Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the dialogue - they belong to the wonderful Julie Kagawa. I'm just playing with them a little bit ;)

Shots Fired

We run as fast as we can away from the humans pursuing us. Despite what Meghan has told me, I keep my hand on the hilt of my sword as we run. She's too human herself to fully understand that these humans won't stop. They will kill us if necessary. To the side of me, I hear Meghan yelp as she trips and I automatically reach out to grab her, pulling her upright. I can't help but mutter,

"This is ridiculous. Running from a mob, a human mob. I could take them out with a sweep of my hand." It's true after all. Meghan might not like hearing it, but not even she can deny the truth in those words.

"Perhaps you didn't see the copious amounts of iron they're carrying," Puck says. Unfortunately, his words are true as well, as much as it pains me to admit it. He ducks a little as a knife is hurled in his direction and there is a small part of me - extremely small mind - that winces a little at how close that knife actually was. A little closer and Puck could have been hit. He's lucky a human threw it. A human with little skill in aim at the best of times. "Of course," he continues, jarring me from my thoughts, "if you want to make a suicide stand, I certainly won't stop you. Though, I'd be disappointed you wouldn't be there for our last duel." And with that, any compassion I had for Goodfellow at all disappears completely.

"Scared, Goodfellow?" I ask, throwing a smirk in his direction, knowing full well that he's not but that implying that he is will get on his nerves.

"In your dreams, princeling." I roll my eyes, dodging a couple of weapons hurled at my head. I still have a hold of Meghan's arm; practically dragging her along, and it must be a sign of how scared she is that she isn't complaining about it. In the short time I've known her, I know she likes to prove she can do things by herself. For her to not comment on me essentially dragging her along behind me is a sign of how far out of her comfort zone she actually is. Out of nowhere, a pipe is hurled and hits Puck in the shoulder, making him gasp and lose his footing. He barely manages to catch himself from falling to the ground in pain and Meghan cries his name. I remember the pain I felt when the iron horse struck me before and again, that little worm of sympathy wriggles in. This time, I clamp down on it, knowing that if our roles were reversed, Goodfellow wouldn't feel it for me. What sounds like a swarm of insects buzzing round my head echoes off the buildings and I follow Meghan's gaze to see Virus laughing as she hovers over the crowd of humans.

"You can run little faery boys, but you can't hide," she calls out over the noise. "There are humans everywhere and all can be my puppets. If you stop now and hand over the girl, I'll even let you choose how you want to die." My hand itches over the hilt of my sword as I snarl at her words. Not only is she threatening me, which is incredibly stupid, she called me little. Me and Goodfellow are a lot of things but little is definitely not one of them. In a split second decision, I push Meghan forward before spinning to face the crowd fully, hurling ice shards at Virus as I do. Just before they hit their mark though, one of her humans jumps forward, getting speared in the process. I watch coldly as he falls to the floor twitching.

"Oh, nice going, prince," Puck calls, still clutching his shoulder as Virus hisses at the scene above us. "Way to piss her off." Before I can answer, Meghan jumps in.

"You killed him!" She says and I know she's horrified. Admittedly, I wasn't aiming for the human but how is it my fault that he decided to save his mistress? "You just killed a person and it wasn't even his fault!" I turn and take her arm again, pulling her around the corner. She's going to have to learn fast that this is the way of the fey if she's going to survive in the Unseelie Court.

"There are casualties in every war," I tell her, my voice like ice even to my own ears. "He would have killed us if he could. One less soldier to worry about." I hope that this will satisfy her, at least for now. Maybe teach her something useful. Of course, that doesn't happen, because that would just be too easy.

"This isn't a war!" She yells, surprising me. "And it's different when the humans don't even know what's happening. They're only after us because some crazy faery is screwing with their heads!" That sympathy that appeared for Goodfellow intensifies, much to my surprise. I can't imagine what this must be like for her. Being told you're not entirely human and then learning that a wayward King is after you can't be easy and, to her credit, she's handled everything extremely well. This must be the product of all of that stress I reason. Despite this though, I keep my cool tone with her, simply saying;

"Either way, we'd still be dead."

"No more killing," she tells me as we run through the quiet streets. "Do you hear me Ash? Find another way to stop them. You don't have to kill." You have no idea I think to myself. When I made that contract with her, I had no idea it would be this difficult. I thought we'd just find her brother and then I'd take her home. My combat skills never even came into the equation at that point. I glare at her in irritation and sigh. If it will keep her happy...

"As you wish Princess. Though you might regret it before the night is out." The stubbornness in her eyes tells me that she won't, no matter what I say and I can't help but admire her for sticking to her beliefs, no matter how stupid they might be. We end up in a brightly lit square, and, despite Meghan relaxing a little, I remain on alert. Just because there are lights here, doesn't mean Virus won't attack. Hell, she's got the majority of the humans here under her control - no one is going to stop her. I slow down, catching Meghan's hand to stop her from ploughing into the humans here. "Walk," I murmur. "Don't run, it'll attract their attention." Our best bet at this point is to try and blend in and hope Virus doesn't spot us. We walk forward through the crowds, Meghan never letting go of my hand. Despite myself, this calms me slightly, knowing that she's okay and here, and I refuse to look into that anymore than I should. Virus floats up over the square and I bite down a curse. Then, to make matters worse, Meghan suddenly breaks away from me, running over to a policeman. This time, I can't stop the curse from coming out of my lips. I turn to follow her when Virus' laughter floats through the square,

"I see you," she calls. I can't hear what Meghan says to the officer, but I can't miss the look of horror that crosses her face when he turns to face her. He lunges forward, grabbing for her and my stomach drops as I watch, knowing that I'm too far away to help her. She kicks out but he doesn't let go, instead reaching round her to grab her other wrist. The other humans in the square all lurch forward and I lose sight of Meghan for a moment as I push through the crowds desperate to reach her. By the time I get there the humans are grabbing at her hair and clothes but she's managing to land a few hits. I smash the hilt of my sword into the officers jaw, knocking him backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Puck grab Meghan and pull her away from the mass. I follow them, knowing I'm outnumbered. Not even I can take all of them.

"There!" Grimalkin says, popping up beside us, looking unexpectedly ruffled by the events. "Dead ahead! A carriage. Use it, quickly." The cat's right. Directly in front of us is an unattended carriage. As we race across the street towards it, a gunshot rings out. Puck jerks and crashes to the ground, crying out. Meghan screams and, without thinking, I haul him upright and forcing him to move forward. Despite our differences, it still pains me to see my former best friend in this much pain. Not that I'd ever admit that to him. Let him think I'm doing it for Meghan's sake. I drag him along behind me, my eyes fixed on the carriage. The horse rears as another gunshot rings out, making both me and Meghan wince. She grabs the bridle as I shove Puck into the carriage before jumping into the drivers seat. Meghan scrambles after Puck as Grimalkin appears next to me. I grab the reins and take barely enough time to yell

"Hold on!" To Meghan before bringing the reins down on the horse's flanks hard, spurring it forward. We race through a red light and around cars and for a few minutes, the only sound is the sound of cars beeping and humans cursing as we fly past.

"Ash! Puck's not moving!" Meghan cries and without even turning around I know she's on the verge of tears. I want to talk to her, to tell her that this is Robin Goodfellow and he's bounced back from worse, but I can't. I have to focus on not crashing this damn carriage and killing us all. Grimalkin disappears from next to me and I can hear them murmuring in the back before he jumps back up next to me.

"The park," he says, calmly. The fear in his eyes from earlier, no longer present. "We take him to the park. The dryads should be able to help him."

"Should? What if they can't?" Meghan asks.

"Then, human, I would start praying for a miracle."

I didn't stop when we hit the park, knowing that I'd be the one dragging Goodfellow to where he can get help. Instead, I stop under the boughs of two old oak trees, before jumping down and heading to the carriage. I kneel beside Meghan before throwing Puck over my shoulder and jumped back down again. I carry him to where the two trees meet before setting him down on the grass. If anyone had asked me, I'd have said the gentleness was for Meghan's benefit - and it was - but a small part of it was also for me. I step back to where Meghan has stopped and we wait. Two figures step out of the tree trunks and I nod respectfully at them as they draw closer.

"We know why you have come," one of the dryads says quietly. "The breeze carries whispers to us, news of faraway places. We know of your plight with the Iron King. We have been waiting for you, child of two worlds."

"Please," Meghan says stepping forward, her voice taunt with worry. A small spark of something flickers in my chest as an unspoken thought bounces around my head. Would she be this worried about me if I'd been shot?" I brush the thought away angrily. "Can you help Puck?" She continues. "He was shot on the way here. I'll bargain with you, give you anything you want, if you can save him." I shoot her a look at that. Hasn't she learnt by now, not to offer deals like that when any fey could be listening in to take advantage? Honestly, she's not going to last two minutes in Tir Na Nog.

"We will not bargain with you child," the second dryad says calmly. "It is not our way. We are not like the sidhe, or the cait sith, seeking endless ways to empower ourselves. We simply are."

"As a favor then," Meghan begs. "Please, he'll die if you don't help him." Yes and we can't have that now, can we?" I think bitterly.

"Death is a part of life. All things fade eventually, even one as long-lived as Puck. People will forget his stories, forget he ever was, and he will cease to be. It is the way of things." I wince a little at the reminder. And the memory of the time Puck made everyone forget us - that was not a pleasant experience. A rush of power draws me out of that particular memory and I look up in surprise. I'm not using any glamour and I'm not sure if the cat has any so that must mean...I take a step back from Meghan, warily.

"She is strong," one dryad whispers. Yeah, no kidding.

"Her power sleeps. The trees hear her, the earth answers her call." The other replies.

"Perhaps it will be enough." They both nod and one grabs Puck around the waist, dragging him backwards before they both disappear into the tree.

"What are you doing?" Meghan asks.

"Do not worry. We cannot heal him, but we can halt the damage. Puck will sleep until he is well enough to rejoin you. Whether that takes a night or several years will be entirely up to him." The dryad tilts her head, seeming to size Meghan up which makes me uncomfortable; despite knowing they won't hurt us. "You and your companions may stay here tonight. It is safe. Within these boundaries, the iron fey will not venture. Our power over tree and land keeps them out. Rest, and we will call for you when it is time." With that, she melts back into the tree, leaving us staring at bark like idiots.

I was going to include the next bit of this chapter here as well, when Ash saves Meghan from the goblins, but it would be insanely long for a one-shot so I was thinking about making it the next instalment? What do you guys think? Do you want to hear it? Let me know what you thought guys xxx