"Yo, Elizabeth! You in here?"

"I'm in here!"

Elizabeth continued her stock taking as she called back. Not wanting to forget the numbers she was currently counting. She'd jotted down the numbers by the time Meliodas joined her in the room.

"How's it going?"

Meliodas stood in the doorway, throwing his shirt back on. He and the fellow sins had been training in a nearby forest. Both Meliodas and Merlin had decided the sins should train more, after all, there were still some of the Ten Commandments remaining. They needed to be ready.

Elizabeth had watched for a short while. Fascinated by their abilities. She'd been practising using her own powers too. Meliodas was always happy to let her heal his injuries — as hands-on as possible, of course. But after watching them train, she realised she could take a job off their to-do list and check the stock in the back of the bar.

"Good, I'm almost done here," she smiled as he walked closer, looking at the notes she'd scribbled down. "Everything seems to be in order,"

"Nice work, Elizabeth," his praise followed by a swift squeeze on her butt; causing the princess to giggle and turn a shade of pink.

"You don't seem to have any injuries," Elizabeth innocently stated, observing the man next to her.

"You sound disappointed, Elizabeth. Look, if you want your hands on me, you need only ask!"

"What? No, I didn't mean—"

"Nishishi, come on, let's see what the others are up to,"

Meliodas' hand remained on her waist as they walked into the bar. Their comrades sat across two tables, discussing the days training in detail. Each going over what they need to work on. The two joined the group at the tables, Meliodas including his own feedback while Elizabeth sat and listened to what they all had to say.

"How about you, Elizabeth?"

"Hm?"

Merlin's question had caught her off guard.

"How are you coming along with your powers?"

"Not bad, I'm able to heal across a bigger area using less energy,"

"And what about ark?"

"Ark?" she asked, not noticing Meliodas raise his brow in suspicion.

"It would be wise for you to practise that some more. It would make a good self-defence move."

"Do you have anything I could practise with?"

"Yeah, the Cap'n!" Ban shouted, earning laughter from the group.

"Y'know Elizabeth, Ban is immortal. He could take all the hits making him the perfect training dummy,"

Meliodas had a smug grin on his face as he spoke to Elizabeth, though his eyes stayed on Ban. Waiting to see if he'd retaliate.

"Nah, Elizabeth wouldn't dream of hurting me! She wouldn't want to risk dealing with your cooking!"

The room fell into laughter once again, Elizabeth and Meliodas included.

"I think Ban won that one," Elizabeth whispered, earning a cheekier look from Meliodas.

"I'll find something for you to train with, Elizabeth. But the work you're doing now is impressive."

"Th-Thank you, Merlin-sama!" Elizabeth beamed at the compliment. Satisfied to see her efforts paying off.

"Somebody help!" A shout from outside took the attention of the members of the room. "Somebody, please! My son!"

Meliodas took the lead with running out of the door, the group following behind. Even Hawk, who had been busy devouring his scraps.

The man sat on his knees, an injured child in his arms.

"Elizabeth!"

"On it!" she ran to the man, taking his son carefully in her arms. "What happened to him?"

"There's a giant red demon attacking the village we're from. My boy, he got hurt when we tried to run to safety," he watched Elizabeth heal the boy, a tear running down his cheek as he saw him begin to move. "How did you…"

"It's what she does!" Hawk informed. A proud smile on his face.

"Where did you say this demon was?" It was Ban who had gotten back onto topic.

"Our village, people were screaming with fear. I just wanted to get us out of there,"

"I can sense something not too far from here, Captain," Merlin stood, looking in the direction of the village. "I'd suggest we check it out,"

"I'll make sure these two are okay,"

"You sure, Elizabeth?" Meliodas wasn't too keen on the thought of leaving her alone. There were still five of the Commandments out there.

"She'll be fine! Besides, I'm here!"

As usual, Meliodas ignored Hawk's comment. "We'll be back soon. Merlin, think you can teleport us?"

"Of course,"

Elizabeth watched as they all teleported away. Turning her head, she smiled at the man.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. My boy seems better too. I can't thank you enough,"

"It was my pleasure," she looked sweetly at the duo. "Can I get you both a drink?"

"Please,"

Hawk watched her walk into the bar as he went and sat in front of the boy and his father.

"Ey kid, you ever seen a talking pig?"

Elizabeth pulled some glasses out from behind the bar, resting them on the counter. She was proud of what she'd accomplished today. She could hear Hawk talking to the child outside. Attempting to impress him with his fancy title. She giggled when the boy told him it wasn't a real title.

The concern came at the sound of Hawk's scream. Begging Elizabeth to run as his scream faded into the distance. She'd managed to run to the front of the counter when the door swung open.

The man in front of her looked familiar. She'd seen him before. Somewhere.

"Hello, Elizabeth,"

It took her a moment, but she remembered. Not long after returning, Meliodas told her that the man he had fought first was, in fact, his younger brother, Zeldris.

"Why are you here?"

"To take you hostage, of course."

"Ark—" her call ended in a startled yelp.

Zeldris held her wrist in one hand, and her neck in the other, slamming her against the counter. She hadn't even blinked, and he'd managed to move in front of her. She gasped for air, the hold on her neck making the natural task difficult to do.

"Make a move and I'll snap your neck, leaving you here for them to find."

He watched the glow in her hand disappear. Evidently, she was smart enough to do as she was told.

"Good girl."

Pulling her forward, he slammed the back of her head against the corner of the counter, knocking her unconscious. He stared at the blood stain sitting on the wood, satisfied with his work. Looking down at Elizabeth, he threw her over his shoulder before leaving the bar.

"Either we're becoming more than strong enough to deal with issues like that, or it was too easy," King thought aloud. Not expecting anyone to listen.

"Yeah, something about that wasn't right,"

"Well, if Ban's agreeing then there had to be something," Diane joked.

Meliodas walked in silence. Half listening to the conversation. Usually, on their arrival, Elizabeth would be at the door, greeting them. He put it down to still looking after the injured boy.

"Elizabeth, we're back!" he called as they stepped into the bar.

"Elizabeth?" Diane tried a moment later.

"Captain," Merlin's hand pointed towards the bar. "Blood."

Meliodas was at the counter in an instant, Merlin arriving next. The rest of the sins stood in the doorway, not wanting to interfere.

Meliodas was a man to never get angry. They'd only once seen him this way before. Elizabeth being kidnapped for Hendrickson's plan.

"It's hers."

"Diane. Check the room upstairs. See if she's still in here. King, Ban, you two try and find Hawk. He'd best have some answers."

"There's too little blood for it to be a serious cut, Captain."

"Doesn't change the fact she got hurt in such a short space of time."

"We will find her. Alive."

"She's not in the building," Diane informed, tears of worry washing across her eyes.

"Elizabeth is good with her healing. Should she be injured, it shouldn't be for long." Gowther explained, unknowing if it were useful or not.

Meliodas couldn't pry his eyes away from the stain. Why did he agree to leave her alone? Of course, Hawk was going to be useless in preventing anyone from harming her. He should have stayed. He should have—

"We've found Hawk. Dazed in the woods."


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