You say you don't need love, I say you ain't so tough. Come on and let me in.

Brother in arms, together we spill our blood on foreign streets.

Worlds apart, and in too deep. My brother in arms, I wouldn't change a thing.

It was done, and it was time to go.

Gon could hear the pounding of frantic footsteps approaching the room. He needed to move,now. He smashed through a nearby window — elbow first — and climbed out onto the fire escape. With cat-like agility, he zig-zagged all the way down the stairs before making the twenty-foot drop to the ground below. He landed with a roll, allowing the impact to ripple through his body. By that time, the guards finally reached the office room he had been in. They were too late.

Shit.

Tonight had not gone as planned.

Gon was pretty used to his presence going completely undetected. He had always been good at sneaking around and yet, something had been off. There had been more guards than he had been expecting, more cameras. The security had definitely been amped up. He couldn't remember a single instance of negligence on his part, but he'd still been spotted somehow.

Oh well.

What's done was done, and all he could do now was run.

Heavy boots slamming against the pavement announced the arrival of his pursuers. He tried to tell them apart—two... maybe three? He picked up speed as he maneuvered through the shadows. He ran for several blocks before turning sharply around a corner and diving into a dark alley.

He surveyed his surroundings — a dumpster, a scared looking cat, and a few trashcans. A ripped abandoned couch. A fire escape with a ladder that, for reasons unknown, dangled about a dozen feet above the ground.

Yes, this'll work.

Gon took a running head start and propelled himself up from the overflowing dumpster. He jumped back and forth up the narrow walls until he was able to grasp the ladder from the fire escape. He pulled himself up with ease, then settled himself on the bottom rung. As he bit his lip in concentration, he began his silent wait.

"What the hell do you mean, 'he disappeared'? He can't have gone that fucking far, we just saw him running in this direction a few seconds ago!" came a gruff and authoritative voice from beyond the alley. "He didn't just vanish into thin air. You, search that alley. I'll check over here."

They were coming for him. Gon readied himself, waiting for the tell-tale shadows of his pursuers.

Soon enough, a tall man poked his head into the alley, gun at the ready.

"You can't hide forever, you little punk!" the man taunted as he stepped into the alley, coming to a stop just underneath Gon. Cake.

"I don't intend to," Gon smirked and let himself fall elbow-first into the man, knocking him out before he could even look up.

He'd always preferred disabling his victims to killing them — killing just wasn't his thing. Killua always yelled at him for it, insisting that killing them was the only way to go. Of course, for his partner — a former assassin— it wasn't much of a problem. Gon, however, couldn't deal with the aftermath as easily.

He dragged the unconscious man behind the ripped couch, hiding him from view. Then he stalked towards the end of the alley. There was still another guard somewhere out there, most likely searching down another alleyway.

The gears in his head turned in thought. Shortly after, his amber eyes lit up in idea. He picked up a piece of garbage — a broken-off ladder step— and threw it out into the main street. The chunk of metal clanged loudly against a mailbox.

Gon ducked into the shadows as the other man came running out of a side street. The man whipped his head around looking for the source of the noise but found nothing. Frowning, he continued down the street, passing the alley — and Gon — without a second glance.

C'mon, really? I'm right here!

This was almost too easy.

Within seconds Gon had the man's arms twisted behind his back, his own hand over the stranger's mouth to silence him.

"Keep it quiet and I won't break both your arms," he said, his voice smooth but laced with threats. The man nodded, wide-eyed, and Gon couldn't hold back his grin. "Good boy. Now, drop the gun before I force you to."

The weapon hit the floor.

Gon then pressed his thumb sharply behind the man's earlobe, knocking him out cold in seconds. Looking satisfied, he picked up the gun and slid it into one of his pockets. He dragged the limp body over to the torn couch and set it down next to the first one. Done.

He dusted off his hands and pulled out his cellphone. A quick peek at the screen revealed no missed calls or messages. He frowned.

Where are you?

He had to make it to their rendezvous point.

With that thought, Gon continued down the main street. He tried to focus on anything unusual rather than on the worry that was creeping into his mind. He did his best to blend into the shadows, ears and eyes open for anything unusual, when—

'Click'

His entire body stiffened at the all-too-familiar sound. He slowly turned around to face yet another man clad in a crisp black suit, pointing a gun directly at his chest.

Shit, there was a third.

Gon raised his hands to show he wasn't holding a weapon of his own — not exactly his favorite position to be in.

"Give it back, kid. If you do, I'll only hurt you a little," the man said.

The smirk that followed implied that, no matter what Gon did, the outcome would be the same. His captor was out for blood.

"No," Gon replied evenly, his face calm and expressionless. Time — he needed time.

The man scowled and leveled his gun at Gon's head. "Fine then, have it your way." He moved to pull the trigger.

The crack of a gunshot split the air. An agonized scream reverberated through the empty street.

Gon's eyes widened. A wicked knife had flown into the man's hand, piercing through it and throwing off his aim. The bullet buried itself in the wall behind Gon, a mere four inches away from his head. His face twisted in outrage, the man turned to face the direction the knife came from.

A flash of silver served as the only warning before the man's lifeless body collapsed in a heap. Blood seeped from a deep chest wound and tinted the pavement a deep crimson.

Killua...

Gon's eyes shifted from the corpse up to the tense figure of his partner. Killua was working on wiping his knives clean, an impassive look on his face as his silver hair fell into his eyes. Gon knew that look well—for his safety, Killua never hesitated to kill.

Without a word, Killua rolled his stiff shoulders and turned to Gon. The remnants of dark, slit eyes melted away to reveal a familiar azure color. A small smirk formed on his lips. "Missed me?"

Now that he had recovered from the initial shock, Gon scowled. Well, he meant to, but the expression looked more like a pout when directed at Killua.

"Killuaaaaa, where the hell have you been?"

What he really meant was'I'm glad you're alright, and I'm even more glad you're here.'

"Tch. Is that any way to talk to the guy who just saved your ass?" Killua huffed, though his expression softened considerably now that Gon wasn't about to get his brains blown out. "Seriously, though... that was close. I'm glad I got here when I did."

"To be honest, I was starting to get a bit worried," Gon admitted. The two headed towards Killua's motorcycle, Narukami, which was parked about two blocks away. "Something was off tonight..."

"You noticed it too, huh? At first, I thought it was just me." Killua frowned, thinking back at his own assignment.

He would never admit it, but his own task had taken him a bit longer than he had originally expected. Tighter security, different guard shifts. Yet it hadn't mattered much to him in the end — a clean escape was the Zoldyck trademark.

"These must really be important," Killua muttered as he produced a silver SD card from his pocket. Gon nodded, fetching his own silver card and tossing it to Killua, who caught it with ease.

"Let's see what Cass has to say about it," Gon suggested. He grabbed his helmet and moved to sit on the front end of the bike.

"Hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?" Killua narrowed his eyes. He slipped the cards into one of his many zippered jacket pockets and wrapped an arm around Gon's waist.

"C'mon, let me drive!" Gon shot Killua a petulant look as he was hauled off the front end of the bike unceremoniously.

"No way in hell! Naru is MY baby." Killua stuck his tongue out before sliding on the helmet and climbing onto the front of the bike. HIS bike.

"You're so mean, Killuaaaa," Gon griped as he jumped on the back.

This was so typical of them. The entire world could be falling around them and they'd still be acting like kids around each other. It only took a few seconds for Gon's pout to be replaced by a lazy smile. A smile reserved only for Killua.

"You ready?"

He could barely hear Killua's voice over the revving of the bike. He pressed himself against the warmth of Killua's back, his arms sliding around Killua's waist. He broke out into a grin he knew the other couldn't see.

"Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Killua shook his head, though he was grinning as well. "Gawd, you're such a nerd!"

The bike roared to life, and soon the pair disappeared into the night.

Run away with me, lost souls in reverie.Running wild and running free, two kids, you and me.

And I say, hey, hey hey hey, we're living like we're renegades.

Brothers in Arms - Young Guns

Renegades - X Ambassadors