There wasn't much time.

"I can't just stay here," Elliot said. He was standing in the darkness, seeing only the outline of Mr. Robot by the light peeking in through the window. "We need to get out of the city. It won't be safe."

Mr. Robot let out a laugh. "That's an understatement. Won't be easy, though."

Elliot looked around the apartment. He didn't know what he would need or even where to go. He had lived in a city his entire life. What was it someone took with them when the world was ending? Really ending, not just financial accounts disappearing into the technical ether.

He didn't have much. Most New Yorkers didn't. But he grabbed his backpack and after dropping his laptop and a battery pack inside he stuffed it with all the snacks he had left in his apartment.

Flipper barked.

And dog food, though he realized it was a bit heavy. Still, he couldn't give her a bunch of human snacks. It was a reminder that he would need to find real food later.

Another car crashed outside his window. It could have been because the power was now out in the city, though he didn't really know why, or because people were getting anxious. The news had said that the nuclear fallout wouldn't drift towards New York, but out to sea.

Even so, there was no guarantee that Manhattan wouldn't be the next target – other big cities had been targeted, and while Elliot had a good idea why Washington Township had been targeted he knew that most assumed it was been a misfire.

Elliot slipped the backpack over his shoulders and scooped up Flipper.

"You can't just go out there like that," Mr. Robot said. "A man and a small dog? You're a target."

Mr. Robot walked over to the kitchenette and rifled through the drawers. He pulled out a single steak knife and frowned.

"This is the best you've got?" Mr. Robot shook his head, but walked over to the bed and tore off a section of cloth to wrap the blade. He handed it to Elliot, who pocketed it in his hoodie.

He turned back to look at his apartment, one last time, hoping that in a few days or weeks he could return and finish what he started.

But maybe that was the problem.

"To think, a few nights ago everything had been set right again," he said. Not everyone had been happy, the stock market had dipped a little, but Evil Corp had made an announcement that all debts would go through reconciliation through the courts in batches, instead of honored at once. Elliot knew it was because they did not want to give up E-Coin, but it was a promising start. "Now it's gone to shit."

Elliot and Mr. Robot walked out onto the street, and he looked both ways before crossing the street. Flipper wanted down, but Elliot didn't feel safe having her far from him, even on a leash. People were running up and down the street in preparation of a mass evacuation.

Traffic was congested, and even though people had grown used to driving due to the brown outs from before, the panic had set in.

He needed to find Darlene.

With Flipper in one arm and his phone in the next he kept dialing, hoping she would pick up.

But twenty minutes and three diner haunts later Elliot's anxiety got the best of him. New York was large, and Darlene could be anywhere. He didn't have enough time to cover all the ground he knew she could be at, let alone all the places she went to he didn't even know about.

Elliot looked at his phone.

"Don't do it kid," Mr. Robot said. "You can't trust him. He'll betray you, like he did with that girl."

Elliot did his best to drown out his alter, and dialed the number he knew belonged to Fernando Vera.

It didn't even make it to the second ring before he heard the man's voice on the other line… as if he had been waiting for Elliot to call.

Because he was, he thought, addressing his imaginary friend. Ever since he came back to the city and wanted to work together, he's been waiting for me to agree.

That night, when Elliot had pressed enter and leaned back in his chair with the weight of the world off his shoulders his earned peace did not last… because Darlene had come home with a visitor.

He had gone to the door. He didn't look through the peephole like he usually did, because he recognized the pattern of knocks Darlene always gave and was eager to share with her what he had just done.

But when he opened the door and saw her standing there with Vera behind her, his heart wrenched.

Not again, he had thought, believing she was in trouble.

But that hadn't been the case. Vera had been waiting for Elliot's return to pledge his support, determining that he had been behind the fsociety hacks. It had bothered Elliot then that the only person not involved with the hacks who believed in Mobley and Trenton's innocence was the man who had killed his girlfriend.

Elliot had wanted to ignore Vera for the rest of his life… even considering tipping off the police about his location. But he didn't want a repeat of what happened to Shayla so soon after rescuing Darlene.

"I need your help," Elliot said into the phone. "I need you to find someone for me."

Author Notes

Yes, this fan fiction is canon compliant with season three, which is why I included the spoiler warning since the first chapter.

Thanks for reading! I hope you look forward to the next chapter.