Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Killing Time ❯ The Raven. ( Chapter 1 )

The chair creaked softly as the boy sat. He stared around the office though he knew nothing changed between his frequent visits. He leaned back shacking his head quickly, his jet black hair flying out to the sides before settling back, his bleached blond bangs sliding back over the slick glass surface of his Ray bans. He brushed a little dirt from his white kakis and black muscle top before checking himself in the mirror behind the desk, shifting slightly till the light from the window glinted off the small silver cross round his neck. The door behind him opened and a prim woman of fifty entered, a sensible skirt and white blouse, hair tied in a neat little bun, her eyes framed by secretary glasses, the traditional tight assed headmistress type. She took her seat behind the desk and flicked through a file she'd carried in before looking at the boy. She coughed slightly and gave a disapproving frown before she spoke, a polished British accent.

"Raven Black, as I am sure you are aware your period of reprimand is almost over and you will be able to leave St George's Juvenile Academy and return to the Michael Halwhich Orphanage. Now I don't think I need to tell you, that you are getting to the age where Juvenile hall is no longer a viable punishment. You have served three, two year sentences here in the last eight years but another offence and you will be sent to prison. I would hope that the threat alone will set you on the straight and narrow. You will be leaving here tomorrow at nine am sharp, be packed and ready."

Raven nodded and shrugged.

"That all."

The mistress frowned at him.

"Yes, you are excused Mr Black. The matron outside will see you back to the main building. I'm sure you have some preparations to do, people to say good bye to."

"Whatever."

The boy stood and walked passed the guard through the door and stopped. He held his hands out and the plump woman locked the cuffs down on his wrists before leading him back across the compound and through the wrought iron gates leading to the recreational area and the dormitories. Raven sighed. He wasn't looking forward to his return to freedom, the outside was so boring and the orphanage was mostly full of whining little kids. As he heard the door of his room or cell as he preferred slam shut, he reflected on his parents. He'd always wondered who they were, where they were and most of all how much pain they were in, preferably a lot. He been abandoned on the steps of the orphanage when he was only a few months old, and spent his early years doing everything the matrons told him to do. He remembered Simon Black, the boy that changed his life. Simon had been eight when Raven was six. He'd shown him how to get out of the orphanage so he could get to the shops for sweets and cigarettes. Six years old and he'd started smoking. By the time he was eight, Raven had started braking into cars to steal radios with Simon and his friends, and of course got caught. His first stint in Juvi. When he was eleven, he had been out with Simon when they'd been attacked by a local gang there'd been a knife pulled and the next thing Raven knew, Simon was dead. That's when he'd changed, seeing his friend their in a pool of his own blood, he'd sworn always to stay distant from everyone. He changed his name to Black in honour of Simon and Raven to match the tattoo on his left upper arm. That's when he'd really started to get into trouble, joy riding, possession of a firearm, assault though truthfully it hadn't been his fault. He'd been attacked by a group of kids who didn't know how fanatically Raven had studied martial arts. Now sixteen he stood in his `cell' going through his daily practice routine. With the amount of spare time he'd had over the years, Raven had reached the level of black belt in Kung Fu, Karate, Jujitsu, kick boxing and Ti Quan Dou. He stretched out then delivered the final move, a quick succession of punches to the wall, slightly deepening the dent that had slowly built up over the last two years. Satisfied he began packing his few meagre belongings into the small backpack he drew from under the bed. Finally checking none of the guards was looking in, he yanked the metal drain grating from the wall and pulled a shoe box from the alcove. He took off the lid and stared inside. A black Sig Sauer P228 stared back at him. He wondered what sort of shit he'd be in if anyone ever knew he had managed to smuggle a hand gun into a juvenile institute. Quickly he began to dismantle the weapon and slide the separate pieces into various items, then slotting the final piece, the emptied magazine into his electric razor he placed the items into his bag under a towel and lay back on his bed and fell to sleep.

Raven found himself shaken roughly awake by the Matron.

"Come on Black, time to leave. The Mistress wants a word first. Seems your future might just have got brighter."

Raven glanced confused at the grossly overweight woman, then reached for his shoes and pack while trying to shake the sleepiness from his head. He was quickly marched out to the front of the complex, hearing his shoes on the steel flooring in the quite of the morning, then on the concrete as he crossed the courtyard. The Mistress was waiting by the main gates. She gave her usually cough before addressing Raven.

"Well, your getting out of here, and it seems out of the orphanage too. We received word last night, that an uncle of yours has tracked you down. It's all checked out and he's already signed the adoption pages. He's waiting outside to collect you. Maybe with some proper supervision at last, you might learn to walk the straight and narrow after all."

Raven felt flooded with confusion and emotion.

"I've got an uncle?"

"Seems so. Well, good bye Raven I've got things to do. I hope we never meet again, and I say that with meaning."

And with that she turned and headed back to her office. Raven collected his confiscated belongings from the main office and watched the gates open. A black Mercedes waited the other side. A tall grey headed man in a sharp suit waited by the car. Raven nodded good bye to the guards and walk out the gates as the closed behind him. The man approached him. He spoke in a voice way to friendly to be genuine, but no nervousness or hesitation in is voice which unnerved Raven.

"Hello, my name is Phillip Wallace, I'm your uncle. Your father was my brother. Shall we go, I can explain in the car. We've got a flight to catch."

Raven was stunned though he kept his demeanour as one who didn't care, his face cold of emotion his eyes hidden again behind his tinted glasses.

"A flight to catch? Where are we going."

"I live in America. I only came over to pick you up. Everything's been arranged."

Phillip held the door for Raven as he climbed in the expensive rental car before getting in himself. The car started and headed off towards the airport. His uncle spoke first.

"So, Raven, I believe that's what you like to be called, an unusual name. I'm sure you have some questions so fire away."

Raven looked round the car, the guy had to be rich to hire a car like this.

"Where are my parents?"

"I'm afraid they were killed sixteen years ago in a car accident. You were never found so it was assumed you'd been kidnapped or something. Finally after all these years of searching, we found you. I can only presume someone found you in the car crash and took you to the orphanage, it wasn't far from here. Probably it was who ever caused the crash, we don't know. It's a good job you look like your father, or we might never have found you."

"Ok, so why are we going to America."

"That's where I live with my wife, you'll meet her soon. I am in the banking business and we have a nice house on the west coast and…"

"Ok, hold on, everything's going a bit fast for me here. I don't think they could wait to get rid of me back their, they practically threw me out. I'm a little disorientated."

"I'll tell you what. It's a few hours drive to the airport, you get some sleep and I'll wake you when we get there. Once we get home, we can have a really good old talk about everything."

Raven groaned inwardly. He had no idea what was happening, but he didn't like it. This wasn't the style of life he was used to. Now suddenly he had a family, and a rich one too by the looks of it, which was no bad thing but now he was suddenly being dragged of to a strange new country. Things were too much for him. He went to sleep deciding to deal with it when he woke up. He wondered what the plane would be like, having never been in one before. He dozed off.

Raven Black found himself sitting in first class of a Boeing Seven Four Seven by himself, well except for the other first class passengers. He felt confused again. One minute they'd been at check in, the next his uncle had been explaining he'd been called back into the London office for something and that Raven would have to go on with out him. Not that it mattered since his aunt would be there to meet him at the other end. The rest had been a blur. Raven now sat in the luxury reclining seat, his stone cold look frightening off the stares he'd got from the other first class passengers when he'd first boarded the plane. He stared out of the window at the ocean bellow. He'd never realised how big the Atlantic Ocean was. A small cough attracted his attention. He almost fell out of his chair but regained his composure. The girl gave a little giggle.

"Can I sit here?"

She gestured at the empty seat next to his. Raven looked her up and down. A little voice in his head kept shouting over and over `bloody hell she's gorgeous'. Five foot six, with great looking legs from under green cargo shorts and a well developed figure, her flat stomach bare, her chest covered by a white cut off Tee. Short blond hair, and only the subtlest hint of makeup and the most crystal blue eyes Raven had ever seen.

"Sure."

He said, a small smile flickered on his face.

"Are you supposed to be up here?"

She grinned and blushed slightly.

"Um no, but well I lost the coin toss."

"Eh?"

"My school is on a trip, and we saw you get on and go into first class. Since your not exactly dressed like, well these guys, we figured you must be famous but we didn't know who. I lost the toss so was sent up her to find out who you were, and what your telephone number is."

Raven smirked.

"Famous, no. My name is Raven Black, I'm sixteen and from Essex or at least the orphanage was in Essex and I have just got out of prison, well juvi. As for a phone number I don't know it yet, since I'm moving to America with my Uncle who just discovered I existed."

"Cool. You were in juvi."

"Yeah, genuine child of a misspent youth. How about you, and I definitely want your phone number too."

The girl blushed.

"My name is Sophie Dowle, also sixteen and I'm from London, and I can't give you my number, I've only just met you. I might not want you calling me."

The steward approached.

"Excuse me miss. You can't be up here."

"It's alright, she's with me."

The steward frowned and walked off.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You want a drink. It's all free up here?"

"Sure."

For the next three hours Raven and Sophie talked. It surprised him, how easily he could talk to Sophie, though he kept his personal details a secret, they chatted about interests and guns, a passion Raven was delighted to find they both shared. They were only interrupted by another small feminine cough. Raven looked up to see a short sandy haired girl in spectacles, one of those subtly sexy girls that hides their looks behind frumpy attire on purpose.

"Sophie, are you eve going to come back, we want to know who he is. Most of them think your gonna come back pregnant or married to this guy. By the way, hi, I'm Merrill. So what are you, a film star or what?"

"Oh Merrill butt out. Tell the others I'll see them at the airport, I'm not giving up a free first class seat. Anyway, he's not a film star, he's an ex con, jut with a rich uncle."

Merrill looked shocked.

"Oh, well he's still cute though. See you later Sophie, I wanna see the end of the film."

She disappeared back behind the curtain. Raven shook his head.

"Are all your friends like that? She was, well no offence but weird."

"Yeah she is, but most of them are fairly sensible."

The curtain parted again and a man in his forties appeared in a tweed jacket. Sophie looked disappointed.

"Ah crap. There goes the party."

"Miss Dowle, you have not paid for this seat, therefore you are not entitled to it. You will come back and join the others immediately."

Sophie made to stand but Raven spoke.

"Chill dude, I paid for her seat. Leave her be."

"And just who the hell are you?"

The man made a move supposed to be threatening. He watched uncomfortable as Ravens friendly attitude fell away and the cold dangerous appearance returned.

"You have no idea who I am. Sophie and I were just chatting. I had an extra seat here, so I let her have it. I think you should leave now before you make a scene. She will see you at the other end."

Sophie was grinning from ear to ear as hard as she was trying to stop herself. She knew her teacher must be squirming with anger at Raven, but was clearly almost pissing himself he was so nervous of him.

"Fine."

The man turned and left.

"I hope I just didn't get you in trouble."

"If you did, it's worth it, just to see that expression. I…"

She was cut short as the plane jolted violently, followed by a small explosion. Raven found himself in a vice like grip.

"What the hell was that?"

Sophie's muffled voice came from his chest. Raven desperately tried to shake off the blood he could feel filing his cheeks. He knew if she looked up she'd see his face scarlet with embarrassment. He looked out of the window and felt the colour drain away again. Where the engine should have been, the was only a badly torn and charred section of wing. The plane was starting to shake badly and further pieces were being shaken loose.

"Don't worry, the engines gone that's all."

Raven looked down and was glad to see they were over land, even if it was very densely wooded land. The pilots voice came over the intercom, it sounded very strained.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you would please fasten your seatbelts. As you have noticed, there has been a slight problem. However there is an airstrip ahead where we will attempt and emergency landing. Unfortunately it is not really designed for this size aircraft so will probably going to get a bit rough."

Raven disentangled Sophie and helped her buckle her seatbelt before doing his own. He noticed the tears in her eyes.

"Huh, typical. My first time on an aircraft and it goes wrong. Hey don't worry Soph, it's going to be ok. Didn't you hear, there's an airstrip ahead."

He leaned across and put an arm around her. In his mind, he figured they were probably all dead, but then there was always a chance, he just hoped the chance would present itself. `Oh well, there were worse ways to go.' He peered out of the window and saw the tree tops approach then disappear as they entered a clearing. He pulled Sophie closer. He heard the pilot.

"Hold tight folks, here we go."

A few seconds later, he felt the plane touch down, time seemed to slow. As the seconds passed, it felt like years. All around the aircraft was shaking violently, sparks were flying and the oxygen masks had dropped down, a rather futile point, he thought. The next second the plane pitched sharply as a wheel was ripped from the undercarriage and something fell from the ceiling. Everything went black.

*

Raven opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't. He wondered who'd been playing football with his head. He gently reached to rub his forehead but found his arm trapped. Blearily he looked round. A large sheet of metal lay across him and Sophie whom he found to be the cause of his pinned arm. He suddenly remembered what had happened, and he reached to check her pulse, it was strong and she was just unconscious. Suddenly he heard voices. Most were in what sounded like Spanish, the one in English spoke.

"Ok, have you checked for anymore passengers."

"Yes sir. The rest are dead, twelve in total. The rest are in the hanger."

"Good, Pedro your men check the cargo hold. I want anything of value. The rest of you get back to your posts. Not you Merik, I want you to do another scan. I need passports from the dead ones. I'm sure we can still demand a ransom for them. It is a good day for Columbia."

Raven heard the shuffle of boots and then quite. Then some mumbling and another set of boots shuffle up towards the back of the plane. Raven thought for a moment. Columbia. What the hell were they doing there. He decided his first priority was to get free of the wreckage then try and get into the jungle with out being spotted. He hoped Sophie wasn't too badly injured. Slowly he freed himself from the wreckage and squirmed out from under the metal sheet, which turned out to be part of the skin of the plane, contorted backwards. Who ever had been in the seat in front, was probably scattered down the runway now. There was no time to think of that though and he crept up the isle to the curtain into coach. He could see a man, presumably Merik facing the other way. He was bent over a body trying to remove a ring, he never even noticed Raven sneak up behind.

*Snap*

Raven watched the mans limp body fall to the floor.

"Only a dead terrorist is a good terrorist."

Raven quickly searched the man for anything useful. He took the mans sidearm, a Beretta 92F, cocked it slipping the safety on and tucked it under his belt, pocketing the spare clips, sixteen rounds in each. He also took the mans jacket, which he was delighted to find, had two grenades clipped to it. He walked back to first class to find Sophie leaning against the metal sheeting looking woozy.

"What happened? Where are we?"

"The plane crashed trying an emergency landing. Unfortunately, it appears it tried it right in the middle of a Columbian drug plantation."

"What are we doing in Columbia."

"Not a lot it seams."

"That's not what I meant."

"Maybe the plane was Hijacked or something. Anyway, it seems everyone else has been taken to the hanger, so they can be ransomed off. We were hidden under that."

He gestured to their little cocoon of metal they'd crawled from. Raven looked round for the overhead locker. He found it over the other side of the plane. He pulled his bag out and removed his razor and several other items. Sophie looked confused then made her way back towards coach.

"I'm just going to get my bag, ok."

"I wouldn't go back there unless you've got a strong stomach. There's a couple of deadens."

Sophie looked at Raven in shocked then ran towards the back of the plane. Raven realised she though a school mate might have been involved. He shrugged and finished assembling his Sig. He loaded the mag with nine mils he took from his walkman and slotted it in, and dropped the gun in his pocket. The Berretta would do for the moment. He slung his bag to his back and went to find Sophie. She was standing looking at the dead man with a broken neck.

"I didn't see him on the plane? Was he the hijacker do you think?"

"No, I did him. I needed his weapon, besides if we want to get out of here, the fewer of them about, the better."

"You, you, you killed hi…"

"Yes, and you needn't be sad. He would kill us in an instant. Let me explain, out here, it's kill or be killed. If you want to live, you'd better learn to kill too."

Sophie's mouth went dry and her voice became a whisper.

"Me, kill?"

"Look at it this way. They are bad men, and they WILL kill you. It's all self preservation. Here."

Raven pulled the Beretta from his waste band.

"Look, you said you liked guns, but have you actually fired one before. It's just aim and squeeze the trigger."

"I've fired a pistol before. I have an uncle in Cali, he taught me to shoot when I was fourteen. It's just the killing people I have a problem with. I'm used to hitting coke cans."

"Good, then you stand a chance out here. Just think of them as really big coke cans. Now come on, we've got to get to the jungle edge without being spotted and it's a good… two hundred metres. Your not wearing heals are you. No good."

Raven lead the way out of a hole ripped in the side of the plane and crept along the side. Checking the coast was clear, he nodded at Sophie and they took off across the open tarmac towards the tree line. Raven was considerably surprised when the crossed into the shad of the trees without being seen. They stopped for breath, and he mused on his luck. Someone's obviously having a laugh he thought. He straightened up and looked round.

"Now to find the road."

"What about the others?"

"What about them."

Raven looked at Sophie, knowing full well what was coming.

"We can't just leave them there."

"We can't do anything for them, we have no idea how many of these guys there are, or what they're armed with and they will kill us now. If we weren't with the lot they took of the plane, they'll assume we're trouble and just shoot us."

"But we…"

"Is there any chance of talking some sense into you?"

"No. I'm not leaving them like this. There's no point running off and telling someone, it won't change anything, cos these guys have to tell someone themselves to get a ransom. If you won't help I'll…"

"Do it yourself, yeah. I should have known you were going to be trouble. Can you really use that thing?"

He gestured at the gun in Sophie's hand.

"Sure. I could take out a coke can at fifty metres at my uncles."

Raven sighed.

"Ok, here's what we do. We are going to circle the compound, and try to figure out what these guys are packing and more importantly, how many of em there are. We might be lucky, I only heard about seven or eight guys on the plane, and they might be all that's here. All you have to do is follow me, stay out of sight, and keep your eyes open for patrols, traps and guys we'll need to take out. Make no doubt about this, we are going to have to kill people if we want to help, and it's fairly likely we're gonna get shot and probably killed in the process."

"Saying that only makes it easier for me to kill em. I don't want to die just yet."

"Alright follow m…"

"Hands up"

The accent was thickly Columbian but the words were recognisable. Raven looked round to see two big men, very rough looking clearly hired muscle. Raven raised his hands. He noticed one man carried an AK47, but the speaker carried only a silenced pistol. The speaker approached. Sophie barely followed the movement, but realised her imagination filled in the gap between Ravens kick and the second mans head exploding to the sound of a silenced pistol shot. A crack indicted the other man was dead as he slumped forward.

"Holy shit. Where did you learn that? What are you an assassin or something? I thought you were kidding about being in juvi."

"No, I really was in there. I learned all the martial arts stuff to fill the free time. You'd be amazed what you can learn from books and videos. The shooting is something a, a friend taught me. I wanted to become a truly great shot, because he never could."

"Why?"

"Another time maybe. Help me hide the bodies."

They quickly dragged the bodies back into the jungle and covered them with branches and stuff. Raven tucked the silenced pistol, A Sig 229 like his own bar the silencer, into his belt and threw the AK strap over his back.

"Hmm, a couple of flash bangs, useful. Here, you better get used to shooting a person."

He pulled the silenced gun out again and offered it to her.

"Just put a shot into one of em. Just so you know what happens."

Sophie was astonished by the amount of blood and damage the bullet did to the body.

"It's nothing like the moves, where there's just a little hole."

"No, a real bullet is a bit more, well damaging. Ok, come on, it's not going to be long before they discover the guy on the plane, and I'd like to have a some idea of their numbers before all hell breaks loose."

Raven turned and began trudging off through the undergrowth, stopping every now and again to check for traps. Sophie looked at the sky, it was beginning to get dark and the starts were coming out. She noticed the increased activity in the compound, and assumed they'd found the dead guy on the plane. Men began running about and Sophie found herself suddenly lifted into their air by a pair of strong hands on her hips. She looked down to see Raven holding her up.

"Quick, climb up."

She needed no further encouragement and hoisted herself into the lower branches, quickly climbing higher. Raven wasn't far behind her. Below they could here movement, but it soon went silent. Raven looked at her.

"We stay here for the moment. Once it gets properly dark, we'll go in."

"Ok."

They both stretched out in the tree. Raven reached into a pocket of the stolen jacket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a Zippo. He lit the cig and offered the packet to Sophie.

"Oh well, if I'm gonna get shot, I wanna have at least tried one."

Raven almost fell out the tree as he watched her place the filter between her lips, he knew she was teasing him a little rolling the end about slightly and giving him a sly look. She giggled and lit the cigarette. Her giggles became coughs as she drew in and tried to exhale.

This time Raven smiled until he saw someone coming through the trees. He didn't know what to do and Sophie showed no sign of giving up her coughing fit just yet. He leaned across and kissed her. Her coughing spluttered quickly to a stop. She sat stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do. Raven broke the kiss. He looked down, the figure was gone.

"Sorry, but if he'd heard you cough, we'd have been dead."

"I, that's, um, well, I er."

She composed herself and then leaned across and kissed him but with a lot more passion. When they finally broke, they just sat and stared at each other a moment of absolute peace and contentment hung in the air. They both smiled. Raven turned to look up through the sparse remaining foliage and stared at the stars as they appeared.

"You know, I always thought how beautiful the stars were, I'd never thought anything could match them. I was wrong."

She kissed him again.

"You should know, I always swore I would never let anyone close to me. The friend, I mentioned earlier, was kind of a big brother figure to me and when he was killed I was so depressed, I swore I wouldn't let myself get hurt again. If you die tonight, so do I.

"Don't worry. It's gonna work out."

Raven smiled and looked at the stars once more and drew the silenced Sig.

"Well, are you ready. You'd better take this, give me the Beretta, that way you'll attract less attention."

They switched guns and climbed down the tree and once on the ground made their way round the complex to the point closest to the hanger.

"I reckon there can be no more than ten guys left in this place. There's four patrolling the hanger, two on the doors, one in that tower, there's two in that office over there, and then at least one in the hanger. I'm gonna take out the guy in the tower then the two in the office. That's your signal, get behind those barrels there take out the guy going along the back, then the guy coming down the near side, then the guy going up the far side. Be patient and careful and don't miss. Then well take out the fourth sentry and the door guards, then it's the guys inside. Remember, wait for me to take out those two, then go for it."

Sophie nodded and watched Raven slink off into the night. She gulped down her fears and steadied herself for the shots. She squinted through the dark at the tower. She thought she saw some wild movement, but it could have been a trick of the light. She saw Raven illuminated briefly by the office, the next moment, the building erupted into flames, Sophie guessed he'd found a use for the grenades. She shook off her thoughts and concentrated on the now frozen patrolling guards. She fired.

*PHUT* *PHUT* *PHUT*

Three rounds from the silence pistol thudded home into their marks. She was glad she hadn't forgotten her uncles training. She looked up, and noticed there were more than ten troops running about. Twenty at least, she took aim. Three dropped as she emptied the clip. Moving targets were a little harder. She searched for the second clip, through she was watching the action.

The stolen AK was expended in seconds cutting down two of the maddened troops, three more fell to rapid pistol fire, and another two had their windpipes crushed as they attempted to beat down on Raven with machetes. She watched him draw a second pistol and crouch behind a concrete pill box as automatic fire hammered into the night air. Sophie located the second clip and slapped it in, thumbing the slide release, loading a new round into the chamber. She got up and moved quickly towards the hanger. Thankful they were all to busy involved with Raven to notice her. She quickly noticed the three troops standing away from the others out of their vision.

*PHUT* *PHUT* *PHUT* *PHUT*

The three men fell to the fire and Sophie was moving again the automatic fire drowning out her footsteps. Another two fell before one of the men realised their quantity of fire was reducing, he swung round to face her, his head exploded closely followed by his neighbour. Behind the falling body, Raven had appeared again, Sig in one hand, Beretta in the other, the combined fire felling three more men as they tried to reload. Sophie felled one more as the last had his bones methodically broken to a series of punches. Raven joined Sophie and together they approached the hanger.

"Um, that wasn't ten guards."

"Yeah, well would you have let me go off if you'd known that would happen?"

"No."

"You see. Ok, be ready, we don't know how many are left."

Raven slammed his foot against the door busting it open before hugging the wall. When no fire ensued he threw himself through the door and into a roll finally coming to halt in a crouch behind some barrels. He peaked round them. When the silence remained, Sophie poked her head round the door.

"Please, come in."

The man was smartly dressed in a beige suit, two bodyguards in black flanked his sides, each pointing an Uzi at a group of children, clearly part of Sophie's school. The man in the suit held a riot shotgun also pointed at a separate group of kids. Raven was standing now in clear view, guns dropped to his sides. Sophie joined him at his side. There were some gasps of surprise when Sophie was recognised by her friends, pistol in one hand, her cloths torn, dirty and stained with blood.

"I think you have a problem. I don't know who you kids are, but you've caused quite a problem. But it doesn't take a genius to work out what you're here for. So lets see how good you are. Three targets, two of you, what do you do?"

Raven watched as a man he recognised as the teacher in the tweed coat stood slowly and began creeping towards the man in the suit. Raven whispered under his breath.

"Be ready, take the guy in the suit."

The teacher coughed loudly and the suited man turned in surprised. In a split second Raven raised his guns and fired, a moment later Sophie's silenced pistol hissed as it's final bullet was expelled, striking the man in the chest. He fell between his two headless bodyguards. People screamed as the shots rang out, and several people vomited. Raven looked out the door. He could see head lights coming through the trees.

"Shit. Ok everybody. It's not over yet. Everyone get up, there's some trucks we're gonna take. Come on follow me."

Raven grabbed Sophie and lead the way out of the hanger. People quickly recovering their senses helped each other to their feet and ran after Raven. The teacher caught up to them first.

"You're going to have some explaining to do miss Dowle."

"Not now."

With in a minute, Raven was helping people up into the backs of several troop trucks. Some of the sturdier passengers had offered to drive. As Raven helped Sophie into the truck, a jeep broke the tree line and shoots began to ring out. Raven swore in pain as a bullet struck his shoulder, Sophie swore loudly and jumped down to help him in. Several people were firing back with stolen AK's but the other two trucks had already taken off, and Ravens was soon to follow, the teacher driving. He looked back to see two jeeps following down the dirt track. He winced as Sophie bandaged a tourniquet round his shoulder made from some ones shirt. They were only a few bends ahead of the jeeps and they were closing. He looked at Sophie.

"I want to tell you, I love. I feel more love for you than I ever thought it was possible to feel any emotion, and I can't let anything happen to you."

"Raven I…"

"Shuuh. Do something for me. Have a really great life."

He leaned over and kissed her.

"Don't let her follow."

Raven jumped as the truck rounded the bend, throwing himself into the undergrowth. Sophie screamed after him and tried to jump but was restrained by the other passengers. A moment later a huge explosion lit the sky, followed by several burst of gun fire but all were soon left behind in the darkness. In a corner of the truck, Sophie sat softly crying, the tears rolling down her face, threatening to drown the earth. Millie appeared from the crowd and sat next to her, letting an arm slip round her friends shoulder as the truck bore them through the night along the dirt road. Ahead the lights of a small town were visible.

*

Sophie sat on the wooden bench and stare down the dusty towns main street her eyes still filled with tears. She sat and thought. She'd known him less than twenty four hours, yet she felt like she'd known him all her life. Her hart was now missing a piece that hurt every time it beat. Behind her the doors to the little local airport opened and two figures appeared. Millie sat one side and Jeff Bradstone, the teacher in tweed sat the other side. He rested his arms on his knees and drew in a breath.

"You know, what he did was a very brave thing. He saved us all for sure."

"I know, but, but I just want him back."

"Wow, he really got to you didn't he."

"Got to me, he was like this missing piece of my life, that for one moment, I had sight of, and now is gone again."

Bradstone straightened.

"You know, what I saw you two do last night, was incredible, if not exactly the right thing to do. But I'm sure you saved a lot of lives. He won't be forgotten."

Bradstone checked his watch.

"The plane leaves soon. It's gonna take us to…"

"I'm not going. I can't leave."

"Now what do you mean. You're just going to abandon your family?"

"I…"

"Holy shit."

Sophie and Bradstone looked at Millie who'd stood on the bench staring down the high street. Sophie suddenly heard the sound of a very badly tuned engine, and the sound of metal scraping on metal. She saw Millie and Bradstone's mouths fall open as they stared over her shoulder. She closed her eyes, fearing when she turned, it wouldn't be what she so hoped it would be. She turned and looked. The jeep was badly mangled in places, and a crude patch on a severely deflated tyre was slowly peeling off. The front of the jeep was scorched badly and it sounded though most of the engine had been stripped out as steam poured from the radiator and oil slowly leaked from under it. A figure stood slowly from the drivers seat and hopped down in front of Sophie. She noticed the shirt tourniquet was soaked in blood and several new bandages had been applied to his arms and a nasty gash on his face was still slowly leaking blood. His clothes were tatters and body covered in dirt and blood. He smiled at her. His voice was dry and raspy.

"You didn't think you'd loose me that easily did you?"

He tried to laugh but only managed a gruff sound in his throat. Sophie pounced on him, kissing his neck and face and mouth not caring about the filth or looks the others were giving her. She let go as she realised just how much pain he was enduring for her, her eyes filled again with tears but this time of joys. She turned to see all her friends waiting for them. Some one started clapping and soon the others joined in. Sophie smiled at Raven.

"Lets go home aye?"

End