A/N: Ahhhh, I wanted to get a chapter of this up forever ago, but I keep on getting sidetracked. And with school back in session, I'm getting less time to write. So I'll update as much as I can when I can. Anyways, onto the story. Kevin's POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kevin. I own pretty much everyone else. Except for Gwen where she's mentioned.


'And we're all starin'
Down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you,
What would you wish you would've done?'
~'Live Like We're Dying', Kris Allen

Out

"Alright," said Mandy as Melody was about to wrap up the phone call to Bryce. "He's got the list of things I wanted." Her chocolate eyes were watching me and Carson. "As soon as I get my material, I'll be busy with my rigs. When I finish up with that, I'll need you boys to start planting them so we can trace it since the abductions don't really follow suit with Knight operations. That, and all of these guys had gang ties with turf wars."

"Outside of Knight territory," I added, holding up a few sheets. "They're not too much of a problem at this point. Kidnappings might involve the Knights, but odds are good that it's irrelevant."

Melody flipped her phone shut and crashed on the couch. "Let's hope. I don't want to have to start tracking people too. That list was ridiculous." Her form was hidden behind the battered cushions of our practically squashed couch.

"We wouldn't know who to track anyways," pointed out Mandy, going into our mini-fridge and digging out a bottle of water. "Too many people in the city. Targets could be anyone, although the idea was a good one." She screwed off the cap and downed a bit of the bottle.

"Plus the fact that it's ridiculously hard to even consider getting very far with tracking someone and miraculously keeping the bug hidden even after a pat down." Carson was leaned over the table, poring over papers again, flipping through files of technology that I knew he wouldn't understand in the slightest. "The Knights aren't stupid anymore. They know what they're doing."

This got me to pause. "And how did they suddenly get smarter?" I asked, looking at Carson and Mandy since they were the only two faces I could see; Melody was still sprawled out on the couch.

Mandy and Carson exchanged puzzled looks. "Huh?" asked Mandy bluntly, not understanding my question fully. By the raised eyebrow that Carson was giving me, I could tell he didn't get it either.

"They were easy last time I saw them," I said pointedly. "We beat them without even trying. Now, they're smart. How? What happened in the time I was gone? They switch leaders? Suddenly infiltrated something and got more intel?" My gaze flitted between their faces. "What's the deal?"

Mandy put her elbow on the table and then put her chin in her hand. "I don't know," she said, voice drifting off slightly, a sign that meant she was going to be thinking. With her, that sometimes took a while. Her muddy eyes glazed over slightly as she began to run through memories and thoughts.

Carson reached behind him and grabbed a pencil out of a cup that we kept a few in. He flipped a piece of paper over and began scrawling words on it in his chicken-scratch handwriting. "They're smarter as in better weapons, more strategy, and more of them in general." The pencil kept leaving behind words in a shade of gray that was scarcely legible. "I think you're onto something." Carson didn't even look up at me. Instead, he kept doodling words and small sketches onto the blank side of the page that he had been holding earlier.

"And they're smart enough to know who to get out of the ring to be able to win." Melody poked her head over the edge of the couch, folding her arms on the back of the cushion to make a sort of pillow to rest her head on. "They're planning now instead of running in blindly. And trying to extort people." Her white hair was falling to one side of her face, the white on the other side pushed behind one ear. "It's like the whole organization suddenly grew a brain."

Something had just clicked in my head. "Or gained a vital member." I took the missing persons files away from Carson (he didn't even notice) and began to shuffle through them, looking for a criminal record and a college degree in something that had ties to war or combat. "Something had to have changed for them to get a hold of this sort of skill. People don't just suddenly get smarter."

Out of her dreamlike state, Mandy gave a little cough and stared at me the way an older sister would. A knowing smirk was pressed to her face.

"Shut up," I said with a little laugh, still filing through papers. "Call Bryce if you could and see if he can find anyone who just vanished. Maybe not a missing person, but someone with a criminal record who's out and suddenly behind on payments or something." My eyes kept skimming over pages and pages of information; Carson was helping since he finished with his sketches and all.

Melody groaned, but grudgingly began to get to work on it, heading towards the room that she would now share with Mandy on one side of our little hideaway. Her phone was instantly out and dialing Bryce's number.

"I should probably head out to get food or something," said Mandy, standing up straight again to recompose herself. "Cupboards are bare, and Kev's back." Another little smirk crept across her face and she moved over towards the opening that led out of our little home.

I stuck my tongue out at her and she slugged my shoulder. You wouldn't know it, but the girl's stronger than she looks.

"And I gotta find a ride." Carson ran a hand through his messy blonde locks; his ocean blue eyes looked out the opening to see a glimpse of the emerald paint job that covered my car. I was considering painting over that just so we could drive around the city without getting shot at every day. "I'll grab my cash and we can head out together, Mand."

She just gave a simple little "m'kay" and wandered over to the couch, jumping over the back and landing perfectly with her feet at one end and her head at the other.

The life I had before was so simple. Fight for your life, rob a bank once or twice a day, come home, eat a corndog, chill with the crew, sleep, live another day. Nothing was ever this complicated. The crime fighting was just a thing, never of any serious importance. But now the Knights were capable of more despite just being an oversized gang. Alien technology over level three was involved and now things were getting bloody. We wouldn't let them take our streets.

I looked to Melody who was pacing with the phone pressed fo her ear with her shoulder. Her hands were working with a pen and notepad as she scrawled down a list of names.

It reminded me of Gwen. I had to call her. For real. I was supposed to call forever ago, but then we got wrapped up in all the working and Gwen had been left in the dust. Not like I'd done it on purpose. I was busy...

Carson emerged from the room we were going to share again with a wad of hundreds in his hand, folded neatly and wrapped tightly with a rubber band like he always kept his money. "Let's head," he said after shoving the wad into his jacket pocket. "Sun's going down and that's the worst time fo be out and without cover."

"Got the fake IDs?" I asked, wanting to make sure he didn't buy a car with his real ID. Then we'd be tracked and that would end in disaster.

He patted his back pocket. "Got it, man. Don't stress." Carson offered Mandy one hand. She took it and he hauled her off the couch. "We can catch the bus above and hit the dealership then the store. You'll have to let us in since I don't have a connection to the pulley system that rigs the fence."

"Cool. I'll cover it." I began to shove the papers into folders, picking up the kitchen area so they had a place to put the fresh food when they got back.

"Bryce is on it," came Mel's voice as she opened the door. "Said he'll get back to us in the morning." Her lithe form appeared once more, black eyes glittering vivaciously. "I'll keep my phone on in case he calls sooner, but he's back at his place already, heading out to get your equipment from his dealer. Bethany and Amanda won't pick him up until tomorrow morning so he can get to work on their systems for us."

Carson sighed slightly before hooking his fingers into the wall and dragging himself off the ground, feet finding the holds that had been carved into the stone. "Fair enough," he muttered before disappearing above ground where the dying sunlight washed in, gold stretching across the floor.

"We'll be back soon," said Mandy before taking a few footholds and handholds until she could reach Carson's outstretched hand so he could pull her above into the calm of the real world. The last I saw of her face was a playful little smile.

Melody leaned on the counter, picking up the bottle of water Mandy had left behind and taking a few sips from it. "So what's wrong? You're clearly distracted." When I looked up, I could see her obsidian eyes analyzing my face like I was some sort of science experiment. "Something's on your mind, but your not sure how you feel about it yet. Something's definitely wrong."

She always had been able to read me like an open book. I tossed the now organized folders on the counter behind me next to the cup of pencils and pens. "A little pissed that you guys won't let me call Ben and Gwen. If they were here, there wouldn't be a need for trackers or any of this work. We'd already be done, and I'd be at home with my mom." I folded my arms across my chest, watching the ground at my feet instead of looking at her directly.

Melody didn't respond for a few minutes. When she did, she asked a question instead of just saying something like a normal person would. "Have you heard of that poem about the world ending in fire or ice?"

I had to go through my memory banks to remember exactly. But I vaguely remembered something of the sorts. The same author wrote the thing about the two roads in the woods too, I think. Maybe. I wasn't completely sure, but whatever. "What about it?" I asked, my question answering hers as well as voicing my own.

"The world will end either way, right? No matter whether its fire or ice, the world will be dead." I looked up to see that her gaze was intent on me and that she was completely focused, something that wasn't uncommon for her. Melody's hands were tight around the water bottle that she held. "That's the situation here. Whether it's just us or us and your friends, we're all going to die either way." Not even the slightest smile played on her lips. "I don't even know why we're trying. The world is coming to an end and that's that. Nothing we can do about it." Again, she screwed the cap off the water bottle and downed a bit of it. "Might as well wipe our hands off and walk away. We're done for no matter what."

I once more stared at my shoes. She didn't know what she was talking about. Ben and Gwen could save New York... couldn't they? I mean, they were the greatest fighters I knew. The Highbreed invasion seemed impossible too, but they stopped that. If they were here, they would've known what to do.

Melody and I were silent again for a few more moments. Maybe she was right and the world really was going to end. I didn't know.

And that was when the whole place shook with the heavy blast of an explosion.

My first thoughts were Carson and Mandy. And by the way Melody's face was automatically scared, she had had the same thoughts I did.


A/N: Longer than it looked when I was writing it on my iTouch. Weird. Anyways, please review! Thanks to all the readers out there who are reviewing! Love all of you!

~Sky