Peter's finger tightened around the trigger of his gun. "If I were in a good mood," he sneered at me, his red eyes flashing dangerously, "I would give you a few seconds head start to let you try and get out of range."

"Only problem with that," I countered coolly, trying to ignore the distracting twitch of his long white rabbit ears, "is that I can tell you're not feeling particularly generous right now, and you have too much confidence in your ability to put a bullet through the back of my skull, especially without a sight on the barrel."

The lack of sight on the barrel was what made me nervous-it meant that he either had the skill to shoot his target without a visual to guide him, or he was the shoot first, ask questions later type. As frightening as that was though, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. "I can only assume," I said, trying to relax myself and stall for time, "that you're trying to kill me because you saw me with another Outsider-Alice."

I saw his right eye narrow just the slightest bit and I moved out of the way just as he shot at me. Good call, Ron, I thought shakily, maybe the giveaways in 'normal' opponents can be used on this guy as well. I didn't have time to collect my thoughts though, as Peter's gun rang out again. I ducked behind a stack of old wooden crates, trying to make myself as small as possible while still being able to see him. My hiding spot was a terrible one and I knew it-he could easily shoot through the wood to get to me. Guess I won't be using my knives as much as I'd like, I thought with some anxiety.

Throwing all thoughts of a good show to the wind, I bent over to stick my knives into my boots just as two shots ripped through the crate above my head. I barely managed to hold back a yell of shock as I pulled my gun out of its holster. Praying my thanks to whatever holy deity was looking out for me and asking for a little bit of luck and help as I slipped six bullets into the chamber. I peered through one of the bullet holes that had been made above me and saw that Peter was striding toward me, the confident smirk on his face telling me he thought he'd done me in.

Takes more than that to get rid of me, I thought, cocking the gun as his foot made contact with the ground to disguise the noise a little. I pointed my gun through a small gap in the crates, my aim unwavering and my fingers steady. I wasn't going to kill him-not yet-but I did want to slow him down. I aimed for and shot his left side, sending him stumbling back a little bit. He reached up to touch the wound I'd inflicted and I took my chance. I stood and shot twice more at him, missing once on purpose and sending the other to his shoulder.

Peter let off a fine string of swear words as the pain settled in. I booked it back out of the mouth of the alleyway, fighting through the throng of people that had started rapidly leaving the scene as soon as they heard gunfire This was even worse-there were civilians around that could get hurt if a stray bullet had gotten out of that alley. I had to get Peter away from these people before someone besides him or I got killed or seriously injured.

The center square, when I reached it, was almost deserted. Word had spread quickly of a firefight, and no one wanted to get in the way. There was a fountain in front of me and some trees and benches around the outer edges. The woods were on my left-a perfect place to go, both for cover and to keep other people safe. Suddenly, I heard a shot ring out and my side suddenly felt like a red hot iron had been pressed against it. I whirled in time to see Peter running up behind me with his gun in my direction. I fell to the ground and rolled out of the way, scrambling to my feet and getting behind the water fountain.

"What do you want with Alice?" I yelled out to him, circling the fountain as I saw his blurred form move. "She told me you got jealous of people getting close to her, and I think it's ridiculous!" I fell to my knees and crawled around the edge of the fountain, wincing at the pain in my side and the shots that rang out above me. "She's my best friend, and I'm not going to leave her by herself willingly!" I told him as I got to my feet.

"She isn't by herself, little boy," Peter snarled viciously, still circling the fountain. "She has me, and she doesn't need anyone else." He shot again, but I was already running. We had circled so that my back was to the woods, giving me opportunity to disappear. I pointed my gun behind me and pulled the trigger. A strangled curse told me I'd definitely hit something, though it wasn't enough to drop him. I darted behind a tree as he shot at me again. I let off my last two shots, reaching into my pocket to pull out my case of bullets.

It's gone.

My blood ran cold when I realized that my case wasn't in my pocket. I cursed under my breath as terror flooded my body like a paralyzing wave. I must have dropped it back in the alleyway! I peeked around the tree but had to quickly pull my head back as he shot again. I had to distract him, or this wouldn't turn to my favor. The blasted rabbit may be good with long range shooting, but I was better up close. I had to get him over to me and fast.

"Doesn't Alice have other people though?" I asked casually. "You know, Blood Dupre and the Bloody Twins?" And Elliot, I added silently, praying again to whatever holy being it was keeping me safe thus far that Alice had found him and that they had seen me. The mention of the three males hit definitely a sore point with him. He fired multiple times, though it seemed he wasn't aiming specifically at me-he was trying to find where my voice was coming from. "One more guy in her life isn't going to kill her, you know!" I yelled, purposefully trying to draw him over. "Unless, of course, it's you!"

There was silence in the woods. My heartbeat thudded in my ears and I slowly bent down to get my knives again. I would apparently get to use them after all, if Peter actually made his way over here. My wounded side was throbbing, and I could feel warm blood soaking my shirt and trickling down my body. I straightened and peered around the trunk of the tree again, tightening my grip on each handle. I couldn't see Peter anywhere. I pulled back to look around the other side but froze when I felt something cold resting against my temple.

"I would never kill my precious Alice," Peter White murmured in icy tones. "However, I have no qualms about killing you, little boy." He cocked the gun, and I felt a bead of sweat slowly trickle down the back of my neck. I swallowed hard, my chest rising and falling a little slower than should have been expected during a moment of pure terror. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and, finding him completely focused on my face, slowly started bringing my knives up. "Any parting words for your dear, dear friend?" he hissed in my ear.

I blinked at him slowly, taking what I hoped looked like a shuddering breath. "Your guard is wide open," I whispered, my eyes narrowing the tiniest bit. I brought my knives up in a crossed guard to push his arms up and quickly dropped to the ground as he pulled the trigger and released the bullet that should have been my ticket to the Other Side. I felt that searing, white hot pain again, only this time it was across the top of my head. I'd pushed his arm forward, not up, so as I'd dropped his bullet had clipped my forehead. We both yelled in pain, me from my wound and him from the thin cuts I'd made on his arm with the edges of my knives.

The attention I'd given my head only lasted the duration of a swift step sideways and a side thrust kick to Peter's unguarded stomach. The sole of my boot made a solid connection and sent him stumbling back, clutching his gut and gasping in pain. His shooting arm was still up, so I quickly swung around him so that the back of his hand was facing me. I used my forearms to hit the middle of his bicep and his forearm, then slid my higher hand down to grab his wounded wrist, scraping him with my knife blade in the process, as I hit the sensitive nerve clusters on the back of his hand. His gun dropped and I kicked it out of the way.

Peter wasn't ready to lose yet though. He swung a wild left haymaker at me that could be seen a mile away. I ducked under it, flicking my knife across his stomach, not deep enough to do any damage but enough to make a beautiful tear in his dirty and bloody coat. Peter's gasp of surprise turned into another desperate gasp for oxygen as I front kicked him in the stomach again. As he stumbled I lunged forward and shoved my forearm into the same spot, using my left hand to scoop up his ankle off the ground. He went down with a painful THUD that I could feel reverberating up my own spine.

I saw his gun out of the corner of my eye and grabbed it before he could even think about trying to sit up. I shoved it in my belt before kneeling down on his stomach and pressing the sharp edges of my knives against his throat. He glared up at me viciously, though I could see just the tiniest hint of fear in his scarlet eyes. "You're a psychopath," he spat at me. "A complete madman."

"Pot, meet kettle," I retorted with a mirthless laugh, deciding not to correct him about my gender. "I'm not leaving Wonderland, or Alice," I told him, pressing the blades harder against his neck and watching his Adam's apple jump slightly as he swallowed, "until that stupid vial is full again. And by the way," I continued in a venomous whisper, "you should be grateful that I happen to be in a good mood. Otherwise, you'd be dead." That wasn't entirely true, but Peter didn't have to know that, right?

Peter sat up (I'm guessing to spit in my face) but I quickly moved off of him. I gave him a not-so-gentle kick in the side as he tried to turn to face me. "Get out of here, bunny rabbit," I growled. "My good mood is starting to disappear, and I don't think you want to see that." I grabbed his collar and attempted to yank him to his feet, but Peter seemed to think he could do just fine on his own. We exchanged poisonous glares before he finally turned and stalked out of the woods. I patted his gun in my belt, smirking quietly to myself when he cleared the forest edge without turning to look back to see if I had it.

As soon as my vanquished opponent vanished from my line of sight, however, I felt my adrenaline start to fade away. Don't die off on me just yet, I pleaded to myself through gritted teeth. Please-just give me enough energy to find Alice and Elliot. That's all I ask for. My side was throbbing and I could feel blood trickling down the side of my face from the bullet wound on my head, but I willed myself to forget about it. One foot in front of the other, Ron. One foot in front of the other. Left, right. Left, right. I chanted the rhythm in my head as I doggedly trudged out of the woods and made my way back to town.

"RON!"

I looked up from my feet in time to see Alice throw herself at me and hug me tightly. I gave her a weak chuckle and patted her on the back, trying not to cry out in pain. "Hey Al," I muttered to her softly. "Long time no see, right?" I felt myself start to sway a little and Alice's grip tightened around my shoulders. "Where's Elliot?" I asked, swiveling my head around to see if I could spot him. "Did you find him?"

"I'm right here, Ron." Elliot's voice sounded like it was coming from a long way off, but when I felt his hand gently come to rest on my shoulder I realized he must be right next to me. It's really disorienting to experience that, if you think about it. "What happened? Did you get shot?" I tried to give him a 'No duh' look, but I think it came off more as 'Help me, I'm hurt.' He gently but quickly pried Alice away from me so that he could get a closer look at me. Elliot's complexion went two shades paler when he saw the blood on my face. "Who did this?!" he cried, cupping my face in his hands.

My vision tunneled a little bit and I started to pitch forward. I reached out and grabbed Elliot's jacket, trying to steady myself. "I'll tell you when...when my head doesn't hurt as bad," I murmured, trying not to slur my words together. "Just...just take me back," I whispered, resting my head on his chest. There were black spots starting to encroach on my vision and my grip on his jacket was slowly loosening. "Take me back...I'm sleepy..." Elliot's jacket suddenly seemed much farther away than it had been moments ago. His voice and Alice's blended together in a noisy mess as I sunk down to the ground, the pain I'd been fighting since I'd left the forest suddenly disappearing as darkness swallowed me whole.

Author's Note: I got a wee bit excited with this chapter in case you can't tell. :3 Quick apology though: I am not a weapons expert, nor do I know how to fight with guns. I wrote this to the best of my ability, so please forgive me if anything is skewed or weird. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!