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The helicopter turned. Not quite headed for us, but it wasn't going away. They had narrowed it down to this area. They know I'm here.

Another fence. Then another. Sticking to the shadows created by the houses.

"Hide."

I barely managed to grab onto Valeriy's pack and dragged her back into the hedge. A quick search through the spaces between the leaves, I spotted a pair of legs. Legs belonging to a too heavily armed uniformed police officer strolling into the backyard.

Next to me, the young woman heaved for every breath, though she somehow managed to keep them silent. Making use of her mouth and forcing her breathing to slow. Not even my ears could pick it up.

Even if she could run on her injured ankle, I doubt she had the stamina to handle an all-out sprint out of this. We'd have to stick to short bursts.

Either way, we needed to keep moving.

I tugged on her sleeve. She didn't notice, so I pulled on her arm, moving her entirely. Took her a second to get the hint, following me up through the mess of branches of the massive hedge.

I kept my weight near the trunk and on the thicker branches I could find. Breaking a branch would give us away. A slight rustle might be dismissed as an animal. Some part of me was more than relieved that the young woman behind me managed to be as silent.

"Sorry to wake you, Ma'am. We are currently searching for two individuals."

I froze and Valeriy rammed face first into my back. A quick scan of the men said they didn't hear us or dismissed it.

At her questioning head tilt, I whispered in her ear, "They know about you."

"Oh well?" she shrugged off, her voice coming out crystal clear in the earpiece when she had barely mumbled the words.

How the hell she was so carefree about the whole thing baffled me. She gave my shoulder a quite pat and even pulled a smile. Going by how the corner of her eyes crinkled over the edge of the glasses.

Blue lines and red dots were reflected off the moisture of her left eye. A map of the neighborhood. The dots likely being Hydra agents. Eleven close by.

"...Are those Pacman ghosts...?"

Those weren't merely red dots. There were even two little circles practically on top of each other with moving mouths. One blue. The other purple.

"...Y-yeah...?" Valeriy responded rather cautiously.

But I dropped the annoyance at how this was being treated as a game in favor of listening on the agent's conversation with the neighbor. Gather information. Figure out how much they knew.

"A man and a woman. The man's large, built, with shoulder length brown hair. The woman has long hair. Dark. Might be black or brown. About average height and a broken foot."

"Do you have a picture?"

"No, I don't. Have you seen anyone new in the area? Any unfamiliar faces? They may not be together."

It made sense that they weren't plastering my face everywhere. They didn't want another party to find me first. But they would have released Valeriy's photo if they had it. A quick way to check a lead.

Their information was wrong. Her foot wasn't broken. The hair color was incorrect. They hadn't seen her themselves and whoever did likely had spotted her in low light. They didn't know who she was. Now to keep it that way.

"There was a man two days ago. Longer hair," the woman replied, and I felt my stomach drop.

That was the day I left for hours. Wandering the streets.

"Did he enter a house?"

"I didn't see. He was headed down that way."

I almost didn't contain the flinch when a hand clasped my shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"Eve's got this," Valeriy assured. "We'll know what they know."

"I was seen the other day," I admitted.

"We aren't so careless. I've put in contingencies. The one spotted wasn't you. She saw somebody else. Keep your head in the game, Mr. Barnes. This next bit is a tad iffy."

"No shit, Sherlock," Valeriy muttered as the lights in the yard chased away all the shadows. "Fuck. Jinxed it."

They're searching the yards with the residents' cooperation. Lights were going up around the neighborhood.

"...On my mark, get to the other side of that yard."

A second scout entered the yard. There's no way to get to the other side without being spotted.

Shoot him between the eyes. Target incapacitated.

And that would have them descending on us in seconds. Even if I could put down both agents before they could alert anybody.

Throw Yari II. Slice both necks. Targets incapacitated.

"Might have a possible –"

"Now!"

Without any hesitation, Valeriy leaped out of the tree, rolled onto her feet, and raced for the other side. The complete faith in the A.I. ghost she had was insane. She didn't glance in the direction of the Hydra agent remaining in the yard. Even if his back was turned to us. Distracted with reporting to whoever oversaw this retrieval mission.

"– sighting here."

I quickly followed after her. The dart gun at the ready. Aimed right at the non-speaking agent. Only took a slight turn of his head to be spotted.

We were in the open. In the light. Completely exposed.

We made it to the next yard. hopping over the fence without a hitch.

This wasn't what I was hoping for. All lit up as the last one. Except this one was empty. Only the pavement under our shoes and the hoop at the backs. Couldn't hide a stick here.

The pitch of the helicopter changed. Higher. And with a glance up, I spotted it in the sky. Headed straight for us.

A flurry of options and tactics raced through my head.

Switch to OM 50 Nemesis. Shoot at main rotor mast. Targets incapacitated.

Run away from it and back into the previous yard with the agents.

Run for the house and break in.

Run for the back alley.

Run for the next yard.

"Hide."

I grabbed Valeriy, threw her, and raced across the paved yard. The moment my hand touched the fence post, I spotted the muzzle of a M4A1 peeking out from around the front of the house. As little pops echoed through the air and all the lights cut out, I pulled the young woman out of the air and landed in the shrubbery below us.

By some miracle, we made it. Made it without without her screaming. Be it from being tossed around or the darkness all around us. The thin sliver of moon in the sky made little difference.

"Thanks?" Valeriy said lightly, lying there on her back. Under my knee.

"That was cutting it close, huh?"

The young woman slipped her glasses down her nose for a second before shoving them back in place. "Thank bloody hell for night vision."

"Why would they cut the power?" I asked, ducking my head to keep hidden in the short shrub.

Wouldn't that make it harder to find us? To find me.

Had they found us?

A snap of a twig caught my attention and my eyes landed on a beam of light. A flashlight. Searching its way to our hiding spot.

I quickly ducked, pushing Valeriy down to make us smaller. Less of us to be seen. I quickly hid the metal arm in my jacket, even if it was wrapped up in a sleeve. Couldn't risk any reflections of the light as it shined through the foliage. My heartbeat sped up, muffling part of my hearing.

Shoot the spinal column. Target incapacitated.

Valeriy's hand squeezed down on mine as the light passed over us. Not lingering. Continued on down the fence.

But I knew it was only a matter of time.

They always found me.

Why would this be any different?

'I should go.... Be... before they find her. 36 tranquilizer darts. 8 knives. Total of 96 bullets. It'll take them a while to capture me. I've got a chance at escaping even if I lead them away.... I-I should... I should go... back...? I should go back. I have to go back.... I need to go...?'

I flinched at Valeriy's hands grabbing at the base of my skull, pulling me down to her. Her fingers digging into my neck.

"What did I say about being bait?" she hissed at my ear. "I don't care if we're fucking surrounded. We can get you out of this."

"The blackout's my doing this time. The chopper was cutting too close for my liking."

When Valeriy suddenly made a move to leave our hiding spot, I quickly shoved her back to the ground. Far harder than I should have. Both of us tensing up. Waiting for that thud to be our downfall.

"...Looks like no one heard you.... I'd suggest the both of you work on the being quiet part of hiding. Also, stop it with these pointless self-sacrificing ideas."

"Sorry," I whispered. "Are you hurt?"

The young woman shrugged. "I can't feel shit. No pain. No sense of touch. I can never get used to moving like this."

That explained a few things.

"This isn't some game you can restart. What were you thinking?!" I snapped in a whisper, trusting that the earbuds would make my words clear in her ear. "Do you have any idea what they'll do to you?!"

"It'll better than what you'd go through with them. Not super powered. Outdating and completely false info to your whereabouts. Even if they figure out who my parents are, a bargaining chip? Worthless. For the most part. Plus, I'm the one slowing us down."

"You two utterly suck at the concept of silence...."

I had to bite down on my lip to keep my mouth shut. To stop the words from tumbling out. Couldn't risk the noisy as an agent walked close by.

A knock on my thigh shook me out of my irritation. A finger pointed to the side. I could hear the agent patrolling the back alley. Two fingers raised, pointed in front and a thumb thrown over her shoulder. Two in front of us, and two in the yard behind us. Three fingers pointed at the front of the house.

"You have a better chance of getting away from here. Without me," she stated. Not a joke found in her tone.

"Utterly suck," the A.I. ghost repeated.

I shook my head.

As much as I knew that was true, I also knew that if I go with them, we'd all be gone from this neighborhood. It'd be safe for her to walk right out of this.

She'd be safe.

As long as they didn't ask me about the girl they think I might be with, they wouldn't know of Valeriy.

She'd stay safe.

"Get in the car."

The young woman sat up in confusion, barely keeping under the top of the plant. "What car?"

"In front of the next house."

"Well, there's like five-ish asshats in the way of that. No way we can get into that car and drive off unnoticed."

"A distraction should do the trick."

"Can you manage one more fence?" I asked.

She nodded.

"When you see a chance, get to the car. I'll be right behind you."

"...." Her eyes narrowed at me over the rim of the glasses.

"I'll be right behind you."

"That's a lie."

"You're both got potential distractions strapped to your wrists."

"Wouldn't that just get everyone here? The opposite of what we want," Valeriy stated.

"Idiot."

"The river," I said. "I can throw it to the river." Minimal amount of causalities if I could get it that far.

"Can you throw it so far?" she asked, removing her bracelet.

"Maybe."

It was a little light, so I plucked a garden gnome from its perch among some flowers. Wrapped the bracelet around its neck. Gave it more weight with a few pebbles stuffed into the hole at the bottom.

"That looks more likely to make the trip. With that pointy hat," Valeriy said with a shrug.

"The river's in the opposite direction so this should work in theory. I'll be jamming all signals in this area. Nobody will be communicating with each other. That includes us. I'll still have my eyes. Follow the lights when you get in the car. Good luck."

"Eve, wait," Valeriy called out in the smallest voice. It no longer came through the earpiece.

No reply from the A.I. ghost.

"...Eve...?" Her body language tensing up more and more with each passing second.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards me, remembering that she couldn't feel much. There were no lights reflected off her eye. No lines. No game creatures.

Only what haunted my dreams. In the eyes of my victims. Paralyzing fear.

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Author's Note:

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