Evelyn grabbed the comb Amanda gave her and ran it through her hair. Newt did a quick job of covering her infected shoulder with the medical supplies and then wrapped her arm. Newt tugged his shirt on and with a sigh of resignation, they opened the bathroom door, back to the real world.

"...we don't have much choice!"

"We gotta get as far away as possible!"

"I can get you as far as the city limits."

Evelyn looked sadly at Goose.

"You won't come?"

"You won't stay?"

She looked at Newt and gave his hand a squeeze and he nodded in understanding. He kissed her temple and went over to the group by the couch. Which included Minho, who was looking skeptically at the pair and then to Newt, his eyes narrowed. Evelyn turned her attention back to Goose, he had  come over, his arms folded tight, making his muscles stand out.

"Your heart feeling fuller little Kitten?" 

She blushed slightly, making him smirk slightly. He knew. She looked at the floor between them and nodded, "Yes. I'm going to go as far as I can." She looked up and saw his dark blue eyes watching her intently. They were filled with a loneliness and a sadness she understood. "Newt says... to try to hope for a cure at the Right Arm." She paused and shook her head slightly. "There won't be." She whispered bitterly. "But I'll go with them there. Once I know they're safe...and if I'm not completely Gone...I'll find my way back."

He looked sadly at her, then gave her a smile. "You kept the crank inside calm for a few days. Thank you..Evelyn. You gave me an internal piece I desperately needed. Pausing he ran a hand through his dark hair, "Your tattoo is right. You're a healer, Kitten. A Wounded one, sure. But still a healer. You'll always have a place here."

"Thank you Noah. There is no way to repay the kindness you have shown me."

He smiled sadly again. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. He wrapped her in a tight hug.

"My Feral lost Kitten found her home." He whispered.

She chuckled through her tears. Letting go and pulling away she wiped the tears with her hands. There was activity around the small apartment. Evelyn stood for a moment thinking.

"Hey, that letter I wrote to myself? Where is it?"

Goose shrugged. Evelyn went to the bathroom to see if she could find it. It wasn't there either, frowning and feeling slightly panicked she turned around. Minho was standing, leaning against the wall, a crumpled paper in his hands.

Walking up to him she asked, "can I have that back please. I...I need it."

His eyes slid to her. She could see the anger and resentment, the distrust when his eyes flicked to Goose behind her across the room, but mostly Evelyn saw pain. Minho was her best friend, she knew his words got harsh when he was hurting and trying to deal with his emotions.

"...Minho...please, I need that back. It's ..it's the only thing that helps."

"I can't Evy. I can't do it. I'm going to break that promise." He whispered, his voice catching.

Evelyn paused, trying to remember what he was talking about. And then it clicked. She had asked him to kill her.

"It's okay Minho. I release you from that promise. It wasn't fare of me to ask and I'm sorry. And...I'm sorry for what happened."

"I don't trust him, Pix." His eyes narrowed at Goose again.

"You don't have to. But...trust me. Seriously Minho, you have no idea what I had to do, what it's like. Please...just trust what I did was what I had to do."

Minho growled. Trying to replace his pain with anger.

"Newt gets it. He understands. Please Minho. I need you on my side." Evelyn whispered.

"Newt's always been a soft hearted fool."

Evelyn closed her eyes and clamped her jaw. Trying very hard to keep calm.

"Minho. Please." She whispered desperately. Her head jerked to the side, trying to throw the claws of the crank off her mind.

"Fine." He finally said. It was reluctant but he nodded.

"Thank you." She paused and held a hand out, "can I have it back now?"

Minho looked down at the paper still in his hand. His eyes reading it again, a frown forming on his face again.

"Is it true? You forget?"

She nodded, meeting his pain filled eyes. "It's the scariest part of all of it."

He looked at her and then down at the paper and then back up to her. It looked like he was going to say something, but changed his mind and handed the paper back and walked away.

With a sigh she walked back to the table picked up the pen and wrote another name at the end of the list of friends and family.

Noah

"Ready to go?" A soft voice asked.

Evelyn turned her head and saw Sonya beside her, holding her bag out for her.

She nodded. Taking the bag, she threw it over her good shoulder.

"Thank you, by the way."

"For...?"

"Well for one. You took a bloody bite for me. I'm sorry. And two...you told me about my buggen' older brother, and I can't thank you enough."

Sonya smiled warmly at her and her eyes slid to Newt who was watching the two, his smile reached his eyes when Sonya smiled back.

"Take care of him." Evelyn whispered.

"I will. Take care of yourself too."

"All right Muchachos and Mis queridas. Time to vamos." Jorge called.

Evelyn and Goose lead the group down the hall and back down the stairs. Newt held her good arm tight in his hand. The cranks down in the club were still passed out, a few were stairing. There were still dead cranks all over the place laying in pools of blood.

"I'm sorry we're leaving this behind Hermano." Jorge sighed.

Goose looked around with cold eyes, his face a blank mask. "Not the first time cranks killed cranks here. Won't be the last." He finally shrugged, his voice indifferent. Noah was gone, out of his appointment, Goose the Crank Gang leader was back.

"Well, I'm leaving the industrial gang leaderless. Take over from Barkley, and the gange is yours."

Goose just nodded. They all cautiously stepped over the cranks, weapons raised, ready for a fight. Jorge lead them out the door and up the steps into the alley way behind the club. Evelyn stood by the door making sure everyone was through. Until there was a lone figure standing in the middle of the room in a daze.

"Tommy! Get your ass over here, it's time to leave." Evelyn yelled.

His head snapped up, like he was snapped out of a daze. He blinked a few times nodded and then followed.

Minho, Newt, Sonny and Captain Jaz waited, keeping guard with their weapons, until everyone but Thomas and Evelyn were out.

Evelyn watched at the doorway as the guys and Jaz backed away, slowly sweeping their weapons back and forth as they did so. But it didn't look like anyone was going to put up a fuss, only a few unfocused eyes watched them leave.

Everyone gathered in the alley away from the stairs. Evelyn stayed at the back of the group, still uncomfortable with going with them. What if she cranked out again and hurt someone. What if they couldn't help her? She was so in her head she was listening to what was being said.

"...the end of my territory." Goose was saying.

"Stick together. Weapons out and we should be able to-"

"Hey!"

The shout came from behind her. Thomas and her and everyone else turned towards the yelling. It was loud and screechy, filled with more than a hint of lunacy. Evelyn spun around to see Blondie (or as Goose called him Pistol)  Butch and Lola stood  down on the bottom step, by the open door. Butch and Pistol both held rusty old guns, arms extended. Pistol's white-knuckled fingers held the gun, surprisingly steady and calm. It was pointed directly at Evelyn. A sneer on his face.

"I warned you little Pet. I warned you it wasn't a good idea! It's my turn to show you how to tame those claws and deal with a nasty little Pet!" He screamed, spit and black goo flew from his mouth. His eyes were black and wild with psychotic rage.

Before anyone could move, shots were fired, an explosion that rocked the narrow alley with a thunderous boom. And chaos rained.

Pain exploded in Evelyn's already infected shoulder. It woke the crank up. She took over so fast Evelyn didn't have time to stop it. She screamed. And lunged at him. Arms out stretched her gloved ripped off, and her hands already fully white and blue and frosted. Pistol threw the still smoking gun and lunged at her with a snarl of his own.

They collided and tumbled to the ground, snarling screaming and clawing at each other. Her hand wrapped around his neck and held on. His life started to drain. She felt it in the sharp cold stabs of pain that shot up her arm and into her chest.

Before she could finish killing him he was ripped off her and a fist flew into his jaw.
Somehow, through the pain in her body and wild shrill laughter of the crank in her mind she heard a gun fire again, then the sound of grunts and punches, followed by more screams and more thumps of fists to flesh.

Evelyn managed to roll into her back. Gasping at the pain. Not only was her arm infected in two places, she was now shot in the same arm. The freezing icey pain mixed with a burning hot pain. She had broken her ribs back in the Glad, and this was triple that pain, all concentrated in her shoulder.

With another gasp of pain the crank let go of her mind and the pain intensified. As if the crank and the Flare worked and took most of the pain like a shield. Now that the Crank was gone, it was worse. Evelyn cried out in pain.

She dared to look down quickly and regretted it right away. A small hole in her shirt revealed a gooey red blob right in the meaty part above her armpit, blood pouring from the wound. It hurt. Her head swam with pain, her stomach twisted.

Laying her head back down she vaguely, out of the corner of her eye saw Sonny, Minho, Goose, Jaz and Teresa beating the life out of the three cranks.

Newt and Sonya were by her side. Looking down at her with their matching chocolate brown eyes, filled with worry.

"It hurts!" She whimpered.

It wasn't the smartest thing to say, clearly it hurts, she was shot. But she didn't care. Another wave of the pain made her wither and cry. 

Someone handed a shirt to Newt, who pressed it tightly against Evelyn's wound. This sent another wave of agony through her; she screamed. It hurt like nothing she'd ever felt before. The world around her faded few degrees.

Voices came from a distance, her hearing was muffled, like when she had gone temporary deaf after the lightning storm.

"What do we do?"

"Were in crank city, were all dying, we'd just put the Crank out of their misery." Goose, definitely Goose.

"NO!" Newt screamed, fear clear in his voice.

Evelyn withered and cried. She wished to be shot again, right in the head, end it all. No more pain. But when she tried to open her mouth to talk nothing but a cry of pain came out. Her brain couldn't form words her mouth could say. If she couldn't die, then she willed her body to pass out. Or the crank to come back and take some of the pain, take the burning fire away.

"Shuck! Guys! Thomas passed out!" Frypan's voice maybe.

"Was he shot too?"

"Yeah! Both of them!"

"Shit!"

"Dammit."

"I can get the bullets out." Jorge, she recognized Jorge's voice. "But I need a fire."

"We can't bloody do this here." Was that Newt? Sonya maybe?

"Let's get out of this shuck city." Definitely Minho.

"I'll show you a short cut, it's through a bad block, but it's faster.

"All right. Fine. Faster over safer."

"Help me carry him."

Hands gripping her from underneath, strong arms slid under her legs. The pain. An arm slid under her back. She cried out, her eyes clamped shut, tears leaked out from under the closed eyelids and slid down her temples into her hair.

Someone saying something about the count of three. The pain. It really, really hurt. One. The pain. Two. She screamed. Three!

She rose toward the sky, and the pain exploded anew, fresh and raw.

Then her wish to pass out came true and darkness washed her troubles away

She awoke, her mind a haze of pain. Light blinded her; she couldn't open her eyes all the way. Her whole body jostled and bumped, arms still holding her tight. She heard the sounds of breathing, heavy and fast. She felt someone's heart beating wildly. Feet pounding on pavement. Someone shouting, though she couldn't understand the words. In the distance, the mad screams of Cranks. Close enough that they might be pursuing.

She felt her body being past. Transfered from the arms that held her to someone else. She couldn't cry out anymore, it was just a feeble whimper of pain when the jostling of the transfer sent waves of pain through her body.

"She's a good kid. She deserves the world. I hope you find what your looking for."

"Thank you...Noah, for bloody everything."

Her mind took her away again.

Heat. The air was burning hot.

Her shoulder was on fire. Pain tore through her like a series of toxic explosions, and she fled to the darkness once again with a wild scream.

She cracked her eyes. Thomas lay beside her, pale, sweaty and shivering. She registered Teresa and Minho and Brenda beside them on one side. Pain exploded through her when she rolled her head to the other side. Newt, Sonya and Nick sat beside her on the other.

Her mind picked up on strained quiet stressed whispering.

With a shudder her mind slid back into sweet black nothingness.