"Let's think of this logically –" Madi started as we stampeded into the elevator. We didn't know where we were going, we didn't even know for sure it was them. But my stomach was twisting into knots and that was hardly ever a good sign.

"If we were thinking about this logically, then we wouldn't be doing this." And we wouldn't be going after a clearly, very dangerous dragon hunter – or maybe that was just me, I don't know.

"Yes, true, but if we're going to be idiots, then we can't go searching so blindly." I could see the urgency in her eyes. If the dragon hunter was involved, we might not have all the time in the world to comb each floor. "If the dragon hunter got here so fast, especially in this weather, he must have flown here right? He has a dragon big enough to ride on and we know that he does ride it."

"Right," I replied scornfully, remembering the big black dragon the size of a large bus sized SUV.

"Now." Madi stepped away and ran her fingers over the elevator buttons methodically. "Where is the one place in this joint that he could possibly park a dragon that size?"

"Well, he could pay for two spots in the structure outside--"

Madi crossed her arms and gave me a look.

" --but something tells me he went for rooftop access."

She winked and pinged for the top floor. "Ah, so there is a brain cell bouncing around in that skull of yours."

"You know, I was going to ask you to prom before that comment." I snapped as scanned the floor buttons quickly. "Elevator only goes to the top so we're gonna need to find some stairs to go any higher."

"Yeah...unfortunately my computer is still in your band locker, and they don't keep floor plans on Wikipedia." The doors opened with a painful slowness and we stepped out onto the fourth level. It was a quieter floor for patients who had to stay longer than what entailed being an emergency. We had to work fast.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Are you saying you keep floor plans on your laptop?"

She shrugged and flashed me a wide grin. "I was something of a weird kid."

"Oh yeah I remember." Then. "Look." I pointed over at a floor sign split into two panels. One pointed toward the restrooms, the other showing the little zigzag icon for the emergency stairs. "This way."

The two of us took off running down the hall, turning the walls and doors into a blur of gray and white. Sterile like a dry-cleaned ghost and just as bleachy smelling. The staircase was at the end of the hall through a single door under a neon red exit sign. "If an alarm blows, I'm blaming you," Madi accused before slamming her whole weight on the door and darting up the stairs. The thing nearly swung shut in my face as I followed close behind.

The resonating slam echoed down below us, but we were already far gone before the door shut. Instinctively I reached for the handrail only to snatch it right back. They don't give you pain medication for hand stitches. Especially if you're uninsured.

The stairs took a bend and twist before finally showing the roof access door at the top. Some part of me wondered why there was no security on it. No warning of alarms nothing to stop random kids like us from strutting right in. "This must be the employee smoking corner –" Madi stated as if reading my mind.

She caught the look on my face and shrugged sheepishly. "My mom used to be a nurse here before...ya know...anyway. She said a lot of the staff here smokes – ironic right? Hospital staff trying to improve lives. But yeah...the job is stressful." I offered her a comforting smile but she shrugged it off. "She said that there was a roof access stairwell where they disabled the security so the staff could take their breaks and things in peace without patients getting a whiff of it."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah well, I don't know if they still do it anymore." She placed one palm flat on the door. "Doesn't sound like the rain has let up at all."

"It's only water," I replied grimly and shoved the door open.

A scream tore apart the air as the door slammed back against the building. Instantly I was blinded by the rain coming down like sheets of ice. The wind was angry, throwing water around like a giant child kicking over bath tubs in a tantrum to mark the ages. Madi cursed loudly and threw arm up to try and keep the water from her eyes.

My glasses were a curse, like trying to see through a windshield without wipers. I whipped them off and put them in my pocket. It cleared my visibility a tad, but only as much as my naturally horrible eyes would allow. The scene that unfurled before me was as confusing as it was blurry. The scream had come from the dragon hunter.

Weird...huh.

I took another step into the storm to make sure I was hearing right.

The roof was barren, set aside for some electrical units and the huge friggen dragon circling it.

The dragon was flying lazily from what I could tell. The sort of flying Selphon would do in an empty playground on a clear night, but with the storm raging the way it was, that dragon had to be working really hard to make it look that easy.

And standing near the edge was Saida with a cut on her face, hauling a man who had to be one and a half times her size over the guardrail. I put my glasses back on to try and glance the details before the weather completely rendered me unable to see. His hands were pinned under his own weight, his wrists between the small of his back and the rail in a really painful looking, use your own mass against you sort of deal.

Saida's hands were red and ragged, like she had missed a couple punches and landed a few others. I flexed my own fingers. Her eyes were bright and dangerous, but she looked distracted. "She's keeping an eye on the dragon," I yelled above the wind.

"Something tells me she wasn't expecting company."

Whether it be the dragon or us.

The dragon hunter hooked his leg behind a support bar and used that as leverage to thrust his torso forward. Saida let go of him and stumbled back several steps, but just as she was about to fall, she planted one of her feet down firmly and used the momentum to fling herself into the air. She grabbed an overhead wire hanging two feet above her head and swung forward, bringing her legs up to jam her Doc Martens into his neck.

The look of surprise on Hilan's face was only brief as he fell to the ground and started rolling away from the edge toward the center of the roof. Saida snatched up something from the ground and called out to us – something about not letting him off the roof or back into the stairs. "DON'T LET HIM INTO OPEN AIR!"

"Open air..." Madi echoed, but I understood immediately.

"Keep him away from his dragon!" I snapped and whirled into action. "The dragon is keeping his distance for a reason. The guy probably doesn't want to damage the building or something." I sprinted out onto the open and rammed into the hunter as he was struggling to his feet. A look of recognition flitted over his features before we both went flying back to the cement.

"If I throw him off close enough to the building the dragon won't be able to get to him!" Saida wheezed, the look on her face rabid as she stumbled back toward us. The hunter groaned and rolled onto all fours, the water dripped blue from his hair as he looked up with venom that can only be cultivated by being cornered.

Saida took off running; something was clutched in her fist close to her body raised just above chest level. The hunter looked up painfully and something attempted to say something, but the wind snatched the word up and hurled it away leaving him quiet in those coming seconds. I sat up quickly and flung the water from my glasses with a quick shake.

There was a spike in her hand.

I looked over at the dragon hunter – then back at Saida.

Oh no...

"SADIE!" Madi roared and faster than lightning she was in the fray. Like a quarterback – or whichever one of those freaking football players do the tackling – she dove at our peer, throwing her to the ground before climbing on top of her and pinning her down by the shoulders. "What the hell are you doing?" She screamed.

"Let me up!" Saida flailed and tried to kick Madi off. "I can't let him escape not after what he did!"

The dragon hunter grabbed the side of his head and dragged himself up one foot at a time. This time, though, I could only watch. He looked down at me with something like pity, or maybe regret. I couldn't believe it. After everything that happened. Ultimately we were helping him.

"YOU CAN'T LET HIM ESCAPE! KIARA IS NEVER GOING TO WALK AGAIN! SHE'S ALL I HAVE!" Saida wailed and swung the spike at Madi, but she was having none of it. Madi caught her arm and slammed it roughly against the pavement, causing the weapon to fall from her hand. Madi wrapped her arms around Saida as she tried to twist from her grip. 

Tern took his moment and walked toward the edge of the rooftop.

"Then what do you propose we do," Madi spat and shook the girl back and forth. "What? Kill him? Make it so he can never do this again?"

Saida growled at bit at Madi's face. My friend pulled back a bit but kept her pinned. "You kill him, you go to jail and you will never see her again! You hear me you freaking psychopath?"

I spat and took off my glasses again before rising to my feet. The hunter heard me and turned around. My vision was too blurry to read his emotions. His voice was cold and steely as he spoke, broken like speech in the rain. "I just want to put it out there, that I don't want to be doing any of this and I'm sorry."

"You're a monster," I growled and took a step toward him.

"No, I take down monsters." His eyes were dark and unreadable. A bolt of lightning forked the sky yet it did nothing to give any light to the dark man. "I guess it takes one to know one." He turned away from me and took a couple steps toward the guardrail. He raised one leg up and heaved himself onto the top rung.

"No!" Saida clawed one hand out toward him. Madi was using all her weight to hold her back. "Don't let him get away like this." Something told me it wasn't just rain streaming down her face this time. Her eyes were bloodshot; her voice cracked audibly. "He took the only one I have."

Madi only tightened her grip and hid her face in Saida's shoulder.

"Thanks," Tern said to me, completely ignoring the sobbing girl on the ground. "The police wouldn't have gotten here in time anyway. Besides, who's gonna believe a story about dragons huh?" 

He shot a broken sneer over his shoulder, but it quickly faded as if he suddenly realized where he was. "I am sorry, though." He turned his back on us again as brought his other foot onto the guard rail and stood with incredible balance. "But next time, I won't be."

And with those words he flung himself into open air, diving headfirst into the city just in time to catch his wings and fly off into the storm. 

A/N

Oh Tern you asshat. So guys how are we feeling?

Saida has the ability to do some incredible things and she IS one of my favorite characters in the entire story so sit back and get ready. Things about to get interesting. Today's dedication goes out to -beWITCHed- for all your constant support and reading all these years. Really appreciate it friend.

Time to get this rolling cuz am definitely ready am having some fun with this again. Plus I have some good stuff planned. ;) Until next time friendos.