¤ ¤ ¤

She bolted up the gangplank. There was something wrong, she could tell… Nothing was out of the ordinary but she could just tell. She bolted up into the ship, yelling. She didn't care if she warned anyone of their arrival, she wanted, no, needed to hear someone's voice. Sommerfeld, Dex… King.

"King! Dex! Sommerfeld!" She was hysterical, like the day she thought she'd lost Zoe.

Nothing. The ship was quiet, deserted. 'Where the fuck was everyone?' she wanted to scream.

Then she stepped in it. She knew what it was immediately. She'd stepped in it a million times before. Tears seeped out and she blinked before steeling herself to look down.

Dex and Hedges, throats ripped out. Ste stifled her cry of anguish and raced on.

No one in the kitchen. No sign of a struggle.

No on in the rooms. Nothing disturbed.

She raced to the sickbay. The room had been tossed, signs of a struggle but no bloodbath. King, wherever he was, was alive.

She turned and her breathing stopped, her chest tightened. There was blood splattered all over the surgery room. She could feel Blade behind her as she tore back the curtains.

Irrationally, 'quick, like a bandaid' came to mind.

Sommerfeld's body was suspended like a morbid crucifixion in front of her.

"No, Sommerfeld, no! C'mon. Not you!" She rushed to untie the woman but knew she was already dead.

She dropped to the floor, clutching Sommerfeld's body to her chest, and screamed.

¤ ¤ ¤

"You okay?"

She was measuring and balancing her bow. "I'm fine."

Inside, she was screaming. Everything had been torn from her. Everything was gone – her father, her friends, King – and now she was alone.

Morbidly, she wished they'd never been, then she wouldn't be feeling the big gaping wound in her chest.

Then King's voice whispered inside her. "That's what keeps you human, Abs" and she was centred once again.

She took her things out to the firing range.

Tonight was the night of reckoning.

Tonight Drake would die and she'd have King back. He wasn't dead. If Danica had her way, he was sitting in chains somewhere waiting for her to try and slut it up with him.

She set up the radar and fired off her first arrow.

204 mph.

Fluidly, she reached for the second.

234 mph.

Nothing else but the bow, the arrow and her breathing.

255 mph.

The arrow flying into Drake's heart, literally shattering it like her was.

She was ready to kill this bastard.

¤ ¤ ¤

King was tired of being kicked around, tired of being threatened, tired of Danica's chatter and terrible taste. So, when he tasted the silver nitrate, he smiled.

Abby.

Her face floated into his pain-stricken mind. Her smiling, her kicking his ass, her ass, her smouldering looks sent his way after a kill just before she pulled him into a dark alley…

"You feel that? That is the taste of silver nitrate, which means I'm going to be rescued in three, two, one…"

Nothing.

Shit. Had he imagined it? Where the hell were they?

Then the glass shattered overhead and Blade appeared, a dark knight in shining leather.

Danica, Turk and Asher bolted from the room and Blade went after them, ignoring King.

"Uh, little help?" King raised the chains around his wrists.

… And his fair lady not far behind… Her beautiful voice cut through his thoughts.

"Need some help?" she teased.

"Well, I thought I'd try gnawing through my arm but then I was worried you wouldn't find me as gorgeous with one arm… plus balancing would be a nightmare…"

She tilted his head back and gave him a long sweet kiss before stepping back and shooting the chain.

"Thanks. I needed that."

She unstrapped a bag. "Brought your toys… try to keep up." She ruffled his hair, wanting to stay but she had to keep up with Blade.

¤ ¤ ¤

They ran to Blade's body together.

"No!" Abby yelled. "He can't be…" she trailed off as her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted.

He caught her. She had definitely lost a lot of blood. 'Too much blood,' he thought, looking at her pale skin. Way too pale. He hefted her higher into his arms and clicked on his earpiece. "Caulder, I need an evac! Now!"

Caulder's voice came back, annoyingly calm. "What's the damage?"

"Abby's lost a lot of blood and Blade's on the ground."

"Dead?"

"Dunno. Don't think so but I can't check, I've got my arms full of Abby."

"Meet you out front in fifteen minutes. Try to get them both downstairs." He signed off, leaving King standing helplessly with Abby in his arms, staring at Blade.

"Fuck!"

He didn't want to leave Abby alone for a second but he wanted to get her the fuck out of there as fast as he could. He lay her down, and flinched as he lightly slapped her. He didn't want to wake her up. He wanted to leave her in a peaceful place away from the pain. "Abby. Abby, sweetheart, I need you to wake up. I know you want to stay comfy and comatose but I need you to wake up. It's getting really fucking boring here by myself…"

Her eyes fluttered. "King… shut up…" she groaned.

He laughed in relief, kissing her all over her face. "Thank god. Okay, okay. I have to get you and Blade downstairs in less than fifteen minutes."

She lifted a hand weakly, pointing up. "Rappelling gear. Bag."

"Okay." He hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave her but she pushed against him weakly and he bolted. He climbed to her sniper spot and found her bag of tricks. He climbed back down, his eyes on her. He slipped and fell the last few feet, landing painfully on his ankle. "Fuck," he barely stifled.

"King, you okay?" Abby's voice came to him, worried and full of pain.

"Fine. I'm fine." He gritted his teeth and hobbled back to her. He dropped the bag and started rooting through it. "Okay, I've got harnesses and I've got rope but I don't know if the harness will hold all of us and I don't know if the rope is long enough to reach the ground."

She closed her eyes and didn't reply for awhile and he reached to shake her. Her eyes snapped open. "We have to try King," she said softly. "The police will come We don't have enough time."

He took a deep breath. "Okay." He picked up a piece of debris and threw it through the window then started strapping the harness on, clipping in the rope and tying knots. He tied a make-shift harness around her and hoisted her up. "Can you stand?"

She flashed a faint smile. "I can lean…" She leaned against him as hoisted up Blade and tied a harness around him to his own back.

"You get shotgun sweetheart." He strapped her to his front. "If we're going to die, I'd rather look at your beautiful face than ugly back there."

She smiled, eyes half closed. "I love you, Hannibal King."

He kissed her gently. "I love you too, Abigail Whistler."

Then he jumped.

¤ ¤ ¤