity in his eyes. "That's my dad, Snow. I was a volunteer nurse for his facility. Most summers it was the only way I got to spend any time with him, since I went to school on the other side of the planet. I think you're talking about the time I had to get stitches after a rowdy patient hit me with a tray."

The memory made her smile widely. And as if Natalie didn't have any better reason to believe in fate by now, this filled her eyes with several undefined emotions as she found herself in a more comfortable pose now. Her eyes were swept clean by her sleeve as small, almost sad sounding laughter escaped her in soft little burst. She inhaled, not lost to the irony of everything that's transpired in the last few years. She returned her temple to the firm curve of his frame with a melancholy smile. "He'd be so proud right now." she said softly, not sure who she was referring to. Maybe both; she wanted to imagine he would take credit for this moment, maybe even every little moment in between from the day she learned his name. "Proud, and laughing like a madman."

She began to drape her arms around him, mindful of his back at the last possible moment to stop her fingertips at the edge of his ribs. Her lips pressed into a crooked line across her cheeks.


"I was there a lot." she said quietly, thinking carefully as lingering memories prodded around her mind. She didn't stay in those thoughts long, realizing this was her opportunity to ask him anything, but even then, 'anything' had its limits."Did you ever think of going back into the military when you recovered? I wish I could could remember you from back then too. I mostly went around reading to patients, I wasn't good for much else. But I'd like to think that my dad and I would both pick on you while you recovered."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

"That description you gave me.. Yeah, that sounds exactly like the man who decided to torture me for half a year and then some. That purple mug use to be the spite of my life when I woke up and saw it sitting next to my bedside - meant I had therapy that day," he explained with a soft laugh. He stretched himself out slowly out from under her with one arm raised and his legs straightened before settling again and adjusting her lightly in his arms. "You and him teaming up against me probably would have gotten me killed in the end. Would've lost my mind."

He took his hand gently and let it down his ribs a little further to the start of the puckering from his surgeries and shrapnel scars on the small of his back. He moved a little under her to let her feel his back shifting just like it was suppose to. It made a bit of grinding but felt healthy as his muscles shifted correctly along with his spine. "It doesn't hurt when you touch it other than with just a little bit of tenderness other than really rough weather changes. Makes me feel about forty years older, but not needing extra delicate care from you," he assured her before moving to answer her next question.

"And I tried every trick and loophole to get back into the Army. I had no other life than that, nothing that I knew how to do. I joined as soon as I could, I finished only high school, and I had been doing odd and end jobs since I was old enough to do that to help pay for things at the orphanage. Army paid me better, made me feel like I had a purpose, and for a change made me not feel like someone's mistake... But no one would let a cripple rejoin. Even after I started walking again, I was too big of a risk that something would go wrong in the field because my depression made itself very prevalent while in the hospital.

"While I was there, a guy approached me like out of a comic book. He learned about me through the hospital records as they scan hospitals for such people all the time apparently. They told me if I got better fast enough, they'd pay for my medical records, give a huge chunk of cash to the Army and orphanage I came from, and I would make enough money to never worry about it again. So here I am now after seven years."  

[xxangelsofchaosxx]

Natalie stayed still for a moment, blinking slowly. Everything he was explaining was sort of a lot to process at one time, mainly the giant red flags that popped up at the mention of the scout. The way he fell into his lifestyle sounded like something straight out of a movie. It was suspicious, but really, Elijah's line of work wasn't necessarily legal either, so it went without saying he would get into this lifestyle in a pretty shady way. Speaking of legalities, her dad's medical facilities were privately owned, no one should be able to see those medical records, or even know they exist for that matter. The corners of her mouth pulled apart tightly, trying not to put too much thought into it, but she didn't like the idea of people scouting potential mercenaries and hitmen through her dad's company like it was Craigslist.

She sat back, sweeping those thought to the side for a moment while looking over Elijah's features with a newfound insight. Suddenly, it felt like she was seeing him for the first time. Something in her felt like she was supposed to be afraid, but it just wasn't registering. Natalie knew fear, fear was very much a steeple of her personality; she knew when to be afraid, she often gave herself every reason to be, but when she thought of being afraid of this man in front of her, it didn't click. Snow wasn't a monster. He was a nerd, he had enough compassion in him to chose her over...whatever ungodly amount of money Regina put on her head.

"Well, at least it got better...minus the part where you crack skulls for a living." she said sheepishly tilting her head to the side with a shrug. Her eyes followed an invisible trail in her lap, chasing her thoughts before they hid away for a while longer.

"So, what do we do? Should we try to get a hold of Victor? I feel like we should have a plan. For all we know, that monster is out there waiting."  

[Unbreakable Justice]

Snow casually shrugged at what she suggested for "getting better". In his mind it was a thousand times better than being an orphan, living on top of one another, and not eating several days in a row due to food shortage. Even if blood would never truly wash off his hands, at least he was secure enough in his life to eat every day.

Amazingly though, Natalie jumped into planning. She wanted to know what their next step was. She was also keen enough to know that his fortress he made wasn't good enough to stay there forever. Eventually they would have to move, have to run, and hope that they could keep far enough ahead of Regina's other hit men to avoid bullet holes. Which meant they needed not to be bonding, but packing. So without saying a word, he suddenly sat up with a bit of a groan on his leg and her in his arms before he walked briskly back to his room. He plopped her down on his bed and started rifling through his backpack, pulling out clothes, ammunition, liquor, bandages, condoms, and other random things he needed to keep himself looking like a civilized human. In the end he just dumped it all out on the floor, foregoing the neat piles he started forming.

"Don't worry, the condoms aren't for you unless you ask. Politely," he teased without looking up. He dug through the pile of super hero shirts to pull out a very thick vest and dropped it on the bed next to her. "You're going to wear that or at least keep it over you until we get to the new spot. It'll be heavy and big for you, but I haven't had a chance to teach you how to fire a gun so I can't really expect you to know suppressing fire. I'll carry the gun. You carry the shield.

"Unfortunetly I don't think we can take the motorcycle again because that thing can't take shots. I've got my second baby girl in the garage down stairs that will take on a Ford and keep kickin' so we'll take her to the next safe spot - which is closer to Regina but I need to handle the source of the problem so you can see your dad again. Just promise me you won't run off. I can't protect you, fight her, and reload - "

A loud bangging on the door interupted Snow's thoughts and he drew a gun out from under his pillow. He flicked the safety off and got low to the ground. He glided across the floor without a sound to the door before putting his back up against the wall next to it. A second knocking came before he threw open the door, grabbed the person on the other side to throw in at gun point. "Hands where I can see them!"

The taller man rolled over onto his back with his hands raised but no worry in his eyes. "Are you going to seriously shoot me? After all we've done together, all the rooms we conquered?"

Snow glared down at the blonde but he righted himself and offered a hand out to him. "Kind of handling a hostage right now. I don't have time for sleep overs, Michael."

"Aww, don't be like that baby. Just the tip."

The mercenary's face darkened in red but he just stormed back towards the bedroom and started putting his things back in his bag. He offered no explanation and just stuffed fabric in on top of itself. Eventually he said, "Michael, Natalie. Natalie, Michael. She's the hostage and he's the 'brains'."

Michael stolled in with a bouncy gait full of self confidence and boldness that was more flirty than his counterpart. It was like comparing the gait of a panther to a timber wolf - both superior to the common man but entirely different from each other. "Technical support basically," he explained as he looked over the cooking in the kitchen and the general tidiness of the apartment. "I thought I was house trashing this weekend and you were going to be in India."

"You'll also notice I failed my previous contract."

"I dunno if I would call this failed. You're already rich so not getting the money is no big deal. The important part of the thing is you got your bae and you can run away together into the horizon. That's what counts in my book. Since you're here anyways, would you mind having a travel companion. Y'know, one that knows women past their vaginas and such. Don't worry though, Nat, he's good at that part. Just a little slow person to person bonding.

Snow abruptly stood up to be right in the face of the man who had just stepped into the bedroom. He glared at the other man as he stood there, having to look up from both his shorter height and Michael's tendency to tower over people. Without saying a word though, he dropped back down and zipped his bag to throw over his shoulder.

Michael looked impressed. "Oh. You haven't had sex. Damn... If you were thinking about it though, I could tell you the best positions for him to get into for it and what's bad. He tells you he can do whatever but his back kinda makes - "

"Michael! Shut the f- "

A nearly silent sound came through the glass but the scream that came from Snow was deafeningly loud as he dropped to the ground holding his side. He had seen the bullet burry into the wall on the other side and realized if he hadn't stood up again from his crouching position, it would be his head splattered all over the wall.

Michael dove to Natalie and pulled her off the bed as they both fell to the floor. Feathers exploded into the air as one of the pillows on the bed was hit. Then a rain of bullets just began to pour through the window, shattering it and completely muting everyone's screaming. Both men grabbed bags though and pulled everyone out of the room into a sprint to the door on the other side of the apartment - gunfire chasing them down the way. Neither said a word as they moved in unison, taking turns in guiding Natalie between them down the emergency exit stairs and into the parking garage.

Next to Snow's motorcycle sat a black tarp that nearly blended into the concrete. With one hand he ripped the heavy duty fabric back to reveal a metallic silver, brand new muscle car. It looked standard but the monster was reinforced to take anything from a bullet or another car attempting to crash them. She was a fierce thing and it was his favorite get away vehicle.

"I'll drive!"

"Over my dead body," he replied as he dropped his bag into the back seat and sunk down into the black leather interior. He let out a pleasant moan and started the car with a matching purr. "Seat belts on and hold tight."

With both passengers in his car, he gunned the car in reverse before tearing out of the parking garage, working the stick shift without even glancing at it. The car skidded slightly on a tight turn he took just before a loud ting sounded off of the window. A scuff appeared in the bullet proof glass without a single look of concern from Snow. Instead he just drove hard and fast, trying to get out of reach of wherever the sniper was that had view of his high rise apartment.

They drove in high speed silence for almost fifteen minutes before he slowed down and turned the CD player on for some classic rock to play quietly. At that point he was breathing hard and a little sweaty, but still was fully alert as he watched everything until his eyes fell on Natalie in the back seat. "So what do you need for a day long road trip and further kidnapping time?" he asked in a joking tone, trying to ease up on the tension and panic that always formed when being shot at. Even for Snow still. "There's a mall and general store up here, I could get you whatever you need or want - including road snacks. Which I think I'll indulge in."

"Snow, I need to look at your injury," Michael told him, trying to get him to listen. When he was shrugged off though, he said again, Elijah, let me see your side. He might have poisoned it or something. I need to know how bad it is."

"When we park, I'll let you see it. Natalie comes first.