AN: Because the last chapter was so short I wrote another one just for you. :) please enjoy my lovelies. (And again, I apologise for the gun scenes, I have no idea whether it's realistic or not as these scenes are mostly guess work. I can find nothing that talks about using guns on moving boats in a rough sea…sorry about that)
Sirius squinted through the salt spray that stung every inch of his exposed skin, he could feel his eyes burning where the water had got into them but forced the discomfort aside as he took aim at the lead boat, he had no wish to kill anyone, after all, these men were only mostly doing their jobs and he had no grudge against them, he only hoped that they could swim. He propped one foot against the back of the boat and pressed the trigger. The boat he had aimed at seemed to freeze as it bounced through the waves, the men inside it had time to widen their eyes before the engine exploded. Sirius watched them all dive over the sides and into the relative safety of the churning sea. He was unaware of the mad grin that split his face as he cocked the gun again and waited for the next boat to appear.
Remus heard the explosion and fought the urge to turn around, he could only hope that Sirius wasn't killing anyone. Most of the men he had worked with were simply people trying to make a living, they didn't deserve to die. He winced as once again there was an explosion immediately followed by a loud crow of laughter from Sirius. "Be careful back there!" Remus shouted over the noise, a frown marring his forehead as the wind and rain and sea spray whipped his voice right from his lips as he swerved to avoid a large outcropping of rocks. Sirius very nearly lost his balance just as a bullet whizzed past his face, he waved his arms desperately as he attempted to right himself without letting go of his gun, when he was finally steady again he turned and fired a few more rounds at his pursuers. "Sirius! I see land!" Remus cried, hoping that Sirius heard his warning before they beached themselves.
Sirius spun on the spot, dropping to the deck as another round of bullets flew around him, he managed to squeeze his way back to the front beside Remus and peer out over the edge front of the boat, his eyes widened as he spotted the shore looming out of the mist like a shadowy giant. After a seconds hesitation he grabbed the back of Remus' head and pushed it down so that it was nearly in his lap, with his free hand he covered his own head and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
Their boat leapt through the waves like a huge, white dolphin. For a split second they were in the air, flying above the water before they finally landed with a gut wrenching crash and a huge splash of wet sand. The boat skidded sideways over the small beach before finally coming to rest on its side and spilling its occupants out onto the beach. Sirius lay still, his chest heaving as he tried to get his breath back, he could hear Remus coughing and gagging as he tried to clear his mouth of salt water and grit. Slowly Sirius forced his eyes open as the noise of approaching boats sent more adrenaline pumping through his exhausted body, he rolled onto all fours, ensuring he remained hidden by the bulk of their own stolen boat before crawling towards Remus. "Follow me and keep low." He hissed as he moved over to a small pile of scattered weaponry, he armed himself, choosing smaller, easier to hide guns. He shoved two into his belt and turned to hand one to Remus who held it as if it was going to bite him. "Just stick it in your belt for now." Sirius hissed rapidly, a frown of irritation on his face. "I'll teach you how to use it later. Come on." He waved a hand and Remus did as he was told before following.
They kept themselves hidden for as long as possible, crawling around and over rocks, sticking to the shadow of the cliffs. Sirius felt the sharp rocks tear open his trousers, his skin and his palms were grazed and bloody. He could hear Remus' heavy breathing at his back and continued to check his stolen guns, paranoid that he would lose them and be caught weaponless. Although he was proficient in Judo, ju-jitsu and kick boxing he hated to be weaponless, it made him feel vulnerable. He continued to turn back and check on Remus' progress, he had assumed the man would be unable to keep up with him but obviously he had been wrong. Remus had a frown of determination on his dirty, tired looking face and Sirius' admiration for him grew ten-fold. He smiled grimly to himself as he reached an area of cliff that looked as if it would be easiest to climb; there was no other way up. He turned to Remus. "We have to go up now; this is the lowest point in the cliff face, if we don't do it now we'll never get up there." He whispered in a low voice. He watched Remus' eyes move to the cliff face, his face paled beneath his covering of sand and dirt and he swallowed.
"Really? It's very high up."
"We have no choice, unless you'd like to go back and apologise to the guards." He arched an eyebrow imperiously.
"I could always tell them you forced me to do it." Remus growled in return and Sirius flashed him a wide smirk, grey eyes sparkling with badly suppressed glee. "You're loving this, aren't you?"
"Oh yeah." Sirius breathed, his tongue darting between his lips as his eyes sparkled in excitement behind his sopping wet hair. "This is the stuff I live for."
Remus smiled and shook his head in exasperation, he didn't fully understand Sirius but he had to admit that the man was exciting. Sirius had a way of making even the most dangerous stunts seem fun and exhilarating rather than just plain stupid. He made Remus feel alive as he never had before, as if his whole life previously had been little more than a side-show and now it was really beginning. Sirius Black made him feel as if life was really something worth living rather than something to be struggled through, a monotonous train of the same things over and over until you died, unfulfilled and lonely. He watched as Sirius turned to face the cliff, moving into a low crouch before grasping the first handholds and hoisting himself off of the ground. His boots scrabbled at the rock face before finally finding purchase, Remus watched him climb before following him. Below them the beach lay like a crescent moon made entirely of sand, Remus forced himself to only look up at Sirius' feet, even though occasionally he would send debris raining down into his face. He could feel the height calling to him, a siren song of death and he ignored it, forcing his limbs to work even as they ached with exhaustion. He gritted his teeth and watched as Sirius' fingers finally reached the cliff top, he sighed softly to himself in relief before a coarse shout echoed up to them from the sand below, Remus risked looking down and spotted a group of guards stood below them, one of which had a gun aimed at them. He felt a sickening jolt somewhere in the region of his stomach just as a loud bang shattered the morning silence, he winced and heard a sudden cry of pain above him. Sirius slipped, causing a small avalanche of small stones to fall onto Remus' head and shoulders, he gasped as Sirius' boot nearly hit him in the side of the head. Terror hit him like a cold knife in the heart as it leapt into his throat, his eyes widened as Sirius struggled to regain his balance, swearing and grunting as he somehow managed to regain his footing.
Remus sighed softly when Sirius finally pulled himself up onto the cliff top, he followed him slowly and heard the angry shouts from below. Cool grass brushed his finger tips and he felt a firm, hot hand grip his wrist and he was pulled up onto the safety of the cliff. He lay still, panting heavily and wincing at a sharp stabbing pain in his side, his eyes squeezed shut tightly. The cool rain soothed his burning skin, his fingers tingled from the strain he had put on them but he was alive. His chest still heaved with each breath, his bruised body still worked. Finally he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, it was grey and the fine, misty rain was oddly pleasant.
"Come on, get up. We can't stop here." Sirius grunted from where he stood, Remus sighed heavily and managed, somehow, to haul himself upright. With Sirius' help he stood up and they began to move off in a seemingly random direction. Before them the rolling highlands stretched on in a seemingly endless landscape of hills, scrub and heather. The wind up here was sharp and cold and Remus felt it keenly, he shivered and watched as Sirius stumbled a little. "Are you alright?"
Sirius looked at him over his shoulder and smiled grimly. "Fine. Just keep moving, we don't have time to stop." He moved onward, refusing to be lured into anymore conversation.
They walked for what felt like miles, Remus had to force himself not keep asking where they were going or if there was a specific location. He concentrated on placing one foot before the other as the morning slowly turned into afternoon, the sun finally made a brief appearance between bouts of rain, it highlighted some of the most stunning scenery Remus had ever seen. Even in his exhaustion he couldn't help but appreciate the raw beauty surrounding him, he hadn't paid much attention to it the first time he had travelled this way, but then he had been in a car. There were no visible roads or pathways, Sirius seemed to be leading them further and further into the middle of nowhere until finally Remus could stand it no longer. "Where are we going?" He asked.
"A place I know of. It's not much but it's most likely to be deserted." Sirius replied, his voice sounding oddly strained, Remus frowned in concern as he once again noted the odd way he was walking, leaning slightly to one side.
A few more hours passed, the only indication of the passage of time was the movement of their shadows. Remus lifted his head and blinked around, ahead of them was a tiny little cottage. It was nestled in amongst some wind battered trees in a low gully. Its clean white paint stood out brightly against the mostly green scenery, Remus felt his heart cry out in joy when Sirius began making his way towards it. They began to follow an obvious path at last and Remus was unwittingly impressed by Sirius' sense of direction even in the midst of landscape that seemed to look exactly the same. They reached the winding stone path that led to the cottages front door when suddenly Sirius collapsed with an agonised grunt.
Remus ran to his side, falling to his knees before him and lifting his head so their eyes met. "What's wrong?" He gasped.
Sirius shook his head and attempted to stand, Remus steadied him with a firm hand on his shoulder. "We need to get to…to that house…" Sirius muttered through gritted teeth, he was keeping one arm wrapped firmly around his waist and Remus frowned.
"You're injured aren't you?" He asked, trying to pull Sirius' arm away from his body. "Show me where you're hurt!"
"No!" Sirius snapped, yanking himself out of Remus' hands with a growl. "We can't afford to stop until we get to safety! I'll deal with it when we're under cover, for now it'll have to be left alone."
Remus frowned angrily. "Ok then, just lean on me. I'll act as a crutch until we get to the house where I might be able to patch you up. However, if you die on me I'll kill you."
Sirius managed to snort laughter, even though he was swaying where he stood. His face was as white as a sheet but he still forced a grin onto his face. "You have a deal, Remus."
Remus nodded firmly and slipped under Sirius' arm, together they began making their slow way down the path and towards relative safety.
The cottage was empty but cosy. The door was painted a soft green colour that matched the surrounding countryside, the windows were old fashioned and lead-lined. Remus could see net curtains and pretty little window boxes filled to bursting with a bright array of flowers, Sirius gazed at the door a moment before lifting a foot and kicking it. It took two hard strikes to break the flimsy lock and force the door inwards, Sirius stepped inside, ducking under the low door way and into the dark hall way. Remus followed him, ensuring that he was close enough to catch him if he fell. Sirius paused in the corridor and looked around with dark, emotionless eyes. The hall was bedecked in paintings and photographs, some depicting a family with two sons and others only showing one boy. Sirius moved on, ignoring Remus' attempts at conversation until they reached the tiny living room, there was a fireplace and several green leather sofas. Sirius fell into one of these with a groan; Remus watched and noticed for the first time that his shaking hands were covered in crimson blood. It stained his shirt in a rapidly widening circle of colour.
Sirius tore off his shirt with a pained grunt to reveal his well toned chest and, in his lower abdomen, a large bullet hole. Remus gasped, eyes widening as he fell to his knees and bent to examine the wound. "When did this happen?!" He exclaimed in horror.
"When we were climbing, I nearly fell. Ah! The fuckers got me good!"
"You're lost a lot of blood…" Remus looked up into Sirius' white face, his eyes looked out at him from dark rings. He looked almost feverish. "I'll get the fire started, heat some water up and clean this wound…I…I will probably have to do a botch operation…" He paused, biting down hard on his bottom lip as he looked into Sirius' face. "I can't guarantee that you'll survive. If the bullet is lodged in the bone you could end up with Septicaemia or something…I…I've never done anything like this before. Really, we need a hospital."
"Oh yeah, that'll look good won't it! I'll just go into one and say; Hey! I'm a convicted murderer and was shot attempting to escape, please get this bullet out of me before I die and don't call the police, please." Sirius managed the snarky comment through gritted teeth and even, somehow, managed a sneer.
"Look, I'm only telling you the facts. I don't want to lie to you. I'm not a trained surgeon! This could go horribly wrong! I could even sever an artery if one hasn't been severed already, or I could end up maiming you in some awful way! This isn't a child's game, it's serious!"
Sirius smirked. "No…I'm Sirius." He muttered and winced when Remus pressed down unnecessarily hard on his wound. "Ow!"
"Enough of the shitty puns." Remus growled and stood up. "You obviously know this place; is there any alcohol here?"
"Y-Yeah…in the cupboard over there…" Sirius lifted an arm and waved it vaguely in the direction of a dark wooden drinks cabinet; Remus moved over to it and yanked it open. It was well stocked with expensive looking drink, bottles that were so old they had gathered a good coating of dust. He removed a bottle of whiskey, it was appropriate since they were in Scotland after all, and returned to Sirius' side.
"I'm going to get some water and a bowl, some cloths and everything else I'll need. Don't move a muscle." Remus warned and moved off out into the hall, Sirius watched him go and set to opening the bottle. After a few moments of shaking hands and muttered curses he managed to get it open, he upended it and downed most of it in a few hard swallows. He winced and gasped, eyes watering as it burned its way down his throat. He lowered the bottle and his eyes swept the familiar room before landing upon a photograph depicting two boys of about twelve and thirteen years of age sat in the exact arm chair he was sat in, they were wearing identical outfits of shirts, blazers and smart trousers, topped off with very similar grins. The bottle paused before it reached his lips again as Sirius remembered the picture being taken, one holiday so many years ago. He remembered his mother berating him for not sitting still, his brother poking him with his elbow and him unable to prevent the giggles from escaping as he had been tickled. He smiled weakly and closed his eyes against the onrush of intense emotions. The bottle fell to the floor with a muffled thud, liquid poured out to stain the ancient green and grey rug as Sirius' form lay limply in the chair, his hand dangling over the edge of the arm chair and his fingers brushing the rapidly emptying bottle.
