By amaryll28

  "Eliza!" Ava was panting hard alongside them as they flew through the alleyways. "Eliza – wait!" Each step jolted through Lee as his feet hit the hard concrete, the wind blowing his hair back, making his eyes sting – though maybe that was Ava. They turned onto yet another street unfamiliar to Lee, and panic started to set in – what if he couldn't find his way back?

   "Shut – up," Eliza gasped, and they slowed down as they were able to join a crocodile of shoppers, hoping to blend in, though they were both obviously out of breath from running, and Ava was panting heavily beside them. Lee let go of Eliza's wrist, his cheeks getting hot, but Eliza moved closer to him, grabbing Ava's collar and pulling her with her.

  "Lee, he's probably armed to the teeth," she muttered in his ear as they had to slow down even more to keep pace with the elderly couple laden with shopping bags in front of them. "So here's the plan – he knows me and Ava stick together, so if you take Ava and lead him off that might give us a chance to slip past him, and then you can bring Ava to me and go back to your girlfriend." Lee frowned at her – her plan had gaping holes in it, the least being that he wasn't going to be taking Ava anywhere.

  "I still think we should call the police," he grumbled. Eliza shot him a dark look, and he reached for the shattered, now practically useless phone in his pocket. He hoped it was just the screen that was smashed – various other electronics had still worked when he'd broken the screen.

  "Lee, we need to get out of here. Take Ava for me." She tried to hand him the collar, but he refused, crossing his arms tightly across his chest – there was nothing that would get him to take that dog.

  "Let's just keep walking," he said, and he sped up and overtook the elderly couple, apologising as he passed them. Eliza followed on with Ava, watching as Lee tried to get his phone to work. Light flickered behind the splintered glass, but he couldn't get anything to work properly – one of the shards must have gone in too far and broken something vital. A little bit of guilt spread through Eliza – it was her fault that he couldn't go on texting Jems or call the police. At least he had the money to replace it.

  After a long time walking, they found themselves near a park; in the distance they could hear children playing, dogs barking – Ava's ears pricked up and she started trying to pull away from Eliza.

  Please, she thought, her eyes wide and begging. It's been ages.

  Eliza shook her head sternly. "Remember what we're doing, Ava." She caught sight of Lee eyeing her as though he thought she was a little mad, but she ignored him. Ava settled down with bad grace, resigned to listening to her mistress as they paused by the edge of the park. There wasn't a Mercedes in sight, nor was there any other sign of the doctor. Lee was still fiddling with his broken phone as though hoping he could resuscitate it, and the shattered glass had given him a couple of cuts, but it just wasn't working.

  "Give over with it," Eliza said sharply, and she grabbed Lee's hand – there was a little bit of blood oozing out of his cuts, and she covered them with her palm, concentrating hard. Lee raised an eyebrow, but he didn't pull his hand away – he didn't particularly want to aggravate an already hurt hand. When she let him go the ache had faded, and when he inspected his hand the cuts were gone, though there was new, pinker skin where they had been. Lee shoved his phone back in his pocket, touching where the cuts had been – the skin there was softer, and he looked up at Eliza in wonder.

  "Thanks," he said, smiling tentatively at her, but she just rolled her eyes. Ava licked her hand while Lee's brain worked hard, trying to figure out what on earth had just happened. "Is this why Reynolds is after you?"

  "That and the animal communication thing, yeah," she said shortly. Lee watched her for a while, wondering why she hadn't just healed the scar that twisted her facial features. He thought it would be a bit insensitive to ask her, but if she could heal his hand with such ease ... yes, obviously a little cut was nothing compared to the gash across her face, but if she could ...

  "So how do you think we're going to get out of here, if you won't take Ava," she said, snapping him out of his reverie. She looked thoroughly unimpressed as she stroked Ava – the dog was panting, tongue hanging out her mouth, eyeing Lee in a similar way to her mistress.

  Lee bit his lip, thinking fast. "Well, he probably thinks we've gone running off, so if we go back to the station –"

  "Are you mad?" Eliza said, shaking her head quickly. "He'll shoot us!"

  Lee sighed, willing himself to be patient. "He won't if he doesn't think we're there. You need to get to Heathrow and get on a plane. That's the only way we've got." She frowned, and Ava barked. "Look, I don't know where we are. We can't walk there."

  Eliza considered him for a moment, and then she sighed. "Fine. But if he's still by the station then we're doing it a different –" There was a loud noise in the distance – maybe a car backfiring, or a firework going off? Whatever it was, it startled Ava, and she pulled out of Eliza's grip and bounded off in the opposite direction.

  "Ava!" Eliza hissed, but the dog was nearly around the corner, and Eliza set off in pursuit. Lee paused, inwardly groaning, before sprinting off after her. His legs already ached from running, but he was faster than Eliza, and he had soon caught her up and was able to keep pace with her. The gap between them and Ava was lessening, but Lee knew they couldn't keep the speed up for long. There was another loud bang, much closer at hand, and Lee realised when he glanced at Eliza's panic-stricken face that it must be a gunshot – it didn't sound much like he thought it would. He supposed he should be grateful that it wasn't the easily recognisable stutter of a machine gun.

  "Eliza – Eliza," he gasped, and he grabbed her arm as she went to turn into an alleyway after her dog, stopping them both abruptly. "No." Ava was yapping, and it was getting louder. Lee started to back onto the street, tugging Eliza with him, but he walked into someone – he glanced up, and he realised it was a tall, thickset man in a crisp suit, with a pistol in one hand. He took a quick step away from him, but the man kept walking, forcing Lee and Eliza into the alleyway. Ava was yelping now, and they could see her – a rather short man, smaller than Lee, had a tight grip on her collar with one hand and a gun in the other, his suit expensive and ironed to perfection.

  "Ah, good morning, Miss Whittle," he said as Ava struggled to get away from him. "The pleasure's all mine."

  "Reynolds," Eliza spat. Ava whined, still trying to reach her mistress, and Lee let go of Eliza as the man behind them shoved something blunt, cold and metal into the small of his back. He went numb, not quite knowing what to do – Reynolds obviously wanted Eliza, but what did that mean for him? "Let go of Ava," Eliza said, pulling away from the man behind them as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He grabbed Lee instead, not that Lee could have run away; his mind was reeling with possibilities, panic settling in as he realised if something happened his phone was busted, so he couldn't call for help.

  "Why? She's quite safe here. You wouldn't want her running off into traffic, would you?" Reynolds said, a sinister smile playing on his lips. "Besides, we'll take her to Battersea and she'll have a good home when we're through with the both of you." Eliza shivered, and she glanced at Lee. He was staring at Reynolds, and Eliza couldn't tell what he was thinking. Maybe calling the police hadn't been such a bad idea after all ...

  "So, here's the deal, Miss Whittle," Reynolds said, and he gestured to his companion – the man pressed the gun harder against Lee, and Lee closed his eyes, his thoughts drifting to Jems. Don't get shot or anything ... "You come with us, or we'll have to hurt your dog. Or your friend."

  "No – no, don't," Eliza said hurriedly, and Lee opened his eyes again to look at her. She looked very panicky – understandable – but he needed to tell her not to let them take her. Someone else must have heard the gunshots. The police were probably coming now – there was the scream of sirens in the distance, but this was so usual for London that he couldn't tell if they were coming here or not. He'd believe they were. "Let Lee go, he's nothing to do with it –"

  "Funny, because your brother wasn't either, was he?" Reynolds said. "What was his name? Damien? It's such a shame he was caught up in the blast, as it were – you're a great causer of collateral damage, Miss Whittle." A shadow crossed Eliza's face.

  "That wasn't you, that was some idiot who couldn't drive properly," she said sharply. "They prosecuted him for it. He's in prison up North now." Reynolds kept smiling at her, pulling Ava back.

  "I know," he said, eyes glinting. Lee stared, still not struggling against the man behind him; he had a very tight grip on him, and that gun was uncomfortable – Lee prayed it wasn't loaded. "I know, Miss Whittle. What a coincidence that Damien couldn't remember anything afterwards, hmm?" Eliza's eyes widened, and Ava yowled, struggling very hard against Reynolds.

  "You ... you ..." Eliza stuttered, and Reynolds raised his gun, cocking it. He pointed it at Eliza, who made a move to get out of the way, except she had nowhere to go.

  "You know, Miss Whittle, it's just occurred to me that I can test you just as well with a bullet in you," he said, and for a split second before the trigger was pulled Lee knew he had to act – he yanked himself out of the man's grip, ignoring the gun pressed into him, and he threw himself in front of Eliza. Something struck his leg, ripping through it, and then the fire started. He yelled, falling to his knees, and he stared at the blood dripping from his calf. The other gun cocked, but that one was empty – Lee had been right. Ava was free, and she bounded over to Eliza, trampling Lee as she passed.

  "Go," he yelled to Eliza, who squeezed his shoulder quickly before tearing off, out of the alley and down the street. The man who had held Lee raced after her, and another gunshot sounded – Lee glanced at Reynolds to see he had fired in panic to stop Eliza's escape. Warmth spread through him from where Eliza had touched him, so much so he could barely feel it as something ripped through his chest in a similar way to his calf. Reynolds stepped over him as he sank to the floor, curling up on the concrete.

  Don't get shot or anything ...