A Dish Best Served Cold,

By Ealinesse

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Final Fantasy, just the plot to this story, and a couple of painfully annoying original characters. Woohoo. ^_^

Summary: A stakeout doesn't go as planned, and the two people least happy about it are the same two who have to drop everything and work together to keep themselves alive… and sane.

Warnings: Language, (Kiwi Spelling).

Category: Action/Adventure.

Chapter Two...

Everything was cold, so painfully cold. And uncomfortable.

Was her bed made of rocks? Where were her blankets? Had she kicked them off the edge of the bed? Had she fallen asleep with them under her? Yuffie probed around with her feet for a while without opening her eyes, scavenging for her neglected furnishings until she stumbled upon two very interesting things.

She wasn't in her own bed.

And she was definitely upside down.

Yuffie groaned as she snapped her eyes open, not entirely surprised to find that she could see very little. She ignored the pounding in her head and the funny smell that seemed to assault her even as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. Eventually, vague outlines of shapes began to appear and memory came back.

Reno. The fight. The car…

The crash.

Struggling against the firm hold her seatbelt had on her ribs, Yuffie soon realised that the only way she could get out quickly and with relative ease was by unclipping the belt. She winced, imagining the landing she might have if she miscalculated how far she had to fall.

"Oh, this is going to hurt," she muttered as she closed her eyes, although there was almost nothing to hide her sight from. Counting to three silently in her head, Yuffie braced herself and pressed the small release button.

The landing was much softer than she had anticipated. And warmer. And, well… damper. She almost missed the soft grunt that was let out as she placed her arms against what was now the floor to get up. The breathy exhalation was too low to be her own. Yuffie stiffened, her eyes widening as she realised just what she'd landed on. Scrambling around in the small space, she tried to find a spot that the Turk's body didn't occupy, then knelt beside him, her hands hovering worriedly over the surprisingly still figure.

"Reno?" she tried hesitantly.

Her only answer was the dull hum of the still-running engine in the background.

"Reno?" Urgency laced her words as the scent within the car began to make itself known. Carbon dioxide. Smoke. Death.

Having had enough trouble with fires to last her a lifetime, it didn't take Yuffie long to realise what she had to do. Hoping she wasn't aggravating any injuries that Reno had – and hoping that he was still alive enough to be suffering them – she began to shake at his shoulder. She stopped when a satisfying groan rose up out of the silence. The lump that had formed in the back of her throat shrunk a little.

"Go 'way."

If it had been anyone else Yuffie would have laughed. Had it been any other time, she would have bantered back. But the fact that the car was at risk of catching fire did not appeal to her in the least.

And hadn't Reno said that they were being followed earlier?

She went back to shaking the semi-conscious Turk. "Come on, Reno. Wake up."

"No."

"Seriously! Get. Up."

There was a moment's silence.

"If I tell that you that I'm trying, would you believe me?"

"If I tell you that the car's about to catch fire and we're very close to becoming nothing more than a giant fireball in the sky, would you believe me?"

"… Only because you're bad luck."

Yuffie bit back a smirk as she watched Reno press his arms underneath him. Even in the darkness she could see the way his lanky frame shook, but without light she could only guess at what was wrong. Perhaps whatever it was, it wasn't that bad. He was moving, right?

Satisfied for the moment that Reno was making progress – however minimal - Yuffie busied herself with trying to find an exit to the car. She tried the side she was on, but the door was jammed. The windows, which she had hoped to be broken, were still painfully intact. The other side was the same.

Reno, it seemed, noticed her dilemma, and lifting a trembling arm to point toward the front windscreen, which had shattered from the fall, littering sparkling gems on the roof of the car.

"That way?"

"You bet."

Reno watched as Yuffie pulled her jacket from over her head and wrapped it around her hands before proceeding to shuffle awkwardly out of the small space. He sucked in a breath and followed, trying to ignore the blackness that was pressing through the back of his mind.

His progress was a lot slower. He had nothing to protect his hands, and the movements that were required to shimmy out of the small space were making his side jar. He bit back a hiss of pain as a particularly bad shard of glass bit into the palm of his hand. When he finally reached the outside he could just see Yuffie, standing with her hands on her hips, silhouetted eerily by the moonlight. Now that they were outside, things were a lot easier to see.

He stood slowly, relinquishing himself to the fact that he wasn't going to be getting better any time soon unless he found a Cure Materia.

"Reno?" Yuffie's voice was quiet, even in the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Are you hurt?"

Reno grimaced, shaking his head as he picked disgustedly at the blood-soaked fabric of his topic. "Not too bad."

"Sure?"

"Positive."

Reno turned and proceeded to inspect what was left intact of the car. He looked up to the top of the embankment, realising how lucky they had been to survive such a fall. Next time, though, he was going to look more carefully for things that would puncture their tyres.

Absently, he felt around the area of his injury, frowning when he realised that the bum-bag Rude had given him earlier was missing. He looked to the car, realising that it must have somehow come undone during the crash. He peered closer, wincing when he realised the only way in was under the car's upturned bonnet, and back through the way they came.

Decisively, Reno walked up to the side of the car and tried the door, cursing when it wouldn't open. He aimed a kick at what would normally have been the base of the door, but felt it instead impact – and then go straight through – what could only have been the passenger window.

Ignoring the mindlessness of his own actions, and the steady stream of smoke that was beginning to pour from under the bonnet of the car, Reno crouched carefully and reached inside, scavenging through the mess in an effort to find his bag.

"What's the matter?" came Yuffie's voice from beside him.

"My bag's still in the car," he ground out. Finally his hand closed around something, and he allowed himself a satisfied smile.

He got quickly to his feet, about to comment to Yuffie when a distant light on the road began to come closer. His eyes widened, and he turned to face Yuffie. It seemed she had noticed it as well.

"Is it them?"

They watched silently for another few minutes before realising that the vehicle above them was indeed slowing. He glanced at Yuffie out of the corner of his eye, and as the car slowed and pulled over he could clearly see the quizzical look in her eye.

"Run?" was all she said, pointing inelegantly to the thick cover of bush that ran all the way along the road.

"Run," he confirmed.

They turned and fled without a word, trying to cover their tracks with silence as the bushes whipped and cracked cruelly at them as they sprinted headlong for cover.

* * * * *

Yuffie pushed a branch out of her road as they trudged through the dense thicket of underbrush, letting it go abruptly as soon as it was out of her way. This hapless task was followed quickly by another, and another as she grew more and more frustrated.

"What if they were emergency services?" she said abruptly. "What if they saw the crash and came after us?"

Reno caught yet another branch just in time to stop it from taking off his head as it flicked rebelliously back to the position it had grown in. He scowled. "We were on a back road, Yuffie. Only service trucks use it during the daytime. Do you really think that, conveniently, there's going be any way in hell someone would see it?"

"One could only hope," Yuffie grumbled.

They fell silent again for a time, and both were left alone with their thoughts. Yuffie flicked another branch out of her way with a negligent swipe of her arm, even as another one spitefully reached out and grazed her ear. She muffled a curse but refuted her right to complain moments later. Silence was golden.

Or, at least to her it was.

There was a stifled gasp from behind her and Yuffie stopped abruptly just as something bumped into her back.

"Keep walking!"

"Watch where you're going!"

Both shut their mouths, and consequently, the first one to speak was the first one to recover.

"Well I would watch where I was going if I didn't have to worry so much about being attacked by branches – especially ones that are being pulled back and flicked at me on purpose!" Reno hissed through clenched teeth.

Yuffie winced, turning around on the spot. The sparse moonlight that filtered through the trees only allowed her a faint glimpse of Reno's silhouette, but even then she could see the way he gingerly held his side. Had the branch caught him that badly? A bumbled apology found its way onto her lips and she turned to leave… Only to have something whip painfully at the back of her legs.

She spun around on her heel, ignoring the loud crunching sound as dried leaves crackled under her foot.

"Did you really have to do that?"

A brief flash of white teeth in the darkness was her only reply.

Their banter was interrupted by a sudden flash of light, and they both froze.

"Lightning?" Yuffie whispered hopefully.

"On a warm, clear night?"

"…"

"In the Junon district?"

Yuffie sighed, realising that even though the torches were still a good distance away, that they were inevitably being chased. Through trees. Evil, whipping trees.

This was definitely not how she'd planned to spend her night.

"Run?" she asked wearily.

There was a moment's pause.

"Run," Reno replied after a minute, though they weren't able to do so for more than a metre at a time thanks to the dense underbrush.

* * * * *

It was becoming imminently clear that whoever was out in the darkness was catching up on them. And it wasn't just because they were travelling slow. Right now – trying to hide or not – Reno would have given anything for a torch. If only to be given that infinitesimal split-seconds' extra notice that it would give him - especially when it came to those branches that just kept leaping out of nowhere.

"I swear, when I get to Junon I'm going to make sure Reeve burns down every goddamned forest on the planet," Reno mumbled under his breath.

"If we get to Junon. If."

Reno scowled. "My, aren't we positive this fine evening."

"It's all part and parcel, really."

Reno didn't bother to answer. He knew she'd elaborate - the words 'shut up' weren't really in her vocabulary. Not that he minded right now. Her words washed over him in a syrupy wave, and sounded like they were coming at him through a wall of molasses even though she was just in front of him. Perhaps it was because he was having a hard time staying conscious. Perhaps not.

"Makes perfect sense that everything would go wrong when I meet back up with you. You are a Turk after all."

Reno muffled a derisive snort. "Well we can't all be Wutaian royalty, now can we? Not everyone is that… lucky."

Yuffie ignored the glib remark. "Jealous, Turk?"

"Never," Reno replied smoothly. "Being at the bottom of the food chain has its advantages."

"Oh?"

"Oh."

Yuffie smirked as she let go of a branch. "So you don't regret killing all the people you've killed just so long as you can have alcohol to rot your liver?"

Yuffie distinctly heard the footsteps cease behind her. Unconsciously she sucked in her breath. That remark had been uncalled for. Perhaps she had saved his ass tonight, but that by no means scratched the surface of what he had done from her three months before. And perhaps her night had been ruined by their chance meeting, but he certainly wasn't enjoying it either, she was sure.

She stood waiting, knowing that if she wanted to she could have cut the tension in the air with her shuriken. When his voice finally came out of the darkness, Yuffie paled. The frightfully sober reply had been nothing like what she had thought he would finally say.

"Ever wonder why?"

"S-sorry?"

"I said, ever wonder why I drink." The words were followed by the abrupt continuation of footsteps, and the sound of a sigh teetering on the edge of her lips as Reno pushed past her.

She stood motionless for a second, frozen by the words that had just been spoken. Was it true that one Reno the Turk had just kicked up a stink…

And won?

Yuffie followed behind him, feeling strangely like she deserved the branches that whipped venomously out at her.

'… What the hell just happened?'

* * * * *

Now that was smooth…

Reno growled angrily as he swiped out at a branch.

Where the hell did that come from?

And another.

Don't tell me you're angry. She was just being smart.

Since when was he even capable of getting angry?

… No more so than you were being, I might add.

What the hell was this…

Feel good… ?

He winced as he heard a small gasp from behind him, and unconsciously ducked the next branch instead of swiping it away.

Perhaps he could just chalk it all down to a bad day…

… and the fact that he was pissed that his side had started bleeding again.

'Why don't I just curse myself for being human?'

All the while the voice continued its droll, beleaguering tirade.

Human? My, what a strange misperception…!

'Watch it, Donovan…' he countered. 'Your time will come.'

* * * * *

How late was it, Yuffie wondered, for she truly had no idea. Their ceaseless, dogged pace was nothing more than a mirror image of their temperament. She no longer had any idea if they were even going in the right direction. She now more than realised that if she was going to figure out any of that they were going to have to get out of here – and away from the men that were closing in on them. Fast.

Yuffie spared a moment to curse the heavy oppressiveness of the dense woods. She had grown up in Wutai, and sure, there there were forests aplenty. But never had she spent so long in the one place. At least at home she had known where she was going. And that the forests at home did, in fact, actually have an end.

She felt like she should be leaving a trail of breadcrumbs…

She cast a hopeless glance around her, hoping futily that some sign would show itself – that somehow the end of the forest would suddenly reveal itself and all would be well. It was then that she noticed a second light closing in beside them.

Yuffie stopped dead in her tracks. "Look left," she muttered tersely as the Turk turned to face her questioningly.

"… Fuck."

"I don't really need to say it this time, do I?"

Despite himself, Reno snorted. "No, you really, really don't. Just do it."

They ran as light-footed as their heavy boots would allow them, and dodged every branch they could. Silently, Yuffie cursed the way Murphy's law worked against them, and how the wood only got thicker. And harder. And less giving.

And then it hit her, literally.

Yuffie reeled backward momentarily as a branch struck her in the face. She was going to curse Reno for flicking the branch in her direction, but all too soon she didn't even notice the pain in her head. All she saw as she looked up – and up – was the vague silhouette of the rather ominous pine with plentiful branches… and cover.

Of course!

"Reno," she whispered, pointing. "I've got it!"

Doubt was barely concealed in what she could see of Reno's eyes. "A pine tree."

"Yes."

"We're going to hide. In the forest. In a pine tree. Where they're looking."

"Why not?" Yuffie added defensively. "There's no way they'll see all the way to the top."

Reno seemed to weigh this option for a moment. "Fine," he finally agreed, and Yuffie thought he must have been pretty anxious himself to agree with it.

Yuffie's jaw nearly unhinged itself. "Fine? That's it?"

"Don't push it, Yuff, it's been a bad day. What difference is it going to make if I fall out of a tree?"

Yuffie smirked and began to pull herself up, only to realise that the branches she so desperately wanted to reach were too high for her. She let out a breath, realising that perhaps this was going to be a little more difficult than it looked. After a few more tries, she scowled. One foot, that was all she needed. One more lousy foot. How the hell was she supposed to grow that much taller in a few minutes?

"Need a little help?" came a smug voice from above her.

Yuffie looked up, her eyes widening as a familiar figure stretched a long arm down to dangle just above her head.

"How the hell…"

"Ah, so she does."

Numbly, Yuffie outstretched her arm to meet that of Reno's, who had already clambered up to the low-lying branches at the base of the tree. It was a matter of seconds before she was also up, and she hurriedly leapt upward into the further reaches of the pine.

Damn it, Reno was not supposed to beat her at her own game…

* * * * *

Reno winced at the pull of Yuffie's weight on his arm. She was a lot heavier than he'd expected her to be, although somehow he managed it. As she wriggled up past him on the branches he began to sat up, but felt a sudden, piercing pain in his side more fierce than it had been before. Almost unconsciously he sucked in his breath and pushed himself up with more caution, leaning himself against the trunk for a moment as he fought to gain his breath.

A muffled rustling sounded above him.

"Reno!" he heard Yuffie hiss. "Hurry up!"

Running a hand over his face in frustration, Reno pulled himself unsteadily to his feet, more than prepared for the wave of nausea he knew would come. It didn't. He made his way to what he deemed to be a safe enough height, where the branches were still thick enough to hold them, and the cover was relative to the height.

Finally able to rest, Reno felt himself sink onto a web of clustered branches, and laid his head back against the trunk, feeling the already tangled strands of his hair catch on the rough bark. Strangely though, despite the discomfort he was in, he felt restful – almost sleepy. He closed his eyes with a sigh, drowning out the voice that came from beside him, and let his body relax.

It didn't take long for unconsciousness to find him now that his adrenaline was gone, and this time as he slipped sideways Reno didn't even bother to fight it.

* * * * *

Yuffie's eyes widened as Reno began to pitch sideways, and she lunged forward to catch him moments before he fell. The branch she was perched on creaked loudly under the unexpected weight. She didn't have time to muffle so much as a curse when the torches that had been no more than a few hundred metres away suddenly spun in their direction.

Not knowing how she did it, Yuffie held onto Reno, eventually pulling him as quietly as she could back into a relatively upright position – 'upright' being a generalised term, as long as Reno stayed in the tree and didn't fall the forty-or-so feet to the ground they'd be fine, it didn't matter what way he was lying.

As the light grew ever-closer to them, Yuffie found herself biting her lip and hoping like hell that whatever was wrong with Reno would stay wrong long enough for the men coming towards them to move away. The last thing she wanted was to have to fight outnumbered just because Reno woke up at the wrong moment.

As if the thought provoked the words a low moan sounded next to her. She started before realising that the sound was coming from Reno. Stifling a curse, Yuffie sucked in her breath, hoping like hell he wouldn't move or make any sound for a while.

He did, spiting her even in unconsciousness.

The torches that had moments ago swung away from them returned and she clamped a shivering hand over his mouth, strangely relieved when she saw the glazed aquamarine pools open with the touch. "Just fine, huh?" she mouthed silently as Reno's curious gaze found hers.

Reno's only response was to close his eyes and slump against her.

Yuffie froze, suddenly not caring who was coming after them. She shook Reno's shoulder roughly, fervently berating herself for hoping he would stay silent for longer. Whatever was wrong with Reno was obviously something serious. When he didn't respond to her aggravation, her face paled even more to the point that she was sure she no longer had any colour.

Yuffie thought back, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He hadn't been hurt, had he? Then she remembered the way his hand had rested against his side the entire time they'd been driving, the way he'd avoided her question when she'd asked him if he was fine. When she'd struck his side with the branch earlier on… And finally, the sound of the gun going off in the darkness of the alley. Her mind unconsciously put two and two together.

Yuffie fervently cursed her stupidity. How the hell had she not seen it before? Leaning over as carefully as she could, Yuffie struggled to balance both Reno's and her own weight on the network of branches they were resting on. Holding her breath against any sound she might make, she began to search for the problem.

It didn't take her long. By merely placing her hand against Reno's side she could feel the crisp outer-edges of the wound's area, where blood had dried and made the fabric stiff. But it wasn't that part that worried her. Further across the shirt was damp, fresh blood that flowed sluggishly between her fingers even as she found it. In the darkness she could only begin to imagine how bad the injury was, or where the exact location of the wound was, though a swelling on Reno's side was enough to give her the general vicinity. The one thing she did know, though, was that there was too much blood.

Tentatively, she put a little pressure on the wound in hopes of stopping the bleeding, but the pained grunt that came out of the silence was more than enough to tell her to stop. What would have normally been a small sound echoed frightfully throughout the woods. Voices answered the unconscious call, and whole words began to come out of the night, eventually complete sentences followed.

'Nice move, Yuff,' she berated herself. 'A flashing neon light would also be just as useful…'

She cast a hasty glance toward the beacon of light coming toward them, then looked back to Reno. She couldn't say, but it appeared that the bullet was still in the wound. If that was the case, then she needed to get it out. But first, she needed to see, and for that she needed light…

As the torches again completed an ark in their direction Yuffie felt her mind swarm with possible outcomes of any confrontation. As it was she would be the only one fighting, and how was she supposed to keep Reno hidden and come out on top at the same time? She certainly had the element of surprise, though there was no doubt the men knew where they were now. Slowly, a plan began to form in her mind. Granted, it wasn't much of a plan, more of a 'jump out of the tree and land on as many as you can' kind of affair, but it was better than being shot out of said tree.

As the voices grew closer and Reno's breathing grew more laboured, she waited, hoping like hell that none of them were overly trigger happy, but then knowing that by the gunshots echoing in the alley earlier in the evening, she was asking for a bit much.

Inevitably, as time moved on, the men moved closer to them, and she felt her nerve waver. But then she thought of how heavy Reno was, and how carrying him back to Junon – or through this godforsaken forest – was less than appealing. She remembered how heavy he was. And how lazy. Better to get shot, then. So she sat back against the tree, and watched, and waited.

She didn't know what it actually was that propelled her out of the tree. But she did know that when the torch finally reached her, and swept upward so only she could be seen, that she merely acted. When she finally made impact with the ground she felt her ankle roll out underneath her, but ignored the pain that shot through it like wildfire – she had taken out two men along with her foot. Not a bad start.

She kept fighting, though in the darkness it was a mere guessing game. A punch there, silence. A second punch followed by a string of imminent curses. A flick of the wrist, a sickening crack. Somewhere along the line a tentative swipe with a knife allowed a blade to ghost across her cheek; that was hastily dealt with. It didn't take her long to figure out what worked and what didn't. It also didn't take long for her enemy to find their holstered guns.

A sudden blinding flash was preceded by the painfully familiar click of a gun, and she froze mid-spin as a torch was directed into her eyes. The safety was off, this was serious.

"Don't move."

"Wouldn't dream of it," she muttered as her hands were seized by a firm grip and pinned behind her back.

The light was directed away from her and she allowed her eyes to adjust to the darkness. From her position she could see three men, not including the one holding her. Four lay on the ground in blissful oblivion. She smirked, proud. Not bad for blind shots.

"Where's Reno?"

She dragged her gaze up as one of the men stepped forward. Play stupid. No idea. "Pardon?"

An open fist was quick to crack across her face, and she winced as she felt a cut on her lip begin to bleed. That was going to leave a mark.

"Don't get smart. Where is he?"

She let a bitter scowl creep across her face. Resentment. Anger. "You tell me."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Means that I've no idea."

"You're lying."

"I'm not, honest!"

"Where, is he?"

"I-I don't know!"

The man raised his free hand and made as if to slap her again. Yuffie flinched back and made as if to cower in fear. Let them think they were in control. Let them think she was weak. She struggled weakly against the grip that held her. She let her previously arrogant facial expression melt away like ice in a desert.

"P-please don't hurt me! L-leave me alone!"

The man in front ignored her plea. "Where is he?"

"I-I don't know."

"Don't lie to me."

"Why w-would I lie to you if I had a gun pointed at my f-face?"

"You're certain, then."

"H-he said it'd be better to split up. I opened my mouth to reply and he was already gone. T-told me I moved through the forest too loudly. Apparently, that's true. T-tried to follow him but couldn't hear anything p-past m-my own feet. Haven't seen him since."

The gun lowered a little, the man's expression doubtful, but less so than before. "I don't believe you."

She snorted ruefully, bitter. "Believe what you want, then." She paused, then added somewhat negligently, "But this direction won't get you anywhere, just lost. Been going round in circles for the past century. Reno also told me I'm hopeless with directions."

"She's right, you know," came a voice behind the leader. "They haven't exactly picked a direction at all. There's no pattern to it."

The man at the front frowned in thought, then turned to the others. "We need to find him. If he's not here, then where is he?"

"They did report noises in their quarter coming from the south. Voices, not animals."

"You're sure?"

"Want me to contact 'em?"

A nod of concurrence. "If he's back there then he may have slipped between us. If so we have to catch him before he makes the main road. If so, we don't have long. We've got to go."

As the second group of men was radioed in Yuffie made a mental note to allow herself a small pat on the back later on. But that thought was quickly forsaken for eye-popping fear when the leader gestured toward her in their direction and one of the other men produced a set of handcuffs and a short length of rope.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing with that?" She had expected them to try and drag her along with them, and that way she'd at least be able to jump them later on. Take them by surprise again at the very least. But now…

"Just what you asked for. We're leaving you alone."

"But aren't you going to take me with-"

"Now, now, miss," leered the leader as the handcuffs were fastened to the rope, and in turn her hands to the cuffs. Her back was pressed flush against the tree they'd tied her to and she was fastened there with a second piece of rope. She struggled for real this time, and was rewarded with a second slap to the same cheek. "I don't know who you are, but I expect you to be compliant. Wouldn't want parts of your pretty little face splattered all over the place because you tried to escape while we were around, now would you?"

"I-I… "

"I didn't think so." He turned away. "Check the injured, see who can travel and who can't. Deal with them if they can't. Then we leave. If Reno gets away I don't want to be the one to have to tell Donovan."

Checking the injured consisted of a quick check of the pulse and a prod with a booted toe. If the man woke upon the brief prompting then he was given a chance to stand, and a chance to return. If not, he was, well… disposed off.

Yuffie cringed as yet another shot went off somewhere beyond her line of sight, and ducked her head. This wasn't turning out at all liked she'd hoped. All she wanted was a goddamned torch, and instead she was bound and tied to a tree, with no room to breathe. She looked sourly up at the man she had long ago begun to hate and held his cold gaze for a long moment.

The man laughed. "There's no need to scowl at me, girl. I know when I'm giving a good deal, and when I'm not. And this one be good, so don't worry yourself. If your direction is as bad as you say, then I'm sure you'll be able to return to this very spot a number of times."

Yuffie pushed aside her urge to snap at the man. Her cheek was sore enough as it was. Instead she replaced her anger with a mask of fear. "I – w-what will you do with Reno when you find him?"

And although she knew Reno was as safe above her as he was ever going to be Yuffie couldn't help the chill that ran down her spine at the words.

"Oh, you don't need to worry yourself with that, girl. Reno's got a wee reunion with our boss that's been a while in coming, and Donovan is long past ready to make up for lost time."

And as they left she couldn't help but wonder, would she have been better to have stayed in the tree and been shot, or not?

* * * * *

To all my reviewers: Thank you so much for your comments! Like most authors around here I live off feedback, whether good, the bad, or the ugly. See you next chapter (which will not be too far away…) ^_^