Quicksilver

'She's a bit intense,' said Scorpius as they walked down the narrow Athenian street. 'I don't know if I should be relieved she's out there watching my back, or creeped out that she's managed to disappear in this crowd.'

'I don't think we can be too careful,' said Albus, hands in his pockets, though Scorpius knew his wand was there, out of sight of the Muggles they wandered past but ready for a quick draw. 'Meeting a contact like this.'

'Baz is all right. I know him. It's fine.'

'He's insisted we meet in public -'

'It means he's less likely to do something stupid -'

'What if he tells your father?'

Scorpius lifted a hand. 'He and Baz don't talk any more. But you've seen how the press has been reacting. He's paranoid, and a dead man just asked to get in touch with him. Doing it in public is probably for his safety as much as anyone else.'

Rigby was proving useful. They'd racked their brains for a full day on how they were going to travel incognito, until Scorpius had reluctantly admitted he could use some old contacts of his father's. Draco Malfoy had remade his family fortune from business interests across the world in the years after the war, and while his focus had narrowed as time had gone by, there were still people out there who would respond to the name 'Malfoy'.

'Who even is this guy?' said Albus. He shouldered his way through the flea market's thronging mass of locals peering at the stalls of cheap souvenirs, all under the benevolent gaze of tall old buildings whose age gave a legitimacy the bric-a-brac didn't deserve. 'Why is he useful, why's he going to talk to us, why's he not going to blab about us to the world?'

'Baz is a bigwig in the international magical black market, works out of Russia. Dad did some of his more unsavoury business deals with him back in the day. As for why he's not going to blab… I'm going to ask really nicely.' Scorpius hesitated. 'And pay him. And, well, a man like him doesn't want to show his face to the proper authorities.'

'So why's he useful?' Albus repeated, not particularly mollified.

'You'd be surprised at how much crime straddles the magical and Muggle worlds; if there was ever anyone who will know how we can move through both worlds, it's him. We can't Floo our way to the Middle East. Or apparate. Or get an international portkey. Baz can sort all of this out. If he chooses to. If he believes me.' Scorpius' brow furrowed. 'He might not be thrilled if he catches wind of Lisa watching.'

'Can you see her?'

'No.'

'And you know she's there.' Albus ducked to avoid the dangling wind-chimes of one of the stalls they passed. 'He won't know she's there, so he won't spot her. She's a professional.'

'She's a bit mental.'

'People are trying to kill us. I think we're all a little bit mental.' Albus' expression shifted in that manner Scorpius knew well, that gaze of concern. 'I agree, though, she's a bit…'

'Intense. You're worried what they did to her.'

'She's just - you've seen her. One moment she's a badass with a wand, but then I've seen her… Scared.'

'You do know you don't have to be everyone's hero, right, mate?'

'I know. But she saved us on Kythos. And Thane and Raskoph have really screwed her up. Not just from imprisonment, but - they've had her betrayed by her colleagues, they murdered the man under her protection. I can understand her being wound up. I can understand her wanting to get them. I just want to help.'

'You always want to help. It's like your go-to action. Someone stubs their toe and you want to help.'

'Are you saying I shouldn't help her?'

'Well, no.' Scorpius' brow furrowed. 'To be cynical, we're all in the same boat and I'd rather we have a handle on her. To be less cynical, she did save our lives so we owe her.'

'That's your less cynical? To help someone because they're owed it?'

'You might know you don't have to be everyone's hero, but you sure as hell can't stop yourself, can you?' He shook his head and punched Albus on the arm. 'You okay, though?'

'Sure. I mean, my parents think I'm dead and I'm allowing that lie to continue for reasons which feel more flimsy every time I wake up, causing them untold pain…' Albus drew a deep breath. 'It's easier to worry about everyone else.'

'This is me, Al. You can be honest.'

'I know. But, hey, look, we're here.'

'This isn't over,' Scorpius threatened as they emerged from the narrow street into the sweeping, open space of Monastiraki Square, a wide, open space dominated by the looming shape of the mosque with its domed roof. Behind it, over the rooftops of the rest of Athens, he could see the Acropolis looking down at them from the cliff-face above the city, and felt the briefest twinge that they wouldn't have the chance to get sight-seeing done.

But they were here for business, and that included moving through the heaving square with its market stalls and making for the benches at the middle, concrete blocks around a glass centre that shimmered under the Mediterranean sun. This was the meeting place Baz had set, so all they could do was wait for him to make contact amids the crowd of amiable Muggles enjoying this bright, early summer day.

'Curious, isn't it,' said Scorpius. 'It all looks a lot like Monte Carlo, and yet, sort of not quite? Like everything's just been skewed a bit. All still kind of "Mediterranean" but different in its way. It's -'

Then there was a hand on his shoulder and the distinctive feel of a wand tip pressed into his kidneys, and as his eyes widened a burly figure stepped out of the crowd and did the same to Albus. Scorpius froze, and only relaxed a little when he recognised the voice in his ear. 'So how did we meet, Scorpius?'

'Oh. Baz. Hi.' Scorpius let out a deep breath. 'I was, what, four years old? You'd come to the Manor to discuss business arrangements with my Dad. I had my toy train out in the middle of the parlour and Dad wanted me to move it, and I threw such a strop. Dad broke the train. You must have grabbed the pieces and fixed them while Dad was out of the room and getting some papers, and you gave it back to me before you left.'

Then the hand and the wand were gone, and they could all turn and face each other. Albus looked disapproving, but Scorpius pasted a smile on his face as he looked to his contact and his security. 'Was that really necessary, Baz?'

Baz was a short, wiry man, of narrow, lined features and dark hair going grey at the temples. His security escort was more of a size of Albus, a broad, blond man of a similar age. Both of them had slid their wands away, the four of them now nothing but people stood talking in a crowded square. 'You're dead, boy. I'm taking precautions.'

'With the same charm as ever, of course.' Scorpius waved a hand. 'Al, this is Balthazar -'

Baz swore in Russian, cutting him off. 'We don't need full names. And I don't live under a rock; I know who he is.'

'And your charming security?' Scorpius looked at the other man.

'Security?' the big blond Russian said indignantly.

Baz sighed. 'This is Dimitri. He works with me. I was not coming alone to this meeting. I wanted someone reliable. He understands secrecy.' Then Baz frowned. 'But you are dead. I do not talk with your father directly any more. But the world knows the Hogwarts Five are dead.'

'That's what they're calling us? Huh. Well, we're not.'

'We are not in the habit of talking to corpses, no,' said the man called Dimitri. 'Though escaping Kythos like that was not thought possible.'

'It wouldn't be the first time the impossible was done,' said Albus. 'There's no need for us to talk particulars.'

'I agree,' said Baz. 'The Council of Thorns thinks you're dead, and they've sworn vengeance against anyone who helped you in the past or continues to defy them. The papers are saying someone inside the Ministry sold you out, so you can't even trust your own countrymen. We're on the same side; I see no need to reveal this lie to the world.'

Albus quirked an eyebrow. 'There are people who'd pay a lot for this information.'

Baz's lip curled. 'Yes. And then the Council win, and the governments we know are ripped down, the laws we know collapse. I may not live inside the system, but I like knowing where and what it is, where the lines are, who I deal with. So we fight the good fight.'

'He is being too coy.' The big man named Dimitri folded his arms across his chest. 'Because he is also working with the Russian government, using his contacts to help us fight the Council. I do not work for him. I work for the Russian Federation, and I work with him. In this situation, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and the Council of Thorns is our enemy.'

Baz swore in Russian. 'You have to blow me open?'

'I suspect your reputation as black market dealer is not good for earning trust.' Dimitri looked at the other two. 'Though I must ask: all of the Five are alive?'

Albus and Scorpius exchanged glances, then Scorpius sighed. 'Nobody died, no. But - we're not here to talk about this.'

'No. I assumed you didn't send a House Elf to break into my home and ask me for a meeting hundreds of miles away just so I could be so lucky as to know you live,' said Baz. 'What do you need?'

'Transport,' said Scorpius. 'We can't move internationally without being noticed, not easily. We need to get into Syria. Can you provide us with a discreet international portkey?'

'If you can wait several weeks.' Baz shook his head. 'But you know this.'

'I do.' He sighed. 'How much for Muggle transport?'

'Muggles use papers to travel, too. But… some methods are more serious about security than others. I can get you the papers we use to befuddle the less-secure transit routes. Which means no airplanes. Probably not ships. Trains, perhaps. To Istanbul then onward, there should be the express to Aleppo.' Baz hesitated. 'It still costs.'

'I can pay.'

'It's a two thousand mile journey. Not cheap.'

'I don't have much of a choice, do I?'

Dimitri looked at Baz and said something low and fast in Russian. Baz rolled his eyes and responded, Dimitri gave a firm nod, and then Baz sighed. '…or I fund it,' he said, throwing Dimitri a glare. 'Seeing as to fight the Council of Thorns is everyone's responsibility.'

Albus blinked. 'That would be… much appreciated.'

'You had best be reimbursing me when this is all over…' Baz kept glaring at Dimitri. 'But. Yes. This is in everyone's best interests.' He looked at Scorpius. 'You might still want to think of telling your father you live.'

'Why would I want to continue disappointing him?'

Baz frowned. 'I do not like your father. There are reasons I do not work with him any more. And there are many ways in which he is bad news, connected to bad people, doing bad business, even by my standards. But by all reports he is not happy to lose his son. A bounty has gone out.'

'A bounty?'

'Fifty thousand galleons for whoever can bring in the man responsible for murdering you.'

'Interesting fact,' added Dimitri. 'We found about this bounty from a Council of Thorns agent.'

Albus and Scorpius exchanged glances. 'What does that mean?'

Baz shrugged. 'The Council of Thorns has factions. Not all of them are happy at Raskoph killing you. And your father has connections in there.'

'It is possible he knows a disreputable man who knows a disreputable man who works for the Council. Seeing as such bounties are illegal,' said Dimitri. 'But bear this in mind.'

Scorpius' gut twisted, but he drew a slow, raking breath. 'How long before we can get a train?'

The two men exchanged glances again. 'A day? Tomorrow. Noon,' said Baz at last. 'Meet here. We will have the tickets and the travel papers.'

'There'll be six of us,' said Albus. 'Not five.'

Dimitri nodded. 'We can arrange it.'

'Thank you,' said Scorpius. 'And… thank you for covering it. Funds are going to be limited while we're incognito. If I draw on my accounts, my father might notice.'

'We are all on the same side, after all,' said Baz, throwing a brief glare at Dimitri. 'If you need more… send that elf to me. If he is secure. I have already been upsetting the Council lots; I would rather not draw their attention more than I must. But we shall see you tomorrow. Noon.' He gave a curt nod, tugged on Dimitri's shoulder and turned - and then they were gone, two men disappearing into the crowds of Monastiraki Square, leaving Scorpius and Albus behind.

'That was odd,' said Albus, but started back the way they'd come.

'Baz is all right. He'd have either helped or made it damn clear he wouldn't. He might be a crook, but he's a straight-up guy. I'm not surprised he's against the Council of Thorns. He's got his own code.'

'Though all this about your father…'

'I know.' Scorpius' expression pinched.'

'I'm sure it's just his way, him wanting to fight back however he can.' Albus hesitated. 'He does love you, you know.'

'No,' said Scorpius, 'I don't. And - Jesus -!'

This exclamation was aimed at Lisa, who appeared from nowhere in the crowd and slipped up beside Albus, expression calm. She looked at him, not breaking step down the narrow road they'd come from. 'I am not supposed to be seen,' she said. 'That is the point.'

'Are you supposed to give heart attacks?'

'There were just the two of them,' she continued to Albus, ignoring Scorpius clutching his chest. 'They had no backup observing them.'

'You mean none that you could see,' said Scorpius.

She looked at him, dark eyes assessing and dismissing him in that moment. He wasn't sure he liked the newest addition to their team when she was being tense like this. 'I mean they had no backup. If I did not see them, they were not there. I'm a professional.'

'This is what I meant,' said Scorpius to Albus, 'when I said "intense". This. This is intense.'

'I was watching you. Like we agreed.'

Albus lifted his hands. 'And, thank you. It's good to know that what we saw is what we got. If Scorpius says Baz is trustworthy, and we have no reason to think otherwise, that's good enough for me.' He sighed and looked about. Walls of peeling paint loomed over the narrow roads of Athens, the paving stones underfoot giving the sense of treading on thousands of years of history with every step. 'A shame we won't get to see more of here. I hope we see more of Syria.'

'I hope,' mumbled Scorpius, 'that Baz isn't just going to set us up in the cargo carriage.'

'When Matt first got excited about all of this, I thought we were in for something swanky,' said Scorpius as he ducked into the cabin. 'He kept ranting about the Orient Express and the Taurus Express and so I expected… you know. Wood panelling. A proper dining car with linen on tables and candles and people to bring us our food. Instead…'

Rose sat up from where she'd been unwittingly napping in the bottom bunk. The journey from Athens to Istanbul had not been easy, nor had it been short, nor had they been granted more than moth-eaten and cramped seats for the long journey. While Scorpius had demonstrated his remarkable capacity to sleep anywhere, in any conditions, including snoring on her shoulder all the way from Thessaloniki while Albus flicked peanuts at him and only usually hit, she was not gifted with such a talent. As such, the sight of a sleeper train with three reserved cabins waiting for them in Istanbul had been heavenly.

But she was also hungry, and snacks for a journey longer than the Hogwarts Express had not been nearly enough, so her expression fell at Scorpius' words. 'If I have to eat another packet of crisps -'

'I thought you might unleash untold violence. So how about a sandwich?' He pulled his hand from behind his back, waggling the package at her, and made a show of jumping when she swiped for it. 'Merlin, woman, you almost took my hand off!'

'I'm a Weasley,' Rose growled, ripping off the packaging. 'I'm used to four square meals a day.' The first taste of a processed chicken sandwich, after long hours along two long train routes, was divine. 'Is Matt still complaining?'

Scorpius nodded and sat down next to her. 'I thought you wanted to see Istanbul, too.'

Baz had pulled through. The day after their meeting in Athens they had been furnished with tickets and what looked like a blank piece of paper. Show it to the Muggles, Baz had said, when they asked for passports, and it would do the work from there. It was easier on trains, apparently, whose security was reasonably loose; they couldn't have dreamt of using such charlatan magics on a plane. But it had done the job and got them to Istanbul, where they'd had all of thirty minutes to find the platform for their train due for Aleppo. Matt had not been pleased.

'I did,' said Rose. 'But I wanted to sleep and eat more.' She wolfed down another mouthful of sandwich.

'That,' said Scorpius, 'is just the most attractive you've ever been; I mean, there's a peanut in your hair and your eyes have gone kind of crazy and there are crumbs on your cheek -'

She swallowed quickly so as to not ruin the effect of glaring at him, but then he'd reached out to pull the peanut shell from her hair and suddenly she was a lot less angry. '…I'm glad we got three cabins.'

'Does Selena snore? I bet she snores; Albus snores but I'm used to it by now.'

'I mean I was just about getting used to how things were on Kythos. Then I was sharing the bunkroom in the tent and you can't exactly sneak in…'

'I could,' said Scorpius, flopping down on the bunk next to her, 'but I think Lisa might shoot me. And once we get to Aleppo we'll be on foot and in the tent again, so I think we only have two nights of this.'

She quirked an eyebrow at him. 'How come I'm being the optimist here? This isn't how it's supposed to work. I'm meant to be practical, and you're meant to be silly and charming at me. Or what else am I paying you for?'

'Oh! Right! Sorry! Service with a smile, I do forget. I brought you food. Doesn't that win me points?'

'Right now? Yes.' But the sandwich was gone, and so she curled up next to him, head resting on his shoulder. His arm slipped around her and already her eyes were drooping, like she could sleep here forever. And yet, she was not quite restful. 'Do you think we're doing the right thing?'

'This castle? I don't know. Even Matt's not sure,' sighed Scorpius, fingers playing with her hair. She always liked that; if someone stroked her hair it was normally enough to dismiss every woe in the world. 'But we don't have any better bets.'

'I mean… hiding ourselves from the world. Letting them think we're dead.' She bit her lip. 'I don't want to imagine what I'm putting my parents through.'

'They'll understand. When it's over, when we're done, when we've got the Chalice and the Council of Thorns are beaten… they'll understand. We're not just doing it to keep ourselves safe, when they've clearly got some security leaks. We're also doing it for them - and for anyone else, for people whose paths we cross, like the people of Kythos, like Baz and Dimitri…'

'I know. But we're still hurting them. It feels selfish. And then I think of the people of Kythos and revealing ourselves just so we feel better also feels selfish… this was so much easier when we only had to worry about ourselves. I mean, we had to worry if we'd pull through for everyone at Hogwarts, but that was because if we failed, they'd suffer. Now, we can win… and people can still suffer.'

'Hey.' He lifted a hand to her chin, tilted her head up to his. 'This isn't our doing. It's theirs. It's not our fault. They want to scare us, scare everyone into submission. Just by trying, we're fighting them. You know that's the right thing to do.'

'Except we're fighting them to save people. Getting people killed… there were hundreds of people on Kythos, and they didn't care, they wiped them out…'

'They did,' he repeated, and kissed her on the forehead. 'Not us.'

'When did you get so smart?'

'I was always smart,' said Scorpius. 'I was just good at pretending.'

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself be lulled into the illusion of peace and security in this tiny, plastic-panelled cabin, doomed to either be gloomy or lit with sterile lighting, Turkish suburbia still rushing by the windows as night-time drew on. But she was here, at least, with him, and he always made her feel like nothing could be as bad as she feared. Since when had he done that, she wondered? Since Methuselah died, or earlier? Since hiding in the Forbidden Forest from centaurs with him, hunkering behind shelter and holding his hand without even thinking about it, like he was an anchor to safety…

'Do you want to talk about your father?' she murmured.

'Never,' he said, but his voice was airy, not blunt.

'Albus told me. About the bounty.'

His chest rose and fell with the deep sigh. 'Of course he did.'

'It's quite a gesture -'

'It means he's still in with crooks,' said Scorpius, voice a low rumble which vibrated against her cheek. 'It means he wants vengeance. It means he's willing to blow money on sending the message that nobody messes with the Malfoys. It's the message, don't you see? He doesn't care a fig for me; he cares that the world has seen the Malfoys can be fucked with, and he wants to redress the balance.'

'He's your father -'

'And it would be lovely if that automatically meant he cares. But you and I both know it doesn't automatically mean a damned thing. It doesn't guarantee affection, and it certainly doesn't guarantee that he's a decent person who deserves my affection. Hell, Rose, six months ago you'd have told me to not care what he thought -'

She lifted herself up onto her elbows, fingers finding his lips to forestall the torrent of bitterness. 'I'm not saying you should care what he thinks,' she whispered. 'I just don't want to see you demonising him.'

'He deserves to be demonised. You saw him at your house. How he treated me, how he treated you. Being my father doesn't mean he loves me. Being my father doesn't mean I should love him. Being my father doesn't make him a decent person. And the fact that he had access to the thugs and brutes of the Council of Thorns, and yet we heard nothing about this over the last few months, means at worst he's involved with them, and at best that he didn't care to tell anyone. Not if it risked his neck, his prestige.' His lip curled.

Rose sighed, lifting a hand to brush his hair back from his forehead. 'I do remember that letter at Christmas. And I remember thinking he was a hateful, bitter man who didn't deserve to have a son like you. I hated him, then. I hated him for saying that to you then of all times, I hated him for how he'd obviously hurt you so, so much…'

'He hurts people.' Scorpius' brow furrowed. 'That's what he does, he thinks of himself first and then he hurts people. And it's… it's part of why I despise myself when I get prickly and selfish. Not just because I'm unpleasant to be around, but I don't want to be like him.' His gaze met hers, hesitant. 'I can't pretend to be noble and say that's why I pulled back in Paris. But it was a little bit the reason. The ice in the cocktail of my stupidity. A bit because… I see myself in him sometimes, and I'd hate to do to you, what he did to my mother.'

'You're not him. And I'm not her.'

'Good, or this relationship would be even more messed up.'

Her lips curled, and she leaned down to brush her nose against his. 'I don't like the idea of hurting my family. But I don't like that you're convinced you're not missed.'

'It doesn't matter. I'm not bothered by it. My father's an arse, he's always been an arse, he'll always be an arse. And so the people who matter to me, who really matter… are here.' His hands slid down her back, snaking around her waist to hold her close. 'Don't you worry about me. I'm the lucky one. Well.' He smirked. 'Aside from getting to live off pies, sandwiches, and crisps.'

'We'll be in Aleppo the day after tomorrow. Then we get to go hiking through the Syrian desert. I think we should view this as pretty cushy.'

'Yeah, except we've got these really cramped bunks and I like my space.'

'I could go -'

But he'd tightened his hold and rolled back, trapping her in the enclosure of the bunk. 'Oh, no, you don't escape me that easily!' She fell against him, giggling, hair dangling into his face, and her breath caught as their eyes met and she saw his expression - suddenly serious and apprehensive. 'I didn't say, before,' he stumbled. 'I liked it, too.'

She frowned. 'Liked what?'

'Kythos. Sharing a room. Us. The time together. It was - nice.'

Despite herself, she giggled again and planted a light kiss on his lips. '"Nice". Selena was right, we actually are terrible about this talking thing.'

'You talked to Selena?'

'One, you weren't talking, and two: yes. Women talk.' Her fingertips played with the collar of his shirt, a gesture which started out playful but quickly became soothing. 'I'm happy to take things slow. As slow as you want, really.'

'I don't really -' His brow furrowed. 'Why is this difficult to put in words?'

'Because we're not used to it. Because we're still figuring this stuff out. How did you and Miranda handle it? And understand that you can use broad strokes.'

'We -' He tensed a bit more, then exhaled, forcibly relaxing. 'We didn't talk, not really. Things just sort of happened. Did you? With Matt, or - or Hector?'

It was good to see he was just as awkward asking about her past experiences as she was asking about his. It probably made his worse that her ex-boyfriend was in the next room. 'Much the same. Though, er, less happened. Honestly, aside from a little bit last Christmas, Matt and I didn't have much more privacy than a corner of the Common Room and wherever we could sneak away to on prefect patrols. And even less so with Hector, I only ever saw him out in Diagon Alley in the summer. But we should be, well, better. We should talk. So.' She poked him in the chest. 'Sex.'

He looked at her - then burst out laughing, a nervous laugh aware of how ridiculous the situation was, and she found herself laughing along with him. It helped. To know they were both as insecure and awkward as each other, to know it was daunting for them both, but to, together, acknowledge that it didn't need to be, and by the time he'd stopped laughing he was a lot more relaxed, gaze thoughtful. 'You know I think you're great. And I've been having a great time so far,' he began, voice settling, though his smile remained. 'And I don't want to mess things up by either one of us racing into something we're not ready for, just because we think… I don't know, we're supposed to?'

'No, that makes sense. It's not like we're in a rush. It's not like we're going anywhere. And maybe it was silly of us in Paris to let things get as far as they did without a proper conversation about… you know, what we wanted, boundaries, comfort level. We might have let the wining and dining get to us both a bit too much.'

'True, but it was the first proper night away where we weren't in separate bunkrooms and I wasn't unconscious from healing. We have had a grand total of three such evenings together, not including tonight but including Paris and including getting woken up in the middle of the night with Fiendfyre.'

'Which makes tumbling into bed together without any kind of conversation really dumb.'

'It does.' His lips curled. 'So we take it slow and careful?' He lifted a hand for his fingers to again play with that uncooperative, springy lock of her hair. 'And slow is fine. Don't you worry about me. Hell, bringing you breakfast in bed was a highlight.'

She couldn't stop grinning like an idiot at that. 'It was about the best thing to wake up to ever. Not everything has to be deep and meaningful conversation, or deep and meaningful not conversation. Sometimes we can just lie back and let the world go by.'

'With a full day stuck on a train tomorrow, I think there's going to be a lot of that.' He wrapped the lock of hair around his finger. 'Still. We keep talking, I reckon we'll be fine. If things move too fast… you just say?'

'Of course, but don't be an idiot about this - don't you dare say, "I'm the guy, I'm supposed to be fine with things". You're allowed to ask to put the brakes on, too.'

He grinned. 'I know. That said…' He leaned up, and her breath caught again, but his lips found the curve of her jaw instead of her mouth, and it was enough to send a shiver running through her. 'You ever want things to move faster… you just say.' His hands at her hips slid up for his fingers to brush under the hem of her t-shirt against her bare midriff, and the thought shot through her that she'd spent a long time sat on a cramped train and was not at her best.

Then she realised that this was him, and her, and she didn't care because he wouldn't care.

'You ever dislike what I'm doing, you say, but if you like it…' His mouth trailed down to her throat, and she found herself tilting her head up, inviting him closer. '…tell me that, too.'

She tried to confirm that yes, indeed, more of this, please - but the noise which came out wasn't particularly coherent, and she had to try again, clinging wildly to the strands of their mature and sensible conversation. 'You know that goes for you - mmf -!'

Because then he'd flipped her over onto her back, pinning her down with his weight in one smooth, strong motion. That was enough to knock the thoughts out of her head, but then his mouth was on hers and that took any words away from her lips, too. Her fingers sank into his hair, pulling him closer, denying them both the chance to breathe if breathing meant he had to spend one second not kissing her.

That was probably enough sensible and mature conversation anyway.

She had spent days assessing and evaluating them, up close and from a distance. She was learning every way they ticked, every nuance of their behaviour, every tell of a lie or an evasion or an uncomfortable truth. It was in what was left unspoken as much, if not more, than what was said; the details they avoided could be just as revealing.

And now here, in the gloomy darkness of the boys' cabin as the train rattled and trundled towards their distant destination, she was going to put it all to good use. She knew exactly where they were, exactly what they wanted, and she was going to destroy them within moments. And they would never see it coming.

Albus asked her a question, and Lisa gave a thin smile. Of course he asked that. Of course he looked to the wrong place, missed what was right before his eyes, and in doing so, had told her exactly what she needed to know.

She raised her cards a half-inch and tried to not smile. 'Go fish.'

After she'd won the game, Matt swore and gathered up the cards for another quick shuffle. 'Son of a bitch. I should have had you with me playing cards in the Rabbit's Foot -'

Then one of the wild cards from the Exploding Snap pack they'd thrown in, just to make life interesting, went off in his hands - and set off another, and another. Selena shrieked, and by the time the smoke faded Matt was sooty-faced and sputtering, the cards scattered about the cabin floor around him.

And Lisa couldn't help but join in the uproarious laughter that echoed out the door as their train rattled on the long route to Aleppo.