Austin's P.O.V.
"Man it's freezing," Austin found himself muttering as he rubbed his hands up his arms in a vain attempt to retain some warmth. The metal of the flashlight was cold against his palm, and the pale light flickered with every step. Ally trudged behind him, her footsteps clattering in the dark.
"You can say that again," He barely made out Ally's mutter.
"Look on the bright side," Austin tried - and failed - to add an extra perk to his voice. "We must be close."
"Austin, it wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that we've been going down deeper into the canyon. That means that until we start heading up," He heard her voice raise several pitches in sarcasm, "Then we aren't anywhere near the end."
Austin ignored her pessimism, knowing from experience that it rarely helped the situation. "What part of quest didn't you understand before?" He shot back. "If it wasn't challenging, then it wouldn't be a quest now, would it?"
He thought that he could hear her mutter something under her breath at that, but he chose to ignore it. They walked in silence for a few more minutes, before Ally began to hum a tune under her breath. Austin couldn't help the smirk of disbelief that crossed his face as he momentarily shot her back a glance.
"Really?" He shined the flashlight on her, causing her to wince and to cease her humming. She just looked at him confused.
"What?" Her brown eyes were wide and innocent. Austin was having none of it though. He cleared his throat, before answering in his lowest baritone with a raised eyebrow and steely look.
"The game is on."
Ally just stared back at him with a blank expression for several passing seconds.
"Are you serious?" Her voice was a low whisper, and there was a gleam in her eyes as though she couldn't even fathom herself being this lucky. Austin shared her shock - he never would've guessed that sweet Ally Dawson was into that TV show. Never in a million years. The smile that split across his face went ear to ear.
"You tell me," He chuckled. "That's the last thing I'd ever expect you to watch. Isn't it a bit dark? Like, I know there's no gore or anything, but you're still dealing with murders."
They started walking slowly again, Ally's hand sliding into Austin's own. He was thankful for the talk as a distraction. Because despite the latest buzz in the air from the excitement, he could still feel the cold unsettling bleakness of their situation sitting restlessly just beneath the surface, and looking for an inoportune moment to make an appearance.
"Well, in all honesty, my dad doesn't know I watch it," Ally all but mumbled. "And while he wouldn't quite disprove, I'm pretty sure that he'd have at least tried to disuade me."
A silence settled between them. Austin could feel the dampness of the situation taking hold again, and quickly tried to scramble for a hold on their previous topic again.
"Who knew that you were such a little rebel," He offered weakly. Thankfully, Ally laughed.
"Hey, my morals couldn't compete with Benedict Cumberbatch's killer cheekbones," She faked a swoon. Austin couldn't hide his laugh at that.
"Why does it not surprise me at all that you love Sherlock?" Austin chuckled. "First a phsycopath... now a sociopath... I think I'm starting to sense a pattern here Miss Dawson," He joked. Ally rolled her eyes and nudged him gently.
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Although you don't happen to be one of those, do you?"
He pretended to think long and hard on the question, earning another giggle from Ally. "...Not to date. But you never know."
"Ah, no you aren't," Ally concluded for him, before reachhing up and patting his cheek lightly. "Besides, you don't have the cheekbones for the job."
"Hey!" Austin protested. "I have perfectly fine cheekbones."
"Fine, yes," Ally offered demurely. "Killer, no."
Laughter filled the air. Theycontinued walking, Austin wheedling information out of Ally, just to keep the cold atmosphere at bay. What was her favourite episode? Wasn't Martin Freeman's expressions awesome? How do you suppose he faked his death? They sputtered out from him in a torrent, but Ally thankfully didn't get annoyed with his endless prattling. She rather seemed somewhat grateful for the distraction.
"Okay, do you ship Sherlolly?" Austin punted out another one as he stepped over a large stone. The path seemed to be getting narrower, with the walls closing in on all sides. He tried not to focus on that. "Cause if you don't, that's almost as sacriligious as not shipping Percabeth."
Ally giggled. "Figures you ship Sherlolly. I kinda do too, but I'm content with him being single. Although I'm more than happy that John and Mary are together. Most certainly don't ship Johnlock."
Austin made a face. "Agreed. The reason I like the show so much is cause it's so true to the originals whils having it's own modern twist. If they did that it'd completely ruin the premise."
"True. Although I did like that stunt they pulled with Mar-Eeeep!"
Ally let out an undignified squeal as her foot caught on something. Austin tried to steady her, but the momentum at which they had been moving was slightly more than he anticipated it to be, resulting in her tumbling to the ground. Her hand ripped free from Austin's, her body hitting the ground roughly. There was an audible crack echoing in the cave.
For a split second, Austin's heart lept into his throat as his lungs decompressed of air. He bent down immediately, shining the poor light on Ally. What scared him was the fact that she wasn't moving. He shined the light up to her face, where her features sat expressionless. Beneath her brown hair, a dark liquid was pooling on the sharp rocks. If it wasn't for the slight quavering of her lips as she breathed, she looked as though she was dead.
"Ally?" He whispered in fear.
But nothing whispered back.
Sorry again guys, here's a short one to keep you occupied. I've been rather busy per usual, which is why this chapter isn't as long.
Anyhoo, I got a review saying that this story is mostly fluff. And that's cause it is. This story is pretty muchjust a filler to enhance the relationships for the next story. However, I don't want you guys getting bored, so I threw in that last bit there. It might throw a bit of a kink into my plans, but I hope you guys like it :)
Also, I got a review saying that I shouldn't include so many personal favs in the fanfiction. Austin and Ally have enough of their own music and favs and that I should use those. Originally I was gonna say suck it up - this is fanfiction and I do what I want. But after a further analysis of the topic, I realized that even though this is fanfiction, you guys are the ones who read it, so I should probably cater it to you. So what do you think, should I stop with teh favs and just continue on the stroy as though they were never there? Up to date, that would include no more mentions of Percy Jackson, One Direction, Taylor Swift, Tom Hiddleston, Marvel, and now Sherlock. Leave your response in a review so I know. If the majority want it out, then out it shall go.
Other than that, I'm glad the rest of you are enjoying this so far. Thanks again for all your reviews, and for those starting school again, Good Luck!