In hindsight, having a short, angry ginger—who could barely fight and was still recovering from getting stabbed—go and try to rescue anyone, wasn't the best decision. Honestly, someone should have definitely stopped Eli. Unfortunately, there was no one that caring in his life. Apart from Matthew, but the idiot had gotten them in this mess in the first place, so he didn't really count.

And that was how Eli found himself standing in the docks of all places.

Well, at least he had the mind to mention where he was going in the first place, Eli thought. Because really, it was rare enough for Matthew to even tell him that much. Probably out of fear Eli would do exactly what he was doing at the moment.

Now, Eli didn't know much about the workings of organized crime—mostly because he was a normal person, unlike a certain other person who should not be in a fucking dock full of murderous assholes—but he was pretty sure nothing good ever happened at the docks at night. Granted, he was basing that particular opinion entirely on the movies and shows he'd watched. And sure, those weren't very reliable, but it wasn't like Matthew was going to tell him any different. That would be too dangerous.

Eli almost wanted to laugh at the thought of Matthew knowing what he was about to do. He'd probably have a heart attack.

He didn't, of course—laugh that is. If only because he might have been discovered and dragged out of his hiding place behind some shipping containers. Eli didn't really want to be thrown into the ocean anytime soon. His mother would have a fit.

Honestly, Eli was afraid of what she'd do if she ever found out.

Drag me back home after murdering Matthew, Eli thought, nodding his head a bit at the thought.

Eli pushed away any thoughts he had about his mother's possible murderous side and focused on the task at hand. Which, in theory, was simple enough. Until you factored in the armed men ominously lurking around the area. Honestly, it was a miracle Eli hadn't gotten caught. He just hoped that particular miracle held until he got out of there. Preferably with his idiot boyfriend.

But first, to find the idiot, Eli thought, looking around to find a way past the guys and further into the docks. He figured he'd have to go around and keep hiding behind shipping containers as best he could. With a sigh at his not so well put together plan—or really, more like his hardly there plan—Eli set out. Though not before making sure his beanie covered most of his hair and patting the pockets where he kept his taser and other potentially useful things, Eli set out.

He was very glad that he wasn't too bad at sneaking around, a hidden talent that he wished he'd never had to find out about. But there he was, skulking around the freaking docks, of all places, in his oldest and most comfortable sneakers, dressed like the scrawniest burglar ever, and wishing his boyfriend was normal.

Surprisingly, Eli didn't have too hard a time getting around the goons wandering around. Mostly because he managed to squeeze in between containers. He climbed atop one, with much difficulty as he did his best not to make too much noise, and was rewarded with a pretty good view of the docks. Eli could just make out some sort of warehouse up ahead. Which wasn't great.

Of course it's a fucking warehouse, he couldn't help but think with a look that, should anyone have seen it, made it painfully clear what Eli thought of warehouses. Still, he didn't have much choice, so he began to make his way over.

It was slow going. Mostly because Eli didn't feel like getting caught and killed. Didn't seem like a good way to end the night. So, he moved along the cargo carefully, keeping an ear out for anyone else. He finally made it fairly close to the warehouse and immediately wanted to groan as he realized he couldn't actually make it to the building.

There was a wide stretch of open space between the shipping containers and the warehouse, though surprisingly, not a single goon was in sight. Eli had to wonder about the commitment of the criminals because honestly, he was disappointed. Granted, it still wasn't exactly easy, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to having to cross over to the warehouse. Just thinking of crossing such an open space without knowing if any goons might be watching made him nearly have a panic attack.

Well, maybe if I make a run for it I won't get murdered, Eli thought, and almost wanted to cry at the fact that was his best plan.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, that was when the shooting started.

Eli couldn't really say he was glad about that, considering his boyfriend was probably inside with whoever was shooting—quite liberally too. Still, he wasn't going to complain about the distraction that was provided.

Even if it meant things had apparently gone to shit.

Knowing full well that it most likely wasn't the smartest thing to do, Eli made a run for the warehouse. He made it to the entrance and paused when something slammed onto the other side of the door. Despite not knowing what sort of chaos he'd find on the other side, Eli tried to open the door, only to find it locked. And that was when it all made sense.

They locked him in, he realized.

They'd gotten Matthew to show up, lured him to the damn warehouse, and then locked him in with a small army of assholes with guns. Eli should have been surprised that Matthew had managed to get himself into that kind of mess, but mostly, he was just pissed. Especially because he wasn't sure how he'd get Matthew out of the building.

With some desperation, Eli looked around for anything that could be used to get inside while lamenting having declined letting Matthew teach him the all important art of lock picking. The sounds of yelling and the occasional gunshot that came from the building, surprisingly, did very little to help him focus.

It was just as he was on the verge of panicking, that Eli finally ran into someone. Or rather, someone ran into him. Under different circumstances, it might have been funny how both him and the guy who was clearly working as a lookout froze and just stared at each other. Clearly, the guy hadn't been expecting to run into a short, discount ninja. Eli could sympathize with that.

Right up until the guy reached for what could only be a weapon. Maybe it was all the times that Eli had been in danger in the past couple of years, but he didn't hesitate to lunge at the guy. Which, to be fair, wouldn't have done much damage usually, but the guy was fortunately caught off guard. Enough so that he stumbled back, tripping over his feet and falling with Eli on top of him, something falling from his pocket and dropping to the ground. With a clatter, the gun he'd been trying to pull out, slipped from his grasp as well.

Eli wasn't about to let the chance go to waste. He punched the guy as hard as he could. Definitely hard enough that the impact had his hand stinging. Even so, he didn't hesitate to punch the guy again. The second blow to the side of his head was enough and left Eli practically sitting on top of the guy and feeling both surprised he'd managed to knock him out and absolutely exhausted from that much effort. He could practically feel his heart thudding in his chest and wasn't really sure that was a good thing.

Still, Eli didn't waste any chance, his brain kicking back up to point out the perfect solution to his earlier problem, currently lying just an arm's reach away.

There, with a horrible souvenir keychain from Palm Beach, was a set of keys. Eli could have cried. He almost did cry when he tried it on the stupid door and it wouldn't budge. For a moment, he thought about throwing it back at the guy he'd taken it from, if only to release some of his frustration. Especially because his grip on the damn keys was tight enough that it was starting to hurt his hand.

And then he heard the very familiar sound of a car being unlocked with a remote.

Eli froze for a second. Then, he looked down at the keys in his hand. A black key remote was hanging along with that horrible keychain and some other keys and Eli honestly didn't know how he'd missed it.

He also didn't know how he'd been so lucky to have the car be so close, but he wasn't about to look that particular gift horse in the mouth.

With that in mind, and a plan hatching in his mind, Eli hurried to find the car—which turned out to be a ridiculously tall pickup that Eli struggled to get into, because of course it was. He turned it on, sent up a quick prayer so he wouldn't crash and die due to him not really knowing how to drive, and then did his best to line the car up with the warehouse's metal gate.

Eli couldn't really hear any sort of gunshots anymore. Maybe because he was too distracted by the wild beating of his heart. Hopefully not because some asshole had finally gotten a good shot at Matthew. Mostly because he was too busy hoping he wouldn't end up running his stupid boyfriend over because that just seemed like the kind of bullshit that would end up happening to him.

The funny thing was, Eli wasn't even all that worried about dying as he threw himself out of the truck just before it crashed into the gate.

The metal crumbled against the force of the truck, twisting away and nearly coming completely off. Eli took a moment to be impressed as he lay on the ground, staring at the damage he'd caused. It was almost enough to make him cackle.

He would have if he hadn't had to find Matthew and get the hell out of there. Eli stood, ignoring the aches that he'd most definitely feel the following day, and hurried to the messy opening he'd made.

He was just about to reach it when a man flew out from the improvised entrance to land on the hard concrete outside, practically at Eli's feet. The man—clearly a goon by the looks of him—groaned and rolled over, but didn't get up. Which was good because Eli wasn't really sure what to do.

After all, it wasn't like his plan extended past finding Matthew and making sure he was still alive. So far, Eli hadn't even accomplished the first half of that measly plan.

Of course, that was when Matthew burst out of the building.

For a second that felt a lot longer—but couldn't possibly have been, since neither of them ended up getting shot—they just stared at each other. Eli was surprised, but a bit pleased that Matthew had just popped up in front of him, saving him the trouble of looking for him. Matthew, on the other hand, looked downright shocked, then his face took on a weird mix of confused and absolutely displeased with a side of I'm-going-to-have-a-fucking-heart-attack. Eli wasn't really sure what to actually call that last one. It was still kind of fascinating to see Matthew go through such a range of emotions in such a short time.

Unfortunately, hearing a bunch of goons rushing over to them kind of ruined the moment.

Before he knew it, Eli was getting dragged away and then shoved between some shipping containers. Against all odds, Matthew managed to fit as well without actually crushing Eli to death. Which was nice, Eli supposed. They heard a series of footsteps rush right past them. Neither made any noise, though Eli let out a relieved sigh when the sound of the men became distant.

Then he looked up at Matthew and honestly kind of wished the men would come back, if only to distract Matthew. Also, Eli figured venting out his frustration by beating the crap out of the crooks might put Matthew in a slightly better mood.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Well then, guess Matthew was in the mood to be rude. He looked pretty pissed, if Eli were honest. Which might have been funny under different circumstances. Like the kind of circumstances where he wasn't pissed at Eli.

"I'm here to make sure you don't get yourself killed," Eli hissed with a glare, mostly because he wasn't gonna let Matthew be the only one glaring. That was Eli's turf.

He also didn't appreciate the skeptical look Matthew was giving him. And sure, Eli was aware he wasn't the best option for backup, but still. It wasn't like Matthew had a lot of choices. It looked like Matthew had more to say. Most likely it wouldn't be something Eli would like, so it was probably a good thing that they were interrupted by some particularly observant goons.

Matthew was out of their hiding spot and beating the crap out of them before Eli could really process that they'd been found. Honestly, he wondered if maybe he should have just stayed home if Matthew was going to be that good at kicking ass. It kind of made Eli feel useless.

And then some asshole tried to sneak up on Matthew and Eli was not having it. This was his moment and he was ready with his trusty taser.

The guy yelped as Eli hurried out from his hiding spot and tased the hell out of him. Matthew turned at the sound and promptly knocked the poor asshole out with a well placed punch. Eli almost felt bad. Mostly though, he was pleased that he'd been of some help. Granted, that seemed to have done nothing for Matthew's mood, because he was still glaring at Eli.

Fucking rude, Eli couldn't help but think.

He was honestly ready to hear more of Matthew's complaining, but was saved from that by the sound of more men hurrying over to them.

"Come on," Matthew said, glancing over to the direction the sounds were coming from at the same time he grabbed Eli's hand and began to pull him along—hopefully out of the docks. Not that it mattered because they didn't make it too far before they heard more steps heading towards them, this time from more than one direction. Eli Looked around for a way out, just as Matthew did, and then tugged the masked man towards the containers.

"Help me up," he said.

Thankfully, Matthew didn't question him and just hurried to do as Eli asked before following him onto the shipping crate. They laid down on the shipping crate to keep from being spotted, both listening to the men leave. And then Matthew resumed his glaring.

Which seriously, fucking rude.

"Oh, stop your glaring, we're both alive," Eli said, ignoring the fact that might change at any moment.

"And trapped here, so yeah, I'm gonna glare because seriously what the fuck?" Matthew said in a harsh whisper. Eli knew he shouldn't even want to laugh at that. Then again, he'd long realized he found the most odd things funny and usually at the worst time possible.

"We're not trapped here!" Eli whispered back, even though yeah, they were totally stuck there. He could hear several people moving around them and didn't want to really think of what their chances of getting shot were. "You were trapped in a stupid warehouse. We're just temporarily stranded."

Matthew, because he was an asshole, just groaned and let his head fall onto the shipping container. Personally, Eli thought that was terrible for morale.

"You're not supposed to be here," Matthew muttered, forehead still resting on the cold metal container beneath them. "You're supposed to be home, safe."

"Yeah, well, I'm a stubborn bastard," Eli said. "But also a stubborn bastard that came prepared," he added when he remembered the things he'd stuffed into his various—and thankfully very spacious—pockets before heading out.

Eli reached into his pockets and pulled out a couple of canisters. Matthew stared.

"Are those my new smoke bombs?"

"I thought they might come in handy," Eli said.

"You went through my stuff?" Eli almost rolled his eyes because, really?

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I meant to come here with a baseball bat and what dregs of luck I have left? Yes, I went through your ninja shit to find something useful."

"I haven't even tried those out." Eli just stared in disbelief because that was definitely not the time for Matthew to start sulking.

"Well, you get to now," Eli said, handing him a canister. "If we can get closer to that side, we can use these to get out of here and cross the train tracks into the parking lot."

"It's a long way over," Matthew said with a frown. "You sure you can make it?"

Eli most certainly didn't. His leg was already aching a bit thanks to the cold weather and literally throwing himself out of a moving car. He didn't want to think about how he'd feel if he had to run all the way across the freaking docks after all that. Unfortunately, he didn't really have much of a choice.

"We're about to find out," he told Matthew, who just snorted softly. As they stood and readied themselves to make a run for it, Matthew turned over to look at Eli.

"If we survive this, don't tell your mom," he said. Now it was Eli's turn to snort because there was no way he was ever telling his mother.

Not if he wanted Matthew to stay alive. 

###

Hello everyone! Isn't it fun when these two idiots almost die? :D

I know you all enjoy that, lol. But at least no one's died yet! Anyway, hope you all liked this chapter, because I loved writing it. Snarky Eli bickering with Matthew while getting shot at is one of my favorite things to write. So yeah, next chapter will be up on Friday, April 2nd!

Until then, stay safe everyone!