Gimme Shelter

Okay, so it just wasn't his day. First a fight with Rawson and now this...

"Elenna! The hell happened to you?"

"I'm okay, Rome, really..."

This was good. Well, it was bad, and he flashed a fiery look of blame straight at Caleb before turning back to Elenna, but at least it distracted him from dealing with Rawson, whom he ushered out of the room so he could sit Elenna on the toilet seat and blot her bloody face with a wet cloth.

"What the hell were you thinking, kid?" he asked her gently. "Don't think you'll need stitches, but, look, you're ugly enough," he teased, "doesn't mean you gotta go picking fights and getting your face all busted up."

He dressed the wounds--a band-aid and some ice was all it needed, but it just looked bad, and that upset him more than he thought was possible--before allowing anyone to even think about talking about what was going on at the hospital...but he did hurry.

"Okay, chica, good as new," he said, patting her shoulder. "And play nice with the other kids next time."

Now he wheeled on Caleb. "What the hell happened, and what the hell are we doing next?"

"What happened was we saw them moving your buddy right the Hell now and ran into two Feds on the way out of the hospital. I dealt with one, Elenna dealt with the other. If I'd had to deal with both, we'd have two dead Feds to our names too. She's a big girl, she can clearly handle herself. What we're gonna do now is calm down, loosen our sphincters a little and go save your good buddy the FBI Agent," Caleb answered calmly, his voice rock steady, tone hard as steel, "Now let's get ready to rock and roll. We need that elephant gun to shut down the SUVs, and we need to get your friend back. You can whine about the trip when we get to the destination. If you get my drift."

Caleb winked and grinned as he finished. The last part was a joke - for the most part. They could complain later. There was a job to be done right now.

Lenna got up, worried that Rome might did something stupid, she felt a little dizzy and her arm hurt but she was fine. She smiled a thank you at Caleb and appreciating what he said about her.

“Rome it wasn’t Caleb’s fault. Relax okay. I mean I am fine nothing bad. You should see the other guy, trust me he looks worse than I do.” Lenna grinned at Rome.

Rome turned around for a second, not really listening what Lenna said.

“It was my fault. I convinced Caleb to go back into the hospital. I threatened him that I would go alone; I didn’t even know why I wanted to go. I guess because I am not really useful in this job. And don’t tell me again that you need someone to drive that is so not what I just want to do. When we saw on the security monitors that they are moving Aly now I called you, um you did listen what I said right? I told you since forever that you have to stop keeping me out of all the fighting I get rusty.”

Lenna took Rome by his arm and pulled him away from Caleb. He turned around to her.

“You are not supposed to look like this Lennie.” Rome said quiet, not really for the others to hear.

She sighed even after all that time together as a team not used to it that there was someone looking out for her.

Maybe the Remington/Fee era wasn’t over yet.

“I am fine really! We have to go. Please. Let’s get Aly and leave this friggin town. Go somewhere safe and stay under the radar for at least a couple of days. And I won’t pick any fights or you maybe finally practise with me so that I don’t look like this the next time. Come on we have work to do.”

Rome took a deep breath and nodded at Caleb, forcing a smile. If the guy wanted to think that that ploy had worked, fine, when in actuality he just didn't want to fight anymore. Rather, he did still want to fight, but he understood he shouldn't fight with his friends and certainly shouldn't fight with his brother.

Two strikes, he scolded himself. Now try slugging something useful.

"Sorry," he said with a self-deprecating grin. He still couldn't look Raws in the eye, but he hoped some senseless violence would help them work out any further aggression or animosity. "You're right:

"Let's lock and load."

Danila nodded to Elenna and Caleb as they walked in, taking his bags silently from Caleb as the others talked. He was just setting them on the beds by the time the Remingtons exited the bathroom and a bit of arguing broke out, but he ignored it and inventoried his weapons, readying some for the mission - he had overheard Caleb's explanation - and pulling a black t-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and a pair of black combat boots from one of the bags.

"Lets lock and load," he heard Rome say.

"May I have a moment to change into something a bit less," Danila started, gesturing to the hospital scrubs he had been wearing, ". . .bright green?"

The others looked at him a bit surprised, but Rome nodded slowly before returning to the conversation at hand - the young people appeared to be quickly outlining their impending assault on a nest of FBI agents. Danila vanished into the small bathroom, changing into the new clothes and returning quickly. He affixed a couple of pistol holsters, an ammunition belt, and a long knife to his torso and legs. He finished off the gore-inducing ensemble with a light leather jacket and a Dragunov rifle slung over his shoulder - though he hoped they would have no need for the last item.

Lenna smiled in relief, she also wanted to fix the fight between Rome and Raws but she knew that now was not the right time.

Rome you are not from the hook yet; I still wanna hear why you guys are back and why Raws looks as if he wants to punch you. But for now I let it go.

Lenna couldn’t sit still, the adrenaline was rushing through her body she grabbed her bag and was nearly on her way out when she asked.

“Caleb what do you want me to do? Just wait and grab Aly as soon the opportunity is there? Where do I go when I have her? I am still against that Rome is the bait, but I guess I don’t have a say in this.”

Lenna looked worried at Rome and knew she couldn’t change the plan anyway, but she was allowed to be worried about him.

"That'd be about it. You and Georgina should stick close to me and Danila until we hit the convoy. The signal should be ... Rawson shooting the first SUV, I guess. That'll either stall the convoy until they can reroute. If we're lucky and they're close to each other, it could cause a pile-up. I've been in crashes, people don't recover from them too quickly," Caleb stated, then reconsidered, "No. Your friend looked in pretty bad shape - let's try and avoid a pile-up. A crash could kill her."

He looked around them all, his eyes wandering over Danila.

"If you're abandoning the rental car, you can take shotgun in my pickup," Caleb added, nodding to the Russian.

"Raws and I lost the Gallup Police on a backroad a bit north of here...I think I might be able to do the same--or something similar--with the FBI," Rome offered. He was aware of Rawson looking at him with wide, livid eyes, but he ignored him. Which was usually a bad idea, and various warnings were going off in his head, but he ignored them, too.

So what if his plan involved fast-and-furious driving near a very deep canyon?

"I'll take the rental, if that's okay." He didn't add that Enterprise would never see that vehicle again in one piece if all went well. "After Rawson takes out the lead vehicle I'll drive in shooting and attempt a sloppy but hard-hitting rescue. Raws, if you could keep everyone's heads down, I'd appreciate it." They didn't make eye contact, but Rawson nodded. "Anyway, so I go in and try and get her, but if I'm not successful I'll just peel out and try to take as many as I can with me.

"That's when the real rescue arrives."

Rawson was nodding. "I'll stash the Camaro somewhere out of sight and go get into position now." For the first time, the twins locked eyes. "You're gonna need a ride?"

Rome gulped. So now Rawson was psychic, too? Or was it that obvious? "Uh. Yeah. I'll call you." Way to treat him like the staff, Rome reprimanded himself, grimacing inwardly. But he wasn't about to correct it, or apologize, either.

"Always happy to mop up," Raws replied, grabbed his keys, and headed outside.

Rome spent a fuming minute trying to decide if that was a final jab or not while he dressed in his tac vest and shoulder-holstered Rawson's Desert Eagle and his own Glock. Then he hoisted his go-bag with extra ammo (real and rubber--he was currently loaded with riot rounds) and sawed-off shotgun over his shoulder. Danila tossed him the keys and Rome caught them in his now-significantly-less-swollen left hand. Small comforts.

"Now or never," he said with a deep breath and, flashing the room a devil-may-care grin, and a brief but serious warning glare at Elenna--"Try to come back in one piece this time,"--he slipped out of the motel room and headed for the back exit.

“Right back at you.” Whispered Lenna

That is a bad idea. I so don’t like this. Rome if you dare not to come back I swear I find a way to kick your ass.
Lenna sighed.

“So Georgie it will be you and me to get Aly. We switch her between cars as often as possible and as soon we are clear we head to the Safehouse a few miles outside Protection, Kansas. You know where this is?”

Georgie looked offended by that question. “I will find it, Hermione! Don’t worry about me.”

“Great. I am glad your Barbie Mobile has GPS.” Lenna smiled at Georgie. She did like the girl as long she kept her girlie thoughts to herself. “Shall we go than Caleb, Danila?”

Caleb had been finishing up his gear check while Rome, Rawson and Elenna talked. He attatched the upper arm guards to his vest, and ballistic elbow pads. Not that they'd stop a bullet at the ranges they be dealing with, they just drew attention away from the areas of his body without any kind of armour. The assembly was now too bulky for his jacket, but he didn't intend to wear that for an assault anyway. He pulled a menacing black gun from his bag, smiling and checking the breach was clear. He pushed a 32-round drum into the receiver and chuckled.

"Atchisson Assault Shotgun. I ah ... stole a copy of the design a few years back and Tex pulled a few strings to get this made by a custom parts maker in Tennessee. Three hundred rounds a minute. Rubber Bullets. The Feds won't know what hit 'em," Caleb stated as he raised the gun and checked the sights, grabbing his bag and heading for the door, "Let's rock and roll."

Lenna let walk Georgie behind Caleb. Just so that she got some distance between the walking gun shop and herself. She already felt nervous in just thinking about getting her friggin gun out of its place. She felt safe knowing it I in the hidden box in the driver’s door. But knowing she had to take it out, to be safe made her nearly not wanting to help Aly.

But that is my job, help the innocent and rescue them from evil.

“I guess I don’t wanna know why you use rubber bullets.”

A last look back at the room to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

“Hey Georgie?”

“Yes?”

“One piece for you and one piece for me. It is my last one so we have to share it.”

Georgie smiled and took it.

“I hope that is not you way to say goodbye. Remember you said when we met that I can fix your hair, so it looks like hair.”

“Yeah whatever. We’ll see.”

Lenna hoped that the neither Caleb not Danila really heard what the girls said. But she was scared as hell, mostly because they were fighting humans.

Danila remained silent, nodding and following Caleb to his pickup when the time came. The Remingtons could do what they would with the rental, the Russian government had kindly covered travelling expenses anyways.

Lenna felt nervous when she left the motel, when she unlocked her Mustang and when she got her gun out of its normal place. But suddenly a rush of peace went over her. She felt safe and weirdly that nothing could harm her. When suddenly one word popped into her head.

Elle

She shook her head slightly and concentrated on the mission. She looked to Georgie to make sure they both knew the plan. When suddenly her phone rang, she had to smile by the sound of it.

"Yes Barbie?"

"Just thought it is handy when we stay in contact.

"Cute. But not a bad idea. Remember we get out of here as soon one of us has Aly."

"I know Hermione.

Lenna grinned when she turned on the engine and Back in Black started to blare from the speakers.

Caleb hopped in the driver's seat, nodding to Danila as the Russian joined him in the cab of the massive pickup. The key turned and the metal beast came to life with the bass growl of a tuned diesel engine. He closed his eyes and took a long, slow breath, flexing his fingers around the steering wheel. He slammed the behemoth into gear and gunned the engine, taking off with Elenna and Georgina as the Remingtons tore off to wherever it was they were going. Caleb drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as they moved to the starting gates. He watched, nerves building, as the four FBI SUVs pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

"Bingo," Caleb grunted as the SUVs turned towards the airport.

Rome followed behind the convoy of two police cars, two federal SUV's, one state police car, and one reservation police truck which surrounded the ambulance like it was carrying high explosives.

"Silly coppahs," Rome said, as if he had an audience, "da serial killah's right over here," in a really bad mobster accent. The barrel of an assault rifle flashed into view for an instant from the secondary FBI van, and Rome instinctively peeled off a bit, taking a side-street he hoped would catch up with the convoy again and immediately hopped on his phone. He was an expert at text messaging while driving, as he was expert at most marginally dangerous things, so he sent it off in an instant to the team:

We got SWAT in 2nd SUV.

It made him seriously re-think this whole "bait" thing, but he was sure the SWAT team (probably not even a full team, by the looks of things) was there precisely for the likes of him, and that was comforting. They'd be on him like flies on a turd, and that would free things up for the rest of the team to nab Aly.

Hopefully.

"Hopefully," Rome grumbled to himself under his breath, "they don't turn me into a very handsome paperweight..."

Blam!

Rome definitely heard the blast about a block away. Let it never be said that "overkill" was in Rawson Remington's vocabulary.

Screeching tires, a careening vehicle, and then Rome rounded the corner just in time to see the SWAT SUV fold the two fore cop cars like tin cans. Not letting himself stop to think about collateral damage--surely they'd manage to get their guys out of there in as few pieces as possible--Rome floored the gas.

That's then they knew what was hitting them. Quick on the draw, mentally, but less so on the execution. A few wild shots peppered his direction, but between getting their own men safe and getting organized, Rome had a few seconds' advantage.

Long enough to spot the suit being helped out of the SUV. Tall, blonde, badass-looking, like you wouldn't want to mess with him even on a bad day. Still. This was probably going to be one of the Agent's worst days ever:

Rome squealed the crappy rental to a halt boldly close, and he was out of the vehicle, Desert Eagle trained on the agent, well within an-amateur-couldn't-miss range. And he may have gone soft, but he wasn't an amateur.

"Put Wesson in the car and no one gets hurt!" Rome commanded. A second of pause, but not long enough for anyone else to realize how weak a suggestion this was.

"Who the hell are you?" asked a concerned nurse.

Now blondey's eyes narrowed. "Remington."

"What's it to you, Sunshine?"

"My name is Special Agent Holyfield, and you are under arrest."

"Ha," Rome forced a laugh, "Wait your turn, Agent, I'm still calling the shots." Rome looked around nervously, trying not to look as if he was nervous. No one had moved yet, but it surely wouldn't be long before he would have more red beads on him than a ruby necklace. "I suggest you tell these good people to put the woman in the car, before I--"

Sounding like an effect out of Star Wars, a bullet that weighed more than he did whizzed overhead to land in the engine of the res cop truck. Right on cue. It was like Rawson was reading his mind. A few cries, and Rome took a few shots at a few ankles to prove he was serious in the ensuing mayhem. But he wasn't holding this situation for long.

"Put Wesson in the car, now, before this town has to explain why they have two dead Federal Agent on their hands. Move!"

The medical staff jumped to action and disappeared inside the back of the ambulance. Rome was a little surprised at this, but then, since most of the guys with guns were on the ground or just picking themselves up, it wasn't too shocking. Huh. The Plan didn't hinge on him actually getting away with--

Blang! Blang! Bling!

Oh, there we go...

The cops opening fire from behind their smoldering cop car was almost welcome. Lousy shots for the most part, although one lucky bullet did bounce off a lower abdominal trauma plate and knocked him off balance enough for Holyfield to draw his own piece, and the SWAT team, taking heart, followed suit.

And that was things going according to Plan.

Under a hail of bullets--none of which, miraculously, hit--Rome guessed it was like the law of ninjas--and, all right, most of the bullets were actually Rawson laying down cover fire--Rome managed to get back into the car and never had pedal kissed metal so urgently as it did now.

Rome didn't even have to fake letting these guys catch him, either. Last time he'd been in a faster car, and the opposition had been in a slower one. No, in fact, that big black SUV on his tail, packed full of burly SWAT jocks, was so far up his ass he was practically shooting red lasers out his nose. Much closer than the last car he'd tried this little trick on...


((OOC: Okay, so damage count, as I (think I) wrote it: no casualties, though heavy injuries on the cops side. Only vehicles working are the ambulance, one federal SUV, and possibly one cop car. The other SUV and probably half of the SWAT team are after Rome. So good luck!))

Allison had never felt so alone. Here she was surrounded by men she would normally go for drinks with after the close of a big case, but it was different now. Now she was the enemy--but she hadn't done anything to deserve this. She had saved this podunk town from the boogie man! Of course, they would never believe her. So this was what it was like for Remington.

She had been in the back of an ambulance before, long ago. Now it seemed to come back to her--lying there while strangers fawned on her, waiting for her sister to join her. She had joined her--in a sealed black bag.

The ambulance lurched off its wheels and skid across the road while the unmistakable sound of crunched metal pierced the cabin. She almost wanted to cheer, but cursed instead. She was surrounded by SWAT and HRT. They were the most special kind of stupid if her new friends thought to attempt a rescue. All they would get is a bloodbath. She closed her eyes and waited, feeling a fight coming on. She was still very weak, and the jolt from the crash hadn't helped the situation any.

Shouting and gunshots. Wait, she knew that voice. Remington.

"Idiot!" She cursed under her breath as the doors opened and the shouting became clearer. He actually thought he was getting out of there with her under his terms. Then the hail of bullets started again. The only consolation she had was the peeling of tires and the gunning of an SUV engine after them. He was still alive--for the next five minutes anyway.

She managed to look up at the stern blonde agent when he entered the back of the ambulance.

"Not my fault if they are really that stupid. Wonder how we didn't catch him before, or if he really is that stuck on me?" She wasn't sure if the words exiting her mouth made as much sense as they had inside her head, so she shut up and waited to see what would happen next.

Caleb watched with varying levels of amusement at Rawson's devastating attack on the convoy, then with varying levels of shock and utter horror at Rome's display of brass balls. And they both worked out a charm. Rome drew away an SUV full of armed SWAT Operators. Caleb smiled as his pickup's engine growled. He floored the accelerator as he rammed it into gear, aiming the armoured front end straight at the one remaining SUV as it extricated itself from the patrol cars. He wasn't watching the speed when he hit it, but the impact shook his bones and made him thank God for the up-armoured chassis and bodywork.

The FBI armoured Suburban did not do so well. T-boned by a much larger, much heavier, and more armoured beast, its passenger-side doors caved in and the door pillars buckled. It was shunted sideways as Caleb spun the wheel and jumped on the brake pedal to control his own, now-skidding pickup and keep its monstrous front bumper pressed to the SUV. Caleb nearly whooped as the Federal SUV hit the drainage ditch side-on, its driver's side wheels lodging in the ditch as the Suburban flipped and skidded on its roof. With its rolling frame compromised by the t-bone, the roof caved in, shattering the laminated windows and scattering safety glass over the dry, dusty ground. No way the Feds were coming back from that.

"And that, Danila, is why you buy Ford," Caleb joked.

Caleb slammed the Ford into reverse and crashed it backwards into the one still-mobile patrol car, spinning it off the road, where it hit a patch of God-knows-what and rolled like a hyperactive dog. Caleb winced as one of the unfortunate cops was launched through the windscreen, landing in a heap a good forty feet from the car. With no time to dwell on the unfortunate man, Caleb lowered the window and lifted his shotgun from the back seat footwell, bracing its front handguard against the window frame and loosing a cloud of rubber bullets at the cowboys lined up behind the squad cars.

Only one hit out of four shots, but that one was enough. The massive rubber baton round glanced across the policeman's head, snapping his head back and pitching him into the dirt, blood splashing from his broken nose and ruptured lips. The other cowboys wisely ducked into cover as the shotgun continued to spit riot slugs in their direction. Caleb dropped the empty drum from the shotgun as it clicked empty, slapping a new one into its place as he let the clutch up and pushed the accelerator down. It didn't take much of an impact, really. He just bounced the pickup against the patrol car and it slammed back into the men taking shelter behind it.

Caleb wound up the window, shifted back into reverse and waited for another target to present itself.

“Georgie are you still there?”

“Yes why? Are you okay? When I wouldn’t know it better I would say you are scared.”

“I am not!” Lenna’s voice was shaking and each time Caleb into one of the enemy cars or when one of them shoot she winced.

“Georgie look over there, all cars are distracted. This is our moment. I bet there are some guards in the ambulance some kind doc and a driver. We knock them out at get Aly. The first one who has Aly gets her the hell out of here.”

“Sounds like a plan, even though I don’t like the idea to leave you behind. Lenna?”

“What Georgie? We don’t have time.”

“Do me a favor and talk your gun with you, please.”

But that is not fair, I don’t, I can’t…

Lenna had a look around and she knew that this time she need to do something she fears more than any mosnter, well nearly any monster, out there. But she also knew that this would be bad.

“Fine.”

Lenna and Georgie drove as fast they could to the ambulance. Lenna basically jumped out of the Mustang while she still drove, she didn’t turn off the engine. Lenna took with fear the gun and turned to the ambulance. The door was open and 4 agents in ballistic vest were in it. One of them was the guy Lenna saw on the monitor with Caleb. He said he was important.

“Hey assbutts you took something from us and we want it back now.” Lenna yelled to the men in the ambulance.

The men spin around that was for both girls the sign to shoot them.

Aim, breathe and shoot.

Lenna and Georgie shoot two agents each. They were wearing ballistic vest, but that only protected them a little bit. The impact of the shots was so strong that they got slammed against the walls of the ambulance and got knocked out.

“I am sorry.” mumbled Lenna to the agents.

“Hey Doc, move away from the patient. She goes with us.” Georgie didn’t look at all like a Barbie right now.

Lenna went into the ambulance to Aly. “Hey Aly. I could say thank you for protecting me and risking your life to save me. So here I am. Thank you.” Lenna smiled at Aly. “Hey do you need a ride? You are welcome to come with us. And if you dare to say no, I promise I will kidnap you. We are all here to rescue you. Can you walk?”

((Mae, I am allowed this because I survived Hebrew class...no, my research proposal isn't done.))

Allison ducked her face to the side as the bullets started flying again. It wouldn't protect her, but some instincts were difficult to ignore.

Elenna ripped the IV from her arm and helped her to a sitting position. Everything seemed in slow motion, but she knew that was the drugs. She had to fight the drugs.

Allison slid off the gurney and onto her bare feet, still shaking. The pain in her gut started almost immediately, but she knew they had to move fast.

"Thank you, Lenna. I think I can make it to the car. Hold on a moment." She grabbed the medic's bags and handed one to Lenna. "Probably some useful stuff in there. Why not add armed robbery to my rap sheet?"

She managed a short smile and then held her hand out for the gun grasped ungainly in the other woman's hand. She gave it over with a sigh of relief.

Allison had one more thing to do before leaving the scene. She went over to Holyfield who was groaning from the impact to his vest.

"Tell the FBI board I submit my resignation. Oh and, Holyfield--if my friends had wanted you dead, you would be. They aren't who you think they are."

Elenna helped her out of the ambulance and they ran for the Mustang where the blonde woman gunned the engine anticipating a hasty escape.

Aly lay down on the back seat, keeping low and holding her stomach.

Lenna wanted to hug Aly so tight when she took the gun out of her hand. Lenna drove as fast she could out of town, checking Aly constantly in the review mirror.

Please don’t ruin the seats.

Georgie was in her car right behind her. So far it looked good no one followed them. She texted to everyone.

We have Aly and are on our way out of town. I think no one follows us.

Her hands were shaking and she felt how the adrenaline in her body decreased. She knew Aly was not perfectly well, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“I shot at two agents. I shot two humans… Aly do you think they are okay? They were wearing ballistic vests right? I am sorry, I didn’t mean to shoot them, but I couldn’t use… I mean there was no other way. And…” Lenna voice was trembling a little bit.

Aly sat up, feeling sick to her stomach, but otherwise alright. She climbed into the passenger seat and rested her hand on Elenna's shoulder.

"Lenna, you did well--really well. You didn't hurt anyone beyond a few bruises, maybe a cracked rib, but probably not. I've been shot with a vest before. It isn't fun, and you're sore for a week, but you recover."

She leaned back and took in a deep breath.

"That was possibly the most stupid thing I have ever seen. Thanks."

Lenna didn’t really feel better, but she nodded slightly. She couldn’t stop thinking about his green eyes… And for the first time it wasn’t helping to sit in her Mustang, the place normally everything was alright. She wouldn’t let it go so easily, but for the moment too complicated to explain Aly why she felt so horrible sorry in shooting the two agents.

She turned to Aly with a tiny hint of a smile around her lips.

“You thought this was stupid? Oh girl trust me this was nothing compared to some jobs. My favorite stupid job war the siren we killed a year ago.” Lenna was for a moment quiet hoping and praying that the others were alright and didn’t stuck with Barbie and an ex-FBI Agent. “Are you okay? Just that you know, when you ruin the seat I gonna kill you.” Lenna sounded damn serious, but her eyes were laughing.

“Your welcome. We all couldn’t let you in there. You are a friend, and as a hunter you always help you friends.”

Lenna checked again her phone but nothing.

“I wonder were the others are. Georgie and I are not allowed to stop and wait for them or go back to help them. But I would feel better when I get some answer from them.”

((OOC: You thought we'd all get away easily, did you? That's not how I roll! ))

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!!

Rome quickly realized that on the highway, there was even more of a difference between the two engines. Aside from being big and lumbering, the suburban had one hell of an engine, and apparently a speedracer behind the wheel. Rome's only hope was to try and out-maneuver--

Crash! was the sound when the SUV slammed into him from the side.

"Holy sh*t!" Rome cried, swerving wildly, losing himself a moment on the dirt beside the highway, but recovering and looping around and ahead of the FBI once again.

Then he began to see gun barrels poking out of the windows.

"Aww, sunofabitc--"

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Choom! Choom! Cling-blang!

Bullets ricocheted all around him in the car as he slammed on the brakes to escape the firing squad. He zipped around quickly behind and around to the right, but there were only more rifle barrels poking out of the windows. Rome risked a glance at a road marker.

Four miles to the spot where he'd tricked the the previous police chase off the road and into a ditch.

He wasn't going to make it that far. Time to think quickly. With a shrug that became a flinch as the SWAT team opened fire again, Rome made a handbrake-breaking turn that swung him off the next exit, praying to God that the guys tailing him hadn't seen what he'd seen:

Coyote Canyon, 2 mi.

((OOC: I'm also breaking reality, putting this canyon a lot closer to Gallup than it actually is.))

Lenna and Aly were the first who reached the point in the desert where they all wanted to meet. Aly looked not too well, but she was alive breathing on her own and luckily not puking. Lenna stopped the car and got out. She was still trembling from the shock and panic that she had to shoot two agents, but she started to feel a little bit better. She sat down on the hood of her Mustang and looked around. She knew Georgie was not far behind her, and where the others were she had no real idea. The Mustang was out of sign from the street so even when the FBI did catch up, it would be hard to see them. Lenna was holding on to her phone as if it was a rope that safes her live. All she wanted was to get an answer from her friends, especially the two boys that left her behind and just came back.

There was nothing than desert around them, in the east the sun rose slowly.

Come on guys, you can’t leave me alone with Barbie and Aly. I mean Barbie is a Barbie and there will be a point when I just shoot her and not regret it a second, and Aly I don’t know she is a newbie hunter. Yeah she might be a good fighter, but gosh we would be so in trouble when the team is just the three of us. Come on guys, call or text me.

Lenna tried to calm down, her boys and she were in much more dangerous situations but this time it was not so easy that all they needed to know was how to kill the monster. The monster was this time humans and they couldn’t just kill them. The FBI was annoying but they just did their job and they didn’t know better, the FBI had no idea what is out there in the dark.

Lenna didn’t turn to Aly, which looked asleep but Lenna was sure she wasn’t.

“Hey Aly are you okay? Do you need anything? I have in the trunk more medical stuff, since I am together with the Remington’s I basically drive around with a transportable hospital.” After a moment she asked shy but like a waterfall not waiting for the answers. “Aly how dangerous is the FBI? The others can make it out in one piece right? You didn’t thought we come back for you. That we just would let you go to jail because you were smart or stupid enough to believe our ghost story. You helped us and we could leave you there.”

Lenna just talked to distract herself, she couldn’t stop staring at her phone waiting that it came to live, waiting for anything. She bit her lip until she tasted the iron and knew she just renewed the cut from some hours ago. Really careful she touched her face to make sure it was not too swollen; maybe she should put some ice on it while she waited. She wondered how bad it looked.

Rome said I am ugly enough and don't need to do anything to mess me up more. Oh God please let them come back.

Aly got out of the car and leaned against the hood with Lenna. She still hurt and her head still spun, but it was better now that she was no longer in custody. Something about her escaping life in prison healed wounds.

"You're always on the run, right? You wouldn't happen to have an extra set of plates in that trunk of illegal wonders?"

Lenna nodded and handed her the key. She took them, opened the trunk, selected a plate from Florida, and replaced the other one. Then she returned to the front of the car.

"Yes, the FBI are dangerous--not in the same way you're used to though. It would be best if we could find a place to lay low for a few weeks, let their trail go cold. Even after that we'll have to be very careful. Stay off security cameras as much as possible, no flights or protected transportation, and fake identities. I assume you know where I can get one?"

The girl nodded, then checked her phone for the fifth time that minute. Aly put her hand over Lenna's.

"They'll be alright. They're too stupid to get caught. Holyfield expects them to follow a certain profile, but he's got it completely wrong. Don't worry."

She blinked as she noticed the signs of struggle on Lenna.

"Wouldn't have pegged you as the close combat type--what does the other guy look like?" She grinned.