The perks to having black clothing and brown hair is that I can blend easily into the shadows. Especially without my bulky backpack to have to hide. In his baby blue uniform, he sticks out like a sore thumb, especially in the daytime. So it's no wonder I have an upper hand.

Justin may be stronger than me, but I'm quicker and more agile. Before joining them, I used to be on my own - rummaging for supplies in places guarded with Sentries. I did that mostly for the adrenaline and as compensation for taking my family - even though I never fully grieved over them, I still felt upset beyond belief that they were dead. Anyways, I know what I'm doing. 

This is how I find myself in the rafters of an old barn, perched, waiting. The barn was behind the original house we were staying in. We hadn't noticed it before, but I did when running through the backyard and letting Justin think I was somewhere in the house. Bought me enough time to formulate a plan.

I went in blind. That's what happened. When I sent the others away, I wasn't thinking that I'd need backup. I knew I could outsmart Justin on my own; I just needed to get my friends out of harm's way, no matter what the cost. If it ends up taking my life today, then so be it, I suppose. I've gotten this far, and that's an accomplishment compared to some.

But I don't think I'm dead today. Justin underestimates me. I'm furious, betrayed, hurt, and in survival mode. He can't win. Especially because I'm quicker than him.

I'm not overestimating my strength. I know that he could overtake me, as he's stronger than I am, and has been trained against me for the last two months. He's cool and collected; harboring no ill will towards me, except for maybe contempt at my cold words towards him. I'm furious, scorned, struggling for survival, and filled with loathing for him in every ounce of my being. However, I have a plan. And while he might have one also, I have the upper hand of being slimmer and quick on my feet.

I'm in the rafters, perched on one of the beams whilst simultaneously resting part of my back against the roof behind me. With beams that support the roof on either side of me, it's safe to say that I'm hidden fairly well. 

I hear Justin walk in - despite trying to be stealthy. With it having been silent enough to hear a pin drop moments ago, the slightest noise sounds deafening. Clearly Justin thinks so too, as he pauses, breathing slowly and softly, as if trying to breath while not wanting to at the same time.

"Bryna," he says after a moment. "I know you're in here. You can stop hiding. I don't want to hurt you."

"Bull-crap," I growl softly, not moving into view.

"Do you think I actually want to hurt you, Brie? I'd never wish that upon you."

"And yet here we are. I thought I told you to stop calling me Brie. You don't have that privilege anymore, Justin," I say, spitting his name out with disgust.

"Sorry, Bryna. I wish I could express how awful this situation is for me. I don't want any harm to come to you."

"And yet here you are, fixated on capturing me, turning me into a slave, and-or killing me. Nothing you can say can counteract the fact that you betrayed us all. You're a disgrace to what we stand for."

"No, Bryna. I promise you I'm not. I have my reasons."

"What, you're getting inside information so that you can feed it to us, thus making life all the more easy for everyone? Hate to break it to you, but that's way too far-fetched, and we both know you wouldn't risk you or your sister for our sake."

"Bryna..."

"No. You're doing this so you and your sister can have a better life. Well, guess what, Justin   that's why I'm doing this, too. I'm trying to make sure my team has a great life. And your betrayal is just the icing on the cake to this demented story of ours. We've been betrayed, but never in a million years had I ever pictured you turning against us - against me."

"I know, and I'm sorry beyond belief that this is what it's come to. But I can't let you go. If you slip free, I'll lose all compensation, and I won't be able to pay my dues at home for Renee."

"I see. So once again, your sister comes before us. You know, we wouldn't even be in this situation if you weren't such an ignorant asshole and stuck by your sister from the beginning."

I know I had struck a nerve when he falls silent. I take this moment to stand, walking precariously out of my hiding spot, one of my hands resting on the gun in my belt.

"You're an asshole, Justin. And I fucking hate you for what you did to us. If I didn't care in the slightest about your poor sister, I could end your life right now. But I could never inflict that on anyone knowing that I'm sending them to their doom. So you should be grateful that your Renee is around, for she is the only reason your pathetic existence isn't being ended. You disgust me, Justin, and I can't wait for the end of your life. I'll be the one dancing on your grave and giving a speech on how much I hope you rot in Hell."

He stares up at me. I know how I must look. All in black, my brown, chin-length hair obscuring my face, my blue eyes standing out against the dirt and grime covering my features. I might have looked beautiful some time in my life, but I've been through too much to look even remotely pretty at this point. My face is battered, bloody, my eyes cold. If I'm honest, I probably look like a spawn of Satan about to descend and tear the traitor before me into bits. Actually... That's probably close to home in this context. 

"Bryna," he breathes out. In those two syllables, I can tell that this is killing him. The thought of killing me, or even hurting me, is bugging him beyond belief. Anything I could say would never make him any more guilty than he already is for what he's doing to me by becoming what he is.

The Justin I knew would have stripped his weapons and begged for me to come down so that he could show me that he never wanted to hurt me in the first place. That it was all just something he had to do so that he could keep him and his sister safe. The old Justin would have pleaded, begged, grovelled, offered to help me out so I could get back to my friends and the people who have yet to betray me before slinking back to his colleagues and admitting defeat. The Justin I had grown to care for would not have raised his gun at me, instead choosing to accept his fate as a traitor.

Except, this is no longer the Justin I knew. He does raise his gun at me. And I can tell that this banter was just to see how much I held against him. Now he has nothing to lose, because he knows our relationship is not fixable. So I stop at nothing whipping my knife out and flinging it into his shoulder - thus distracting him - flipping off of the rafter and running towards him. I grab my knife as he flings it to the ground, using it as I run at him and slashing a gash open in his side as I bolt past, out of the barn, listening to his screams. I make a sharp left turn, jumping over a fence, not bothering to make sure he's behind me. I know he is. Which is why he's so damned predictable.

The Sentries are behind me, at the house. I don't want to bet they've gone away yet, because I doubt that they have. But they're not the issue. Because I know Justin. And now that he's just gotten bested, he wants me for himself, even despite our past.

I stop when I'm far enough from the barn, turning to meet Justin. Justin stops a few feet away, snarling and pulling out his gun. I draw mine, tucking my bloody knife into my belt.

"You really can't just make this easy for anyone, can you?" he growls, obviously pissed.

"What can I say? I love challenging people." I flash him an easy smile, and it's easy who's in control.

"You always were a trial," he mutters. "It's no wonder everyone left after you came along."

I snort. "Really? That's the best insult you can come up with?" I roll my eyes. I'm mocking him. He's beyond pissed. This is too easy. 

He growls, pointing his gun at me. I wait, a confident smirk on my face and my hip jutting out equally as confident. My hand on my hip and my gun dangling from my other hand, I look as in control as I feel. I'm practically screaming 'easy target', and that's exactly what I'm going for.

"Bryna, I've been wanting to do this for the past two months," he says as he throws his gun to the side and going for the machete at his side.

I bark out a laugh. "Come at me then, hot shot," I tease, flashing him a 'come-and-get-me' smile and taking a step forward.

He narrows his eyes at me, obviously knowing that I have something planned. But it proves too good an opportunity to pass up, as he bolts towards me.

I arch an eyebrow, smirking, dodging his machete and cartwheeling away on one hand, the other holding the gun. I stand, sweeping his feet from under him. He falls, dropping the machete. I pick it up, flinging it away. He leaps up as I step back, dodging his fist.

"Bryna, you can't beat me. We both know I'm stronger," he says, kicking my leg. I back flip, sending my feet into his face. 

"Yeah, but I've been fighting your kind for ages," I retort, stepping away from him as he swings his fist again. "I know your guys' style. You're just trying to reassure yourself that there's a chance you can win."

He growls, swinging again. I misstep, falling. He straddles me, pulling a syringe from his sleeve.

"Ah, that again. Lovely little concoction, isn't it?" I remark, the epitome of calm, while I'm inwardly freaking out. I shift, grabbing for my gun while maintaining eye contact. 

"It is, isn't it?" he asks, placing the needle on my neck. "It's a poison of some sort. A marginal intake causes nausea and fatigue and sometimes hallucinations. Major intake results in unconsciousness or coma, while entire intake causes death." He grins maliciously.

"Wonderful. Thanks for that fact." I flash him a smile, poking his eyes with one hand and hitting him in the head with the butt of my gun, causing him to drop the syringe and fall back, cursing. I grab the syringe, dropping my gun and straddle him, injecting just enough to make him fall unconscious. 

I roll off of him, throwing the syringe on the ground and smashing it. I stand, grabbing my gun and tucking it away. I take the handcuffs from Justin's side and cuff his hands together, before running in the direction of my team; wherever they may be.

~~~

Lea's P.O.V

I frown, watching the sun set from the roof of the building we're staying in. I sit hugging my knees to my chest. It's been hours since we last saw Brie, and everyone's concerned. No one wants to sleep.

"She'll be alright," someone says from behind me. Brian.

I turn my head slightly as he walks and sits down beside me. "How do you know?"

"She's strong. She can survive."

"But we have her stuff."

He shrugs. "Never stopped her before. She's been through some things you wouldn't believe. She claims to be peaceful, but she'll fight through hell if it means our safety. It's who Bryna is."

"Would you fight for her?" I ask, staring at the sunset.

"To the death," he says. There's no room for question in his tone. He would do it, and he wouldn't let anything stop him from risking his life for her.

I nod slowly. "How long has she been a leader?"

"A little over a year," he responds. "Our previous leader was about four years older than her. She was captured a while back - we don't know where she is now. Bryna took control immediately, getting us out of harms way. Everyone was distraught; I don't think Brie even cried. She didn't in front of us, anyways. No one questioned her. She was made leader that next day, and everyone was fine with it."

"Oh... I'm sorry about your other leader." I frown. I knew that they had a leader before Brie, but I didn't know that she was captured.

Brian shrugs. "Meh. You learn to live with it after awhile. It's our life."

I nod. "Do you think she'd be able to k- er... defeat Justin?"

"Probably, if it comes to it. She was pissed when we left her. I would bet a lot of money that she made a fool out of him. But she won't kill him if it means his sister goes to the Slave Camps. She couldn't do that to anyone."

I nod again. "Are the two of you close?"

"I suppose."

We sit in silence for a few moments. 

"I don't think I ever thanked you for saving me," I say. "I mean, I did, for helping to heal me, but never for getting me out of that one place when you did."

Brian shrugs. "If Aaron hadn't showed up flipping out over that one Sentry 'killing' you, Bryna would never even known that you two existed. Or that you needed help. She's the only reason we were out looking for you."

"Still. You saved my life."

"Bryna did. I won't take credit for something that wasn't my plan to begin with." He smirks. "You should have seen her when your brother showed up, though."

I giggle. "What'd she do?"

"First, she totally saved his life, then took him to safety. I think she kicked his ass, because they were down there for a minute. Then she came back up and scared three grown men with guns."

I laugh. "I haven't known her long, but that's not very surprising."

He smiles, shaking his head. "It's not. Not really. Then we went back down, and she scared your brother to hell before sending us off to get you."

I grin. "I'd have liked to see that. Aaron doesn't usually get scared of much. For him to be scared of a girl younger than him, it must have taken a lot."

He shrugs. "He was also shaken because he almost lost you. He really cares for you."

"Yeah, I know. Sometimes I wonder what he'd do without me."

"Bryna asks us that all the time."

I laugh, and he grins. I nudge him with my elbow. "I like you," I declare. "I mean, I like all of you - Brie especially - but you're definitely my favorite."

He grins again. "You're not too bad yourself, Lea."

The moment's ruined by a loud gunshot. Then a cry that sounds a lot like Bryna's.

Brian's up in an instant, helping me up, and then we're running, down into the building, outside, and towards the gunshot, followed closely by Alex and Aaron.

"Bryna!" Brian shouts, and I see a black figure running towards us, stumbling slightly. 

"Brian!" she calls, but her voice sounds exhausted. 

Brian gains speed, reaching her just as she collapses. He catches her easily.

Alex, Aaron and I meet them shortly. Brian's on his knees, holding a panting Bryna in his arms.

"Brie?" Alex asks.

"I'm alright," she says, her eyes closed as she catches her breath.

"What was the gunshot?" I ask.

"Me... I was ambushed. By rogues." She wrinkles her nose, shifting. "One of them kicked my leg. What is it with guys kicking my injured legs?" she opens her eyes and looks pointedly at Aaron.

He grins, shrugging. "It was one time, and I thought you were trying to kill me."

"Invalid," she replies. "I wouldn't save your life, drag you to safety, just to kill you myself."

"I was in no state to think straight."

"Yet you went straight for my injured leg. Right." She rolls her eyes, a small smile on her lips. "Whatever. Let's get inside."

Brian stands, helping Bryna up. We walk towards the building in comfortable silence.

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

Hey! So, at least I got this on time, right? 

What'd you think of Lea's P.O.V? About Justin and Bryna's little squabble? Trust me; there's more of those to come.

What do you think about Brian and Lea? Can you see them happening? Aaron and Bryna?

Well, I'm off. More innocents to kill, more sinister villains to plot out. See you around.

-Musical_Author