Monday March, 2029

Daniel pressed his back against the wall, hiding in the darkest corners of buildings and alleyways. Working his tongue between his teeth and cheek, he peered around the corner of a shop to get a look at the front gate. The old man, Terry, walked out to talk to one of the young, perimeter guards - barely shielding his eyes from the heavy snow. Their conversation was indistinct to his ears but didn't really care what they were talking about, he was more interested in a way out.

If he was honest with himself, he knew it wasn't going to be easy and he was unarmed so taking Terry at gunpoint to open the door wasn't really an option. He sighed wryly, before stepping through his own billowing breath, stepping back into the streets. Looking both ways down the snow-covered street he avoided the part of town not yet doused by the lamplighter. He looked up to the top of the tall buildings, considering the view of the city and its walls.

Shifting his gaze around and looking over his shoulder, he ducked under the cover of the brick walls to the fire escape that climbed up the side of the apartment building like iron vines. He checked both ends of the alley before reaching up to grab at the retracting ladder to the stairs. It creaked and scrapped against rust as he pulled it down and he winced before checking to see if anyone heard by looking over his shoulder.

He released a relieved sigh he didn't realize he was holding and lifted a foot to climb the first rung. As he climbed the ladder he began to grumble to himself, "How the hell did I even get in this mess. Seriously, you follow some small fry ... for what?" He pulled himself over the edge and onto the roof, straightening his back slowly as he looked around himself- around the city.

The walls, as by intention he was certain, stood far from the edge of the buildings- there was no jumping or scaling by any man. Irritated, Daniel rolled his lip against the front of his teeth and brooded. The only way out was through the gates and he only knew where one of them was. He wondered if he should have dragged Ella with him, so she could guide the way out- set him free. Truth be told, he doubted Ella would help, she was the reason he was in this mess.

He should have just tracked Carver.

Turning, he rolled his neck back as he shrugged his shoulder, attempting to ease the crick in his neck. His eye twitched slightly and he wiped the snowflakes from his eyelashes to prevent further blurring of his vision due to the melting snow. He continued to look over the cityscape, looking for the second gate or another means of escape. A thought occurred as he stepped up to the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the road, his eyes fixated to a specific place in the street. The sewer grate.

Determined to get out of the city and continue his quest, simultaneously escaping the confining city that Ella called sanctuary, Daniel turned on his heel – his open jacket flapping around him – and made way for the fire escape. The cold iron chirred with each step down, stopping only when he paused beside the ladder.

When his foot landed at the cement of the alley, cracks and divots of a decades attrition hidden by the frost, he quickly checked both directions for any figures lurking in the shadows that may call him out. Seeing nothing, he quickly moved for the corner to the main street, stepping lightly and close to the wall. He paused at the corner, pressing his back against the brick, as he fasted his jacket and pulled on his gloves. As he warmed up he turned his head to look around the corner, his shoulders still pressed to the wall, and watched the sewer grate as though it would move if he didn't keep an eye on it. It was his only way out.

He remembered Ella had mentioned that there were patrols and though he hadn't seen any yet, Daniel was wary. Timing was everything.

Looking both ways down the street, he adjusted his gloves as he watched for any movement. Seeing no one he stepped out and jogged to the center of the road where he could see the circular, metal manhole cover. His breathing became ragged and his heart raced despite his desire to remain calm, he checked over his shoulder. Grunting with effort he pulled at the iron cover, his fingers pushed through the holes like a bowling ball. He strained, his head lifted and back arched.

A horse whinnied nearby and Daniel released the manhole and made a run for the cover of the alley, unsure of where the horse and its owner were coming from. He refused to take a risk of getting caught. He looked both ways as he jogged to the corner. He thought, at the end of the street under one of the doused lamps, he could make out a figure and his blood rain cold as his skin flushed. The thought of being made and reported to Ari made his heart pound heavy against his chest.

"Ah-dammit!!" he shouted in response to suddenly being shoved against the brick wall. His chest was pressed into the wall by unseen hands at his back and shoulder, his right hand pinned between his captors forceful hold and his own back. "Shit." He grumbled past his mashed cheek, pushed up against the rough, red brick.

"You're under arrest, Shorty."

"Whoa, no need to make it personal, Guy." Daniel resisted, trying to push away from the wall and wrench his hand free from the cops grasp.

"Should of thought of that before you attacked Ella." The unseen officer and friend of Ella's retorted, pulling at Daniel's other hand, crossing them to cuff him.

Daniel chuckled dryly, "Is that what she told you?"

Without replying, the other man pulled him away from the wall and shoved him in the direction of the street where they were met by a posse of other men and women, including Ari and Olivia, the former stepping up with his leather gloved hands placed on his hips, pushing up the edge of his light jacket. "I knew you couldn't be trusted."

Quirking a brow, his eyes narrowed to mere slits, Daniel scoffed. "You didn't give me much choice, did you."

"You were given an opportunity and you-"

"Ari!" Ella's voice echoed in the empty street and all murmuring stopped as heads snapped in her direction.

"Ella, -" Ari began, his voice raised in order for her to hear from the distance she was still at despite her quickened gait.

Daniel watched her dip moments before breaking into a jog, Warrick close behind. "He has crucial information about the man who killed our people!" She shouted as she came up beside the posse. "We're not throwing him in a cell, we need him to help track down... this Carver." She gestured awkwardly in the air at the mention of Carver.

"Go home, Ella." Ari ground out and pointed behind her like a person would a child.

"No," she stood her ground and tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. Challenging him.

The confrontation made Daniel wonder if she really gave up her position, as she said, or if it was taken from her.

"Ella, have you looked yourself in the mirror? When is the last time you ate let alone slept?" His words were clipped and accusatory rather than concerned.

"Let him go." Ella looked to the man who'd captured Daniel.

"El'," the cop started, shifting uncomfortably at Daniel's side, clearly torn between the two authorities.

"Michael." She insisted though refusing to sidestep Ari to get to them.

Michael, the cop holding Daniel, looked to his boss, "Ari?"

"Take him to a cell, now." Ari countered, though he didn't turn his head back to look at Michael and Daniel, his expression hard as he stared into Ella's eyes.

It was difficult to make out expressions in the dark of the street, heavy shadows of the building cut out whatever light the moon offered, but Daniel could see Ella's eye twitch in defiance.

Michael tugged on Daniel's restrained wrists before pushing him forward, towards Ella. As they passed her, she looked up and into Daniel's eyes. He saw regret but also, something he'd missed before, honesty. He knew he'd made a mistake.

"Ari, you're making a mistake." She commented, turning her gaze away from Daniel to look at Ari.

Daniel leaned back against Michael's touch in order to look over his shoulder, "You should listen to her, she's got an intuition about these things."

When no one acknowledged him, he looked forward and followed the direction Michael gave him. Though he strained to hear Ari's response, all he could make out was the angry tones exchanged between Ari and Ella.

O.o.O.o.

Ella threw her door open, barely affected when the door met the wall with a loud thud. Once through the threshold, her rigid standing position relaxed, her shoulders slumped and her arms limp. She closed the door slowly, leaning against it even after it latched shut. Her hand shook slightly as she locked the deadbolt, her hand dropping to her side the moment she succeeded. Languished, her legs barely moved in her effort to turn back to the ingress of her third story loft, her eyes burned but she couldn't be sure if it was due to her eyes straining in the darkness of the entry way or if it was her fatigue.

She fumbled in the darkness for the table in the small foyer, pulling at the drawer in search of her lighter. Once found she flicked it on and opened the glass door to the waiting, oil lantern. When she lit the wick, she replaced the lighter and took the handle of the lantern in her stiff hand, the glass rattled within the slim metal frame with each step she took into her home. As though in a trance, she navigated the hall to her bathroom.

Placing the lantern on her bathroom counter, she brought her face close to her mirror and looked at herself for the first time in days. Her hair was damp and matted and as she ran her fingers through her hair, she could feel the grease and sweat. She pulled at the bags under her eyes and held her lids apart to look at her eyes, red and scratchy- what she wouldn't give for eye drops. The pallor of her skin frightened even herself. Sighing, she ran her tongue over her chapped bottom lip and lethargically placed her hand on the pump over her sink.

As she pumped, water rushed out of the modified faucet and into the waiting basin, the sink long since replaced. When the water was at a good level she released the pump and leaned over the washbowl, splashing the cold water on her face. Despite the cold, she felt better and wiped her face clean and dry with a towel. Discarding the towel carelessly over the side of the countertop, she grabbed at the lantern and walked back into the main loft.

Ella placed the lantern at the end table beside her bed and stripped her clothes off, wincing when she brushed her shoulder. Confused, she gently peeled the clothing away and looked on in shock at the discoloration and scrapes in her skin. She hissed as she prodded at it, feeling the scabs and painful bruise under her fingertips. In a fleeting moment, she was reminded of earlier. Just that morning she'd had a run in with a small group of Huijari. She'd dove into the pavement in her effort to defeat them.

Annoyed, she tossed her clothes in an empty hamper and refused to bother with her injury. She'd sleep it off.

She slid under the covers and blew out the lantern. The darkness engulfed her immediately and she stared upward at the dark ceiling, unseeing. Letting her mind wander. 

Wondering the significance of Daniel. If she really needed him the way she claimed. Wondered, why she cared as much as she did about what happened to him. Wondered, if Ari was doing more than just throwing him in a cell...

She didn't like the idea of Daniel being tested or tortured for information he may not have. All because she convinced him to come under the pretense he would be receiving help and supplies for the information he did have.

She exhaled heavily and twisted in her bed to lay on her side.

Who was Carver? Was he as dangerous as Daniel claimed? Why was Daniel so determined to find him and why is he alone in his quest? Is there more to Daniel than she's seeing- to Carver?

Her eyes blinked slowly as her eyes fixed on a silhouette of a plush chair sitting in front of the floor to ceiling window facing east. Each time she blinked, her eyes became more hooded. She wanted to rationalize her discernment of Daniel and Carver but it was becoming harder to stay awake as she looked out, past the chair, to the starry sky, barely visible over the city wall. When her eyes finally closed she had a fleeting thought about Carver but it floated away faster than she could keep from sinking into deep sleep.  

O.o.O.o

An extra chapter because I can and because I like to end on rounded numbers! ;)
Things get more intense from here on... so buckle up