Many thanks to CHARLES CHUKU, Amyethious, RRW, KoniK47, Noitcerusser, Hazel Snowflake, Silo, Quilliet1, Oirasse, Miss Starshi, animato22, allisondasher, x-Rabid-Lama-x, demonicfate616, Potterholic1999, lolol1991, The Other World and all guests. I've not been able to reply your reviews, so I'll be saying my thanks here. To The Other World especially, thanks for frequently expressing your interest in this story, I was inspired to write more but well I had limited time on my hands. Hope this makes up for it! :)

DISCLAIMER: Yes people, it's fan fiction.

Chapter 13: Underground

They didn't manage to get far.

Harry had long since lost track of time from the moment they entered the tunnels. At first the rush of the battle had kept him going, and his mind was too preoccupied with twisted possibilities and half-formed plans to be consumed by the fire burning in his side, but the adrenaline was short-lived. The little journey they made came at a higher price than expected, and pain numbed their haste until it was all he could do to stay upright and put on foot in front of the other.

Though it was hard to tell by the non-existent light in the tunnels, Harry knew Cain himself wasn't faring any better, if not worse.

All too soon time forced to admit that they wouldn't be getting any further, and they dragged to a slow reluctant halt. Among the three of them, Rab was the only one capable of moving at decent speed to outrun their most likely incoming pursuers. After all Harry was certain Anarchy would expect them to head for the tunnels instead of navigating the dark alleys at night, especially when they were injured and treading on forbidden territory. They would be like sitting ducks trapped in the middle of the tunnel, waiting for Anarchy to discover and haul back their prisoners. Harry wasn't sure if he'd be treated half as kindly as he was during his first visit. There would be no room for talk or discussions after he'd just single-handedly wiped out their members right in their headquarters.

"You go on," Cain ground out when it was evident that Rab was refusing to leave his leader behind. "Send help s'fast as you can."

Harry chose to say nothing, the white-hot agony burning into his side was making it harder for him to focus on anything else. Rab however seemed to be on the verge of refusing Cain's orders, perhaps for the first time in many years.

"If I can't get back in time - ," he began stubbornly, but was cut off by an angry snarl.

"When I tell you to go on, Rab, you go on. That – is – an – order!"

Cain's voice was quiet yet it resounded eerily in the tunnels. It was too dark to see anything, but Harry heard the scuffle of feet as Rab stood. There was a moment's silence, a whispered swear word before Rab was gone, his light footfalls growing fainter and fainter as he navigated each bend swiftly. He almost didn't notice when he and Cain were left alone in the tunnels. Harry clenched and unclenched his fist, and almost fearing what he would see – he placed a hand gingerly over his side and drew back. His blood was warm and sticky against his palm, and even in the darkness he could almost make out the crimson stain.

"Don't," Cain snapped suddenly, between labored breaths. Harry turned to face his silhouette even though he couldn't see the other's face. He didn't reply, but it seemed as if the leader wasn't looking for one.

"Ignore it," Cain spoke again, but this time his tone sounded less forceful than he had a minute ago. "Keep focused." The last part sounded breathless to his ears. Harry gritted his teeth and tore his hand away from the wound in his side. The pain was growing increasingly unbearable with each passing minute. It felt like it was eating up a part of his brain, preventing him from doing anything else. The temptation to allow himself to slip into oblivion got harder still to repress; he wondered if they would be able to stand when Anarchy came for them.

"How far is your limit?" Cain asked, keeping his voice carefully light so much is was barely a whisper beside him. Harry realized they must be in closer proximities than he noticed for him to have heard the leader at all.

"I'm crashing into the line," Harry pulled his thoughts away from his bullet wound if only to give an intelligible reply. Cain made a sound that sounded like a snort.

Another twinge in his side made Harry reach for his side automatically, but a familiar vice-like grip closed around his hand, preventing the action. "Don't," this time, the leader's voice was sharp. "Thinking about it won't make it better. Focus."

"There's nothing – else – to focus on!" Harry growled back through his teeth, an edge of desperation touching his tone.

Cain's grip fell away. "Really. Thought you were curious about your cousin's fate."

Harry was briefly surprised. In all honesty he'd almost forgotten Dudley in light of recent events – like fighting a gang comprised of a few six-foot tall giants and discovering a brother's blood feud between the Canine's and Anarchy, witnessing two more murders to add to his count and of course, not forgetting his broken wand splinters lying uselessly in his pocket.

"Can't blame me for getting distracted," Harry replied.

He could almost imagine the wry grin on Cain's face as the other replied.

"No," indeed, there was slight amusement colouring the other's tone, before it faded just as quickly. "I offered you and your cousin protection on the condition that you joined. I wouldn't go back on my word."

"And obviously you've given me every reason to trust you," Harry replied. His tone remained neutral but he left his words to bite.

The leader didn't say anything to that. Reluctant to leave the topic when it'd been broached, Harry spoke again, "You told Thomas to switch Dudley to the opposite room didn't you?"

"Thomas reports directly to me," Cain said by way of answer. Even if he tried to mask it, Harry could tell that talking was beginning to wear his strength – wear them both out. "Your cousin didn't start on drugs as early as you think. He was well on his way to recovery. Then he suffered from another attack, just as bad as if he'd just started all over again."

The pain was still there, throbbing a terrible pain in the corner of his mind, but abruptly Harry found that he was able to focus on Cain's words. There was the vaguest hint which led him to a wild guess that he knew what was coming, but suddenly he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it.

"It was just a hunch, but I wanted to check," Cain said shortly, his breath becoming rapidly faint and light. "That's why I did it." The missing puzzles in his words were left for Harry to deduce on his own.

Harry clenched the fist stained in his blood and tried to think. It hadn't been in any way particularly suspicious; for all he knew relapses would be pretty common before Dudley could recover from his withdrawal fully. So what had been different? Thomas must have known something, he realized, and Thomas had perhaps dropped a hint for Cain. And the ringleader chose to make his move the day Harry was away fighting in the arena to be Graded. Come to think of it, no one else had been around either had they?

Harry's mind was racing. All of a sudden he was standing in the doorway of the empty room, eyes darting across the hastily scribbled note addressed to him from Dudley. There hadn't been any time. Kicking over the bin, searching for clues –

"You drew his blood," Harry said in revelation, "it was for a test wasn't it? What were the results – positive?"

"He's still in withdrawal so it's a definite positive," Cain replied. "But we need to know how far off he is from recovering. The results were supposed to be back sometime tomorrow."

"So – what you're implying – is that someone laced Dudley's food with drugs," Harry said.

He didn't know what else to think anymore; he felt as if he were too tired to care. But yet still he did, and the thought of Dudley being somewhere else with another gang, suffering from a withdrawal, caused Harry's guts to twist. He didn't even know if his cousin was alive or dead. "Why attack him?" Harry asked quietly.

"Say your cousin dies under our care. I don't think you'd stay would you?" Cain said by way of answer. There was mirthless amusement in his voice. "After all up until now I've forced you to take every step you have taken."

Harry fell silent. It was true. Anarchy didn't want Harry to stay in the Canines, because another member meant more power, more force, another thorn to be defeated. Anarchy wanted to break the Canines apart. They had had Rob spy for them before they made any moves. Rob had been the one who had told them where to find Harry when he'd been running his errands. Harry had managed to escape before hearing them out, but Anarchy would not have compromised with that, they would have been waiting for another chance to strike, Harry knew… –Anarchy had probably wanted to turn him before the Grading.

With a sharp intake of breath Harry remembered the representative from Anarchy. The natural fighter who'd faced him in the final rounds – he had been carrying a knife laced with poison – and according to Cain it had been a trademark move of Anarchy's. It probably hadn't been the man's idea alone. Perhaps Anarchy had wanted Harry to be killed the moment he'd stepped up as a fighter from the Canines, so they'd sent their candidate in armed with a weapon. But even if that failed, which it did – Anarchy had another road to fall back on.

If everything had went according to Anarchy's plan, Dudley might have been killed, Cain would be captured by Anarchy, and Harry would turn against the Canines and fought them for revenge. Perhaps Anarchy planned to persuade Harry to join their side after that, seeing as they called killing fighters a 'waste of potential'. The thought made Harry swallow back bile.

"Only an insider could have gotten access to your cousin's food," Cain went on. "I wanted to weed him out. But moving your cousin before then would be too risky; I didn't even know who to suspect. So I waited for all of you to be gathered at the Grading before sending your cousin away. Thought it wouldn't be safe to leave him perfectly vulnerable at the bar alone. I was right wasn't I?"

If not for the bitterness Harry had seen in Cain back when he'd killed Rob, Harry could almost bring himself to believe his usual light-hearted tone, tinged with smugness at his own accurate deductions.

"Except today," Harry said finally after finding his voice. The ringleader didn't interrupt him, but Harry could feel the question hanging unasked in the air, and he obliged. "You said you forced me to take every step I did. You're right. Except for tonight."

Silence was met at his words. Harry guessed that for once, he'd actually managed to take the ringleader by surprise.

"I suppose you could say that," Cain said finally.

X

The minutes ticked past in tense silence. Harry felt his grip on the world slipping away quickly. For some reason he regretted not casting the healing charm on Cain when he still had his wand; Harry had a feeling that they would be able to get away if Cain was still in action. It mustn't have been more than a few minutes after Rab had left, but Harry felt each one of them felt like hours. For the first time Harry realized how tired he was, but he couldn't allow himself to rest. He feared that once he closed his eyes he would sink into unconsciousness and he wouldn't be able to defend himself against Anarchy when they inevitably arrived.

Harry was about to say something to break the horrid silence when the sound of something slamming into metal echoed loudly down the tunnels. Harry didn't straighten for fear of jostling his wound, but he tried his best to listen for the direction. It sounded as though it were coming from where they'd started though.

As if confirming his thoughts, Cain spoke up. "It's from Anarchy's Den," the other whispered lightly.

Harry turned his head to look. He couldn't see anything that might indicate someone's presence, but it was clear that Anarchy had arrived. Harry thought he could make out the low murmur of voices heading their way. He slammed his eyes shut as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He could hardly differentiate between what was real and what wasn't anymore. The darkness wasn't helping; he wouldn't even be able to tell if he'd slipped away into unconsciousness or not.

"If I stall for time," Cain began, "do you think you could get away?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Harry said through gritted teeth. "I'm barely holding on as it is, and neither are you."

The voices were unmistakable now. Harry thought he could almost make out words. He felt a trill of panic run through him before he squashed it down. He had survived many encounters with Voldemort so far; he wasn't about to die by some Muggle gang fight! But even as the thought came, Harry felt the hopelessness of the situation grip him. He could barely stay awake let alone fight, and worst of all he wasn't capable of performing any sort of magic.

Beside him Cain was fumbling with something in the darkness, and abruptly something hard and small was pressed into his palm. It felt like four little pieces of metal.

"What's it?" Harry managed to ask.

"My earrings," Cain replied. At first Harry thought he was being sarcastic, but then he soon realized what they were. "Press two pieces together to activate. It explodes on the third vibrate. Not enough to cause much harm if you throw them on the ground though."

"Why give it to me?" Harry said confused. Cain had far better aim than he had; and Harry could barely see properly in the dark. They couldn't afford to waste the only form of weapon they had.

"Use it as a last resort," Cain replied. "I'm going to fight. Hopefully by then Rab will have arrived with the rest."

"Fight?" Harry hissed back. "Are you insane? You can't even walk as it is!"

"Quiet," Cain snapped though it lacked the usual venom behind it. "They're here."

Almost as if on cue a beam of light cut through the darkness in the distance, and Harry saw a blob of white growing steadily as their enemies approached where they stood. Harry closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He clenched his fist so hard the metal explosives dug into his flesh. At least it was the only thing that anchored Harry to the present. Beside him Harry felt more than saw Cain struggle to stand. Harry made to follow, but Cain's hand stopped him.

"You stay here, distract them," Cain said by way of explanation. Then the pressure on his shoulder was gone, and Harry was left sitting alone with his back against the tunnels. The pain was building up to an unbearable level, Harry didn't even know how much longer he would be able to stand. Briefly he wondered about the extent of Cain's injuries. If half of that pool of blood he'd found in the room was Cain's, Harry was surprised that the ringleader had lasted that long. He swallowed and leaned heavily against the wall, trying his best to concentrate. Where were Rab and the others?

The light in the distance only grew larger and larger. Eventually it came to the point where Harry had to look away to avoid blinding himself. His pursuers advanced a few more steps before stopping some ways before where he sat helplessly, back turned against the light.

"Halt," someone's voice said. "He's here."

"You don't say," Harry's voice replied out of the gloom. He hoped it was him Anarchy had noticed, and not Cain. They were relying solely on Cain's ambush to stall enough time for the Canines to arrive. A thought struck him that Cain could have easily left him to fend for himself as the ringleader tried to escape alone, but he pushed it aside. Much as he distrusted him, he knew the ringleader well enough to realize that Cain wouldn't stoop to such a level.

The pencil torch searched the walls for his voice and found him pretty quickly. Harry tried to face the Anarchy members but found it impossible with the light trained directly on him.

"Well well, if it isn't the new fighter of Fyris," the man Harry immediately recognized as Cain's brother spoke. Harry caught sight of a huge looming shadow on the opposite wall and felt the coil of dread in his stomach tighten. "But why are you alone? Where are my other captives?" the man mused.

"Last time I checked none of us are held in your cells, unless you count the tunnels as one of them," Harry managed to retort through shallow breaths. The earrings were warm against his palm. He needed to stall, he needed time. Time would let them win this battle. The leader cocked his head to one side as he studied Harry. He was suspicious already, Harry knew – any moment now they would search the area and Cain might be discovered.

"I suppose you could be forgiven, after all I knocked you and your gang out pretty hard," Harry continued. He wasn't disappointed; a flash of anger passed briefly over the ringleader's face, but instead of losing his temper he flashed Harry an unpleasant smile. Harry felt a shiver pass across his spine when he was abruptly reminded of Cain's likeness to his brother. It wasn't visible in their features nor build, but there was something about their mannerisms that were eerily similar in a way.

"Where's my brother, Harry?" Anarchy's leader spoke again as he took another step nearer to where Harry was. "He's in the area isn't he?"

"He's already left," Harry lied easily, "Rab took him and fled. I couldn't keep up, so they left me behind."

The man's eyes flashed to Harry's side which was soaked through with blood. He nodded as if understanding. Doubtless he'd already found Rob's body in the basement amidst the rubble.

"I might have believed you Harry," the man said, bending down to look Harry in the eye. Harry met his glare head-on, with his own fake smile to match. "But you've lied far too many times. I know just how much I should trust your words."

Harry pretended to sigh. "Oh alright I admit you're correct," he said. "Cain's somewhere in the vicinity. He's just waiting for the right… time," he finished with a faint smirk, just as someone gave a cry and the pencil torch went cluttering to the floor. They were suddenly thrown into darkness and confusion. Ignoring the flaring agony from his wound, Harry stretched out his leg and managed to hook the torch towards him. Someone's hand tried to grab it, but Harry snatched it away and slammed down hard on the other's head.

He couldn't tell if he'd knocked out the man or not, so Harry quickly withdrew back to the corner and tried to regain his senses. The world was swimming around him even if the only colour he could see was pitch black. He could hear cries of outrage where the Anarchy members fought. Harry hoped they were fighting each other in the confusion instead of Cain.

Indeed, that seemed to be the case, and for precious moments Harry entertained the hope that they would stall for enough time, and somehow Rab would arrive. He couldn't hear properly from all the fighting going on, but he imagined the sound of a trapdoor slamming open in the distance.

Then things spiralled quickly out of control. Someone had managed to produce another torch, and the moment light flared back to life, Cain's brother took advantage of Cain's hesitation. Anarchy's ringleader grabbed Cain's arm and twisted it viciously behind his back. Cain who was in no state to fight back slumped heavily against his captive. Harry noticed Cain was blinking rapidly and he knew he was fighting his hardest against unconsciousness.

"It's over now Harry," the Anarchy ringleader smirked. "I think it would be in both of your best interests to surrender."

Harry felt the torch vibrate once in his hand. He thought he could hear the pounding of footsteps, but none of the Anarchy members reacted… he could just be his imagination. He had no choice left; it was their last resort to survive this.

Harry pretended to shuffle forwards. He didn't need to fake leaning heavily against the wall to support himself. It wasn't his imagination this time, his world was really tilting sideways. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. The torchlight he'd snatched from Anarchy vibrated a second time, and Harry straightened and threw it at the man standing next to the ringleader, who still held Cain in a tight hold. The man caught it automatically.

Harry chanced a look at Cain, who was watching him mutely. He needed Cain to know what he'd done.

Then the sound he'd been waiting for all along came; quick rushed footsteps coming from behind. Harry cocked his head to one side.

"Is it just me or do you feel some… vibrations?" he asked.

The man looked up, confused, and Harry knew he'd felt the torch vibrate a third time. He'd dismantled it and put in the activated explosives inside the moment when Cain's brother had finally overpowered Cain.

Anarchy's ringleader looked up at him, his eyes narrowed as if trying to figure him out.

For a moment there was questioning silence. Then the world exploded.

The man holding the torchlight gave a loud cry of pain before he and the man beside him was blasted backwards viciously by a wave of energy. Part of the blow caught Anarchy's ringleader, and Cain managed to take the chance to twist out of his brother's grip sideways. Harry made to move towards him, but the Cain took one look at Harry and collapsed to the ground, fresh red staining his shirt. He wasn't quite unconscious yet, but it was a fine line. Then a ray of blinding light seared his eyes, and Harry stumbled backwards only to be caught by Rab.

"We've got you Harry," the man's familiar voice said. "Come on."

It was at that moment when Harry realized what had taken the Canines so long. By 'some' back-up they'd managed to gather members from other gangs as well, and Harry even recognized the leader from Red Circle fighting Anarchy amongst them.

The Canines had approached from their lair, while Red Circle had attacked from Anarchy's, effectively trapping Anarchy in the tunnels. Out of the corner of his vision Harry saw Reeves and another member fighting the ringleader of Anarchy, while Darren and another man he didn't recognize reached Cain.

The last scene Harry remembered seeing was dizzying flashes of light in spinning darkness, and for a moment Harry almost believed that the hands supporting him belonged to Ron and Hermione, like when they had always dueled together all those days ago.

A/N: My trials are finally over, though sadly my finals are not. In fact, they are really close round the corner, and this will probably be the last chapter I'll be posting until end of May. At least it didn't really end on a cliffie right? :P

Thanks so much for all your interest and reviews, I really appreciate them. Do tell me what you think? I won't be able to update too soon but your reviews will help me cope with all the stress I'm getting from my finals. :D