Motorcycles?

The sound continued to get louder until it stopped a short way from the barn. Jace didn't even realize that he was holding his breath as he strained to listen.

Footsteps were heard approaching the barn. Inside, Craton's men were completely silent. They, too, were thrown off guard by the visitors. A few looked to Craton for silent advice.

So it's not Craton's men out there...

Jace glanced toward Craton, who was paused, about to reach City, his face contorted into utter confusion and frustration.

Then came the voices in whispers.

"This barn?"

"That's what that nerdy kid said."

"Isaac! Be nice."

"Can you two shut up? You're being loud."

There was a pause.

"Is this the door?"

"Obviously, Devin."

"Well, let's..."

The sound of his voice trailed off. Jace knew exactly the voices he had heard, and he didn't know what to think. Should he be grateful that his friends were there? It was too dangerous... But surely they hadn't come alone?

Craton jerked his head toward the wooden barn door, ordering his men to open it and take care of whoever was behind. One of Craton's men who was closest to the door walked toward it, arm extended, reaching for the handle—

The double doors burst open, knocking Craton's man backward. There were yells from both the intruders and from Craton's men as chaos suddenly erupted.

Smoke-makers were thrown into the barn, exploding open and releasing thick, grey clouds that instantly covered the room. With the distraction covering his actions, Jace immediately went to work on the two men holding him. Jace had newfound energy with the arrival of his friends, and he was easily able to beat back the two men that had been holding him. One he left unconscious, and the other couldn't get up from the ground.

Jace stood, breathing heavily through the cold, smoke-filled air, and took a moment to glance around at his surroundings.

The sounds reached his ears even when he couldn't see. Gunshots sliced through the grey, adding to the mess by creating fear. Yells were heard from all over the barn as men shoved and punched and kicked each other.

Felicity sprang into Jace's mind.

He was only standing still for a few seconds, but he sprinted toward the middle of the barn alley, right into the thick of the fray. Squinting through the smoke, Jace almost ran over the chair on which City was placed.

A huge man with a deep scowl on his face stood over City. He turned to Jace and began to speak, but at the next moment, another man slammed into the huge one, both of them falling to the ground.

Jace didn't know which of the two men were on his side, so instead of joining the fight, he kneeled before City.

"Felicity..." he spoke, shaking her gently.

She was beginning to wake up, her eyelids still heavy from taking that hit to her head.

Then the sights and sounds of the fight reached her all at once, and she jumped, her eyes wide and panicked.

"We need to go," said Jace. He tore away her gag and went around her, fumbling with the rope. Finally, he got it free just as the two men that were fighting bumped into him.

Jace was quick to react, but the men had pushed him away from Felicity. She stood and turned toward him, but the next second, another smoke device went off, and the area between Jace and City filled with thick fog.

The commotion hit Jace like a freight train. He was suddenly very aware of the gunshots, the fighting, the haze, the cries...

And his Felicity was not at his side.

City tried to get back to Jace, but another pair of fighters rolled into view and blocked her path. When the next smoke bomb went off, she pulled her hand to her face, coughing. She peered into the cloudy barn air, but Jace had disappeared.

More gunshots sounded, making City instinctively duck.

Get a hold of yourself, she had to repeat in her mind. She steadied her breathing and stood, looking around...

Someone grabbed her hand, and City spun around, ready to strike.

"Gordon? What are you doing here?!"

It was Gordon, the security guard for Indigo. He had a scratch over his face, but his friendly glower was a welcoming sight.

"Come," he said, not answering her question. He gently grabbed her hand and began to lead her through the mess.

Bodies flew in and out of view, sometimes tangled together in a deadly fight, sometimes chasing or running away, sometimes being knocked backward. The smoke all around gave everything a spooky feeling, as though anything could jump out of the fog at any time. The air was thick with uncertainty, and City didn't even know who was on her side and who was on Craton's. She saw big burly men from both sides fighting together... It was all happening so quickly, too.

Gordon continued pulling her along until she could barely make out the back door of the huge barn. They were just passing the empty stalls when another round of bullets struck through the smoke.

Where was Jace?

Jace ducked just in time as a bullet whizzed past his ear. He even felt his dark hair move with the wind that the bullet pushed.

Steadying himself on his feet once more, he charged for his attacker, who was trying to reload the pistol. Before he could grab the other magazine, Jace had sprung onto him. Jace blocked some hits and was able to maneuver close enough to knock the gun out of the man's hand.

Clearly Craton's man, but also clearly not a trained fighter, the man went down easily at Jace's hand. A few well-placed hits and the man was knocked out.

I hope they're all that easy, thought Jace. He continued onwards, pushing past the pockets of fights and toward the row of stalls in the back end. Most of the fighting was hand-to-hand combat, with most of the guns likely already detained or not being used; neither side would want to accidently fire into a fight and kill one of their own.

Craton was nowhere to be seen, though, and that worried Jace. He could appear anywhere, strike down City from anywhere...

And then he saw her. Her hair was long and tangled, her eyes searching, her head bleeding... but she was okay.

City was crouched by an open stall door, clutching onto the door handle as a brawl took place before her. The same scowling man who had been at her side before Jace untied her was fighting another man, and they appeared to be evenly matched.

Jace ran over and grabbed City's arm, pulling her to the side.

"We need to—"

A shrieking war cry was heard over the noise. Jace and City looked over toward the back entrance to see a woman with blue hair...

"Audrey?!" cried City.

Audrey, her bright blue hair tied up in a high ponytail, had blue paint streaked across her cheeks. In her hands were nunchucks, which she brandished expertly around.

With another war cry, Audrey threw herself right into the smoke in the middle of the barn.

City stared at Jace, who stared back.

"Was that—"

"Yeah," said City. "I forgot she used to practice Martial Arts. But I wonder how she found—"

Another smoke maker erupted nearby, making Jace and City cough. Jace put his arms around City protectively.

It was heading toward them out of the corner of Jace's eye. Out of the freshly created smoke came a figure releasing a shiny, sharp object...

City felt a shove that was so hard and urgent that she lost her balance completely and fell to the dusty barn floor. She glared up at Jace, who was standing in front of her.

"Why did you—!" But she stopped.

He staggered slightly, his hands clutching something near his stomach. City watched as a knife suddenly appeared in his hand, and before she could draw another breath, Jace had slashed it through the smoky air.

The knife streaked through the chest of Jace's attacker, who fell to the ground, holding his bleeding wound.

City felt yet another hand grip her arm, and she was pulled back into the smoke, away from Songbird...

Jace kicked the knife away from his assailant and turned back to City.

Except she wasn't there.

Jace wavered slightly, a hand clenching the side of his stomach. He didn't dare look down, knowing he would just see red if he pulled his hand away. He had more important things to worry about.

Had he really lost Felicity yet again?

A group of four men fighting leaped out of the smoke and shoved into Jace, knocking him down. He felt the pressure of their heavy bodies as they stomped around him, not paying him any mind one bit. Jace brought both his hands over his head as the four men fought around and on him, too busy for their own lives to worry about who they were trampling.

Jace found an opening and shot out of the fight. He popped up and looked around the large barn. The smoke was starting to clear, and Jace could see more of the room as everything slowly came into focus with the dissolving fog.

A familiar face caught his eye, and he looked over to see Tim locked in combat with another older man. Jace took a few steps to go help, but then Tim sent a mean upper hook to the man's jaw. Craton's man collapsed, and Tim wiped his hands together as though taking off the dust.

Tim's eyes met Jace's as though they knew Jace was watching. Tim winked before lodging himself into another fight.

Jace continued to move through the barn, going along the walls and even crossing through the middle several times, his searching eyes looking for any sign of City. He ducked and dodged, moving in and out of fights as they raged around him. A few times, he would recognize a friend of Tim's and know that man was on Jace's side, so Jace would step in and help fight back Craton's man. But mostly his mind was on Felicity, if he was being honest.

There was noise, commotion, fists, and bodies everywhere. The smoke was almost gone already, leaving behind a dusty room of scuffles and shouting. Most of the guns laid on the ground, and now it was simply a huge battle of arena-like fighting.

Another face jumped out at Jace. He could spot those thick-rimmed glasses anywhere.

Why is Devin here? Fighting?

Fighting was putting it loosely, because it looked like Devin was getting beaten badly. He was trying to dodge the punches of Craton's henchman, but the man had the upper hand. Jace started toward Devin as his attacker landed two more hard punches to the side of Devin's face and to his stomach.

Jace winced in pain as he shoved someone out of his way. Nothing was going to stop him from helping his friend.

Except...