I hope Ma doesn't kill Matthew, Eli thought as he watched the minutes on the timer tick away. He supposed Matthew would have to survive long enough to run into his mother first.

Eli certainly hoped he would. At least one of them had to survive the whole mess they were in or Eli was seriously going to have some complaints when he got to wherever it was people went when they finally kicked the bucket.

Maybe that wasn't the best thing to be thinking about when he was about twenty minutes away from dying, but it was honestly the least depressing thing Eli could come up with. At least it took his mind off of his impending doom. After all, there was no way Matthew was letting a bunch of people die just to save Eli. Not that Eli blamed him for that—especially since his friends were amongst those people.

He still wished that wasn't a choice Matthew had to make, despite how much of a non-choice it really was.

After all, Jack was right. Eli knew Matthew well enough to know that whatever he chose, it would be too much for Matthew. He was precisely the type of person who'd blame himself for something that was absolutely not his fault. Maybe the worst thing was, Eli wouldn't be around to tell him he didn't blame him.

Just as Eli was wondering if Michael or one of his friends would bother to tell Matthew to stop being stupid in his stead, the door to the room he was in opened. Eli wasn't surprised when it was just Jack. Granted, he hadn't expected him to look so displeased.

"You knew, didn't you?" he asked, glaring down at Eli.

"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific." Eli was expecting the hit. Not that it helped with the pain.

"Don't pretend. You knew that bitch disabled the explosives. It's why you've been so fucking relaxed."

It took a second for the words to register in Eli's mind. Partly because his poor brain was still settling after the latest hit, but also because Eli almost couldn't believe what Jack was saying. Laughing was still probably not the best response. Especially because Jack just punched him again. Eli just laughed through the pain.

"Oh, wow, now I really feel bad Adria's dead. Wish she could have laughed with me." He could feel something trickling down his nose, and tasted the familiar iron-like taste of blood. His face ached, his head was pounding, and despite it all Eli felt like cackling. Maybe it was the satisfaction on Eli's face, but Jack's glower managed to intensify to the point where Eli wondered if he'd stab him.

Then, Jack's expression shifted, a grin appearing on his face. The anger was still there, simmering beneath the twist of his lips, a glimmer of rage still burning in his gaze. It made the flash of teeth as he grinned seem all the more menacing. His hand shot out, gripping Eli's face tightly, pulling it forward with bruising force. Eli glared, even as his heart raced as he stared straight into Jack's eyes.

"Well that's just fine by me. We'll just see if you're still laughing when I kill him in front of you." Eli scowled as Jack released him. "He's on his way, so I guess we better welcome him properly."

With that, Jack turned and walked away. Eli glared up until the door shut behind him, then felt his anger slip away and worry take its place.

As relieved as he was to hear that his friends were safe, he wished Matthew weren't on his way to a very blatant trap. Not that Eli expected any different.

He'll be fine. He's fought Jack before, Eli told himself in an attempt to ease his anxiety. It didn't really work, probably because Matthew had fought Jack twice and one of those times he just barely managed to get away. Not the time to think about that, Eli's mind supplied.

"He'll be fine," Eli said in a quiet voice that sounded too loud in the empty room.

He tried not to think too much about what would happen once Matthew showed up. Unfortunately, his efforts to not think about the danger he—and Matthew—were in, meant that the only other thing he could focus on was the pain he was in. It wasn't really much of an improvement.

The throbbing in his head and stinging pain of his face combined with the exhaustion he felt was enough to make Eli doze off for a moment. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn't the best idea, but there was only so much he could take.

Eli wasn't sure how long he was out, but he was woken up by someone shaking him. For a second, he thought it was Jack. Maybe he was ready to start on his grand plan and needed Eli for something.

Tough shit, Eli thought, feeling particularly uncooperative, what with the guy wanting to kill his boyfriend and all.

"Fuck off," he mumbled, only half conscious.

"Not the time, Eli."

Well. That wasn't a voice he was expecting to hear.

Eli's eyes shot open, and it took him a moment to get used to the dimly lit room enough to make out the person still holding onto his shoulder. Not that there was any doubt as to who it was.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Eli asked, voice surprised but also more calm than he felt at the moment.

"I'm here to rescue you," Matthew said, as if he weren't in—well, Eli didn't know where they were, but it was definitely not somewhere they should be. And yet there Matthew was, shining a painfully bright light directly at Eli. "Shit, you're hurt," Matthew said, a gloved hand shifting Eli's face from side to side so that Matthew could fully appreciate the outstanding job Jack had done beating the shit out of him.

Before Eli could tell Matthew he was fine—which he most definitely wasn't—Matthew moved to stand behind Eli and began working to untie him. "Hold on, I'll get you out in a minute," Matthew was saying. Eli believed he would do his best. He just hoped they didn't get murdered on the way.

"I can't believe you actually walked into a trap," Eli said, as if that were really so hard to believe.

"I can't believe you're that surprised." Fair enough. Matthew still had no right to sound that amused as he managed to free Eli's wrists. "Of course I'd come and get you."

"Of course I'm surprised. It was either me or a building full of people and that's honestly not that hard a choice to make if you don't want to look like an asshole."

"Well, I guess we owe Adria for making sure no buildings were blown up," Matthew pointed out as he untied Eli's legs. Eli supposed it was a good thing Adria had made sure Matthew didn't have to make that choice. He actually felt bad about what happened to her.

"She's dead," he told Matthew, his otherwise flat tone holding a bit of disbelief. Matthew's hands paused for a second at that. "He shot her." Eli didn't bother to clarify who he was talking about, he figured it was obvious enough. They were both silent for a second, the news sinking in for Matthew and Eli still struggling to believe Adria was gone.

"Then he has even more to answer for," was all Matthew said.

A second later, Eli was free, his wrists sore and his arms felt stiff from being stuck in the same position for so long. He was still very glad to be able to stand once Matthew freed his legs. Though he was also glad to have Matthew there to help him when his legs decided they didn't feel like working.

"Are you really going to fight him now," Eli asked as he followed Matthew. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of that happening when the mercenary was clearly expecting Matthew. After all, who knew what he had waiting for them. Matthew hesitated, glancing at Eli.

"I don't want to. At least, not while you're here." He held Eli's hand, leading him to the exit. "For now, let's focus on getting out of here."

Eli felt some relief at that. Mostly because he didn't want to watch Matthew get hurt. Although, he was well aware that the two of them settling things was unavoidable. For the time being, he wanted to focus on the fact that—while not safe—they were together at least. All they had to do was get out before Jack found them.

They managed to get out of the room and make it down a short hallway and into some sort of machine room. At first, Eli hadn't really noticed much about the place they were in. Partly because his head was aching and all he really wanted was to get out. Now though, he had to wonder what kind of place they were in.

"Where are we?" he asked Matthew as they climbed some short, metal stairs, Matthew taking the lead. "If it's a fucking warehouse, I swear—" Eli didn't get to finish speaking as shots rang out ahead of them. Matthew ducked behind a row of machinery, pulling Eli along with him. Bullets hit the metal around them, the sound of them echoing in the enclosed space not helping Eli's head.

"Stay down," Matthew said, pulling out a very familiar canister and tossing it ahead of them. The room was quickly engulfed in thick smoke. Eli was suddenly very glad he hadn't taken all the smoke bombs when he went to rescue Matthew at the docks.

The shooting stopped, probably because whoever was shooting was smart enough to not shoot blindly. Eli supposed he had to give the goons some credit. Without saying anything else, Matthew once again took a hold of Eli's hand and pulled him up, leading him into the cloud of smoke where the enemy was hiding. Eli didn't hesitate to follow him.

He trusted Matthew to lead them both out. 

# # #

Hey everyone! Sorry this is a bit late, but it was my brother's birthday today. Which I somehow forgot last time when I scheduled an update today, lol. Anywho, it's another short one, but at least Matthew's finally here to rescue Eli! :D

Which is good because Eli probably would have ended up getting hit again. As always, thanks for reading and for your continued support! Next chapter should be up on Friday, September 3rd unless I forget, lol. 

Hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe out there!