All hell broke loose.

Too much happened at once - the man beside Klaus slipped out of his seat, bullet in his arm, and there was a second gunshot not a moment after Alexander's.

Aria screamed.

By the time Klaus looked toward her, the officer that had had his gun on her had disappeared to fire from someplace else while his partner fled from beside Klaus, diving behind the counter. The bullets went back and forth between Alexander and the guards, loud, spraying every which way.

Aria was slumped in her seat, hand pressed over her stomach, shivering like she was dunked in ice water. Blood seeped from in between her fingers.

He shot her, Klaus realized, feeling slow and stupid. That dick shot her.

Klaus very much wished he'd brought a gun of his own. But he didn't. So he knocked the table to the ground and ducked behind it like a shield. Aria scrambled from her seat to join, pulling one arm over her head. The gunfire kept going, loud, but not loud enough to drown out Alex's constant string of profanities. Surely he'd run out of bullets soon. If Klaus took out the injured guard, they'd have the upper hand.

"Is there another way to get to behind the counter?" Klaus whispered.

Aria shook her head.

"Right then." He glanced back where the man was hiding. His good arm would shoot up and blindly fire bullets on occasion. "Stay here."

Klaus stayed low - the other guard was too engaged with Alexander to risk firing at him, but his partner was shooting all over the place. It would be too easy to get hit on accident. Kneeling in front of the counter, Klaus waited for the arm to lower.

When he heard the telltale sign on a gun being reloaded, he leapt over the counter, unintentionally on the man's arm. He shrieked before he was met with a swift kick to the head. His hold on the weapon went slack.

Klaus stooped down to pick it up and reload it with the bullets that had spilled out of the man's other hand. The guard tried stopping him, pushing at his legs, trying to get in a good swing.

When the gun was loaded up, there was a bullet in his head.

"Shoot!" The other guard was screaming at Alex. "Get out here and shoot!"

Klaus peered up from behind the counter.

Alexander was out of sight, hidden away somewhere. The guard had taken a couple steps back, eyes searching for his silent target.

Klaus fired.

The bullet hit it's mark, sending the man flying onto the ground, but he jumped right back up, shooting at Klaus.

He barely ducked in time. The officer shot and shot and shot.

"Alex!" Klaus screamed over the noise. "Can you fucking do something?"

"Stop  it!" a new voice cried out. It was too soft to be heard over the gunfire, only audible in the spaces of time in between. "Stop shooting!"

There was a shot again and another scream, but this time the bullet didn't hit the wall behind the counter.

"Show yourself! Show yourself or I shoot her!"

Klaus hesitated, but he risked a look over the counter. The cop's weapon wasn't pointed in his direction anymore, it was pressed against Aria's temple. He was crouching down behind the table, holding her up by her hair. It didn't look like she'd been shot a second time.

"Sana?" Klaus called out. "You okay?"

Her voice came again, even softer than before. "S-stop shooting."

"You heard the kid, boys. You want an innocent dead because of you?"

Alex stayed hidden.

"Down," Aria mumbled. "Gun d-down."

"Do what she says."

Aria's face was twisted. "Officer, put your gun down."

The softness, the stutter, the pain, it was all gone. The words that left her lips were a demand, carried by a dulcet tone that made Klaus feel light. Warm. Like a sweet song sung by a honeyed voice, filling him up inside.

There was the clatter of a gun hitting the ground and the warmth in Klaus' chest ceased at once.

The man looked as every bit as confused as Klaus felt, but that didn't stop Klaus from pulling the trigger.

The sound of a second shot rang through the air  - Alex was standing by the doorway with his gun raised.

The cop dropped with two bullets in his head.

"You," Klaus snapped, getting out from behind the counter through the gate Aria had used earlier, "have gotten really shitty at shooting people."

"At least I knew to aim for the head! You aimed at his back like a total moron. Of course he was wearing a fucking vest."

A few minutes ago, the place used to be a quaint little cafe with display cases full of lovely looking sweets, enticing curious visitors to give them a try. The menu was posted up behind the counter, blackboards that had the items handwritten in chalk. It used to be peaceful.

Now the display cases were shattered and blood had spattered onto the desserts. Maybe from the man who'd been shot in the arm first. The blackboards were littered with bullet holes and there were chairs and tables scattered about. The two corpses on the ground killed the quaint little aura. Now it just felt like every other place in the city.

Klaus moved toward Aria. She was on the ground in front of the table he had knocked down earlier, pointing the cop's gun at him now, looking a second from passing out. "Explain why you hit an arm the first time then!"

Alex didn't seem to care about the gun trained on Klaus, too worked up about his honor. "Your bigass head was too close to his! Want to risk me killing you?"

Klaus ignored him and met Aria's gaze instead. "I'm not going to hurt you," he offered, putting his gun down, moving a little closer.

She was fighting to keep her eyes open, but her hand was steady. Her other hand stayed pressed against her stomach. "I'll shoot," she threatened. "Stay back."

"I know seeing us shoot that cop was-"

"I said to stay back!"

Klaus went still, eyes flitting toward Alex who had raised a brow.

"Leave m-me alone."

"You're safe now, okay? I'm not going to hurt you. We had to kill those cops. You're not in any danger." He risked another step. "We're gonna help you now, alright? You're shot. You need help."

She sucked in a breath, pushing harder against her wound. Dark eyes opened a little wider, focusing on Klaus again. "I'll shoot," she threatened again. "Go away or I will."

"You'll bleed out." Klaus knelt down in front of her and she pushed the gun against his chest. "I can he-"

She pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Klaus had nearly pissed himself. "You're out of bullets, Aria."

"Know my name," she managed to mumble, slumping back against the table with her eyelids drooping. "Said it."

The cafe was too far off from their place - if they tried taking her there, there was a good chance she wouldn't make it. And the risk of carrying her, as bloody as she was, would bring unwanted attention. Another run in with government goons was far from ideal.

"Wound looks bad," Alex supplied unhelpfully.

"Tell me you drove here."

"Nah. Did get a dog though."

✘

Initially, Klaus was worried that Alex might tell him they should call HQ. Hell, they were supposed to call HQ. There were two dead lawmen and an injured civilian. An Enhanced civilian at that. But  Alex suggested they go to the vet.

Going to him was a risk. There were rumors about a veterinarian in the area that didn't mind tending to the Enhanced, but that's all they were. Rumors. Klaus didn't know anybody that had ever personally gone to him. Even with the risk, he was their best option since they weren't taking her to HQ. It wasn't like the Enhanced could seek treatment in hospitals without getting dragged out by uniforms.

Three blocks and some blood loss later, they were standing outside an animal clinic. There was no telling if it was even the right one. This place just happened to be the first one they saw.

Alex pet the dog who had been following us before pulling his gun.

"Wha- Put that away!"

"If he's not the right one, then we're going to have to threaten him to hel-."

The door swung open.

Klaus stepped back, nearly dropping Aria in surprise.

The man at the door was an older - gray hairs overtaking what was left of brown, wrinkles etched deep at the corners of his eyes and lips. "What are you waiting for? Get her in. Quickly."

A u t h o r ' s N o t e

Hi, guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll be posting new chapters every Friday from now on. The next chapter will be from Eli's perspective. After that, it goes back to Aria. The POV pattern will be Aria, Alex, Klaus, then Eli. There will always be a header at the top of the chapter so you guys know, so don't feel like you have to remember on your own! ♡