"Are they from Fittes, do you think?" Lucy whispered.

I tried listen to the intruders. The way they were speaking and even the way they moved. "Too rough and disorganised," I determined. "My guess is that Leopold Winkman woke up."

I opened the broom cupboard and found two rapiers. I handed one to Lucy.

"Where's your rucksack?"

She frowned but took the rapier. "It's here, but why would Winkman -"

"Later. Put the skull in there and be ready to run."

She looked like she was about to argue. Probably against running away.

"There are at least six people," I hissed to her. "If we stay, we're dead."

She sneered at the skull before turning to me. "Fine," she huffed.

I slowly went and opened the hatch on the kitchen window and gestured for Lucy to go out.

"We don't know if they have someone standing guard. You'll get almost directly out onto the street. Find a place to hide. Either that or run to the right if they see you."

She looked over her shoulder and made a weird face at her bag before jumping up on the kitchen counter.

She bit her lower lip before kissing my cheek and then she was out.

I jumped on the counter too.

"Oi!" someone yelled from behind me.

I felt them grab my foot, trying to pull me back in, but I was already halfway out the window. I slashed the rapier out behind me and heard a yelp of pain.

"S'getting away!" Someone cried out.

I heard more people in the kitchen, but I was already out. It was pouring down outside. Lucy had crossed the road and was standing behind a car. We were both in our socks. At whatever home I got next, combat boots were acquired footwear. Either that or I would buy a fortress.

A group of five men came spilling out of the door, as Lucy and I turned the corner.

We ran as fast as we could. I grabbed Lucy's hand to be sure that she wouldn't lag behind me, but I needn't have worried because she quickly overtook me.

"Left," I gasped as we reached an intersection.

There was a clinking sound, and a knife landed a few feet away from me.

I chanced a quick look over my shoulder and saw three rather large men pursuing us. I tried to remember if there were any places coming up where we could hide, because we couldn't go on like this for long.

We were both quickly running out of stamina. Running was painful for our socked feet and the rain and the wetness of our clothes did us no favours.

We turned a corner and immediately I pulled Lucy with me into a narrow passage, somewhat hidden by a small tree.

Not many seconds passed before I heard the heavy boots of our pursuers. They were splitting up to search for us.

"We need somewhere to stay," Lucy whispered.

She was shivering and hugging herself. It was still cold in early April and the rain made it all worse. I wasn't doing much better in my thin shirt. At least, Lucy wasn't without undergarments anymore. That would have been another sort of awkward.

I only nodded.

"No, I'm not staying under a bridge," she growled over her shoulder. "What about Portland Row?"

I frowned a bit. "Depends. If they saw you with me, it's too obvious."

"But why would they go after you, if not for me? They would have attacked a long time ago if it was because of the raid."

I winced. "I'm afraid it's a bit more personal than that. But I didn't think old Leopold would wake up any time soon."

"He was showing signs of waking up the other day. Barnes told me."

My eyes snapped to hers. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?" I hissed. "We should have gone somewhere else! And I left you there alone! Fuck!" I swore.

She shrugged "I'm sorry! I forgot! But why is it personal? You organised the raid on the relic market. Not against the Winkmans personally,"

I looked away. "Because I was also the one who put Leopold Winkman in the hospital,"

"You what?" she snapped.

I sighed deeply and rubbed my face, "I lost my temper."

"Lost your temper? He's been in a coma for weeks!" she stared at me wide-eyed.

I bit my lip, thinking about an excuse, but couldn't find a decent one. I could only try for an explanation of sorts.

"Back at the institute, Tony was fine," I tried slowly, "But what would you have done to Steve Rotwell if he wasn't? If you didn't know if Tony was going to live or die? Would you let Rotwell get away with it?"

"I'd kill him." She answered without hesitation but clapped her hands in front of her mouth as soon as the sentence had left it. "But that's different. You don't –"

"Is it?" I cut her off. "Isn't it exactly the same though?" I looked her directly in the eye. I honestly didn't know if I wanted her to understand what I meant or not.

She looked like she was about to argue but thought better of it.

"Is it bad that I don't feel bad about actually killing Rotwell?" she asked in a small voice instead.

I snorted. "The only reason you killed Rotwell is because I didn't get there first. Tony might hate me but –"

"He doesn't." she interrupted. "He really doesn't. And you shut up, back there or so help me, I will paint that jar with pretty flowers." She added over her shoulder.

I chuckled "Let's just get out of the rain. I think it might be better to rule out Portland Row for now. We'll go somewhere, get dried up, get some dry clothes and then we can go there after."

"We should check up on Lockwood too."

"Agreed. But we're of no use to him in this state. They won't even let us into the hospital like this."

She huffed impatiently.

I rubbed her arms a bit, trying to warm her up. "We could call the hospital though. Ask about his condition," I suggested.

She unexpectedly wound her arms around my waist and nodded against my shoulder.

I held her close and kissed her hair. "We'll do that first then. As soon as we're safe. Maybe we can find a payphone on the way to the station."

"The Tube?"

I only nodded. I inched towards the opening and was relieved when I saw that the coast was clear.

Lucy kept a firm grip on my hand. For that I was grateful because I was running partially blind. If a ghost turned up, I would be dead, no matter if we got away from our enemies or not.

We got out slowly, keeping a close eye on our surroundings.

"There they are!" I heard to our left.

We ran back out the way he had come, past closed shops and restaurants. We passed a single open café, but none of us had time for coffee.

My lungs burned and my skin was so cold it felt like I was being sliced open.

"Angel," I got out.

"Weird time for compliments, but okay," Lucy gasped.

I laughed but I was so out of breath that it hurt, "The Station. Angel" I pointed up ahead.

We put the last bit of energy in our sprint and didn't stop until we were finally on the train.

I threw myself in a seat. The train was one of the older models and the green upholstery was peeling. I almost cried, relieving some of the pressure off my feet.

Lucy looked as exhausted as I felt. We sat across from each other and I was about to pick up her feet when she grabbed my head and pushed it as far down as she could, almost slamming it into the small table between us.

"Get down" She hissed, "The skull says that one of them is on the train with us."

"Seriously? It can sense that?" I questioned with no small amount of scepticism. I hadn't forgotten what Tony had told me.

"Just shut up."

I did as she told me and flattened myself further, going as far as going underneath the table. I couldn't see anything, but I tried to listen carefully. The train was virtually empty. A couple of night watch kids were arguing further down.

Their squabbling suddenly died down and the sound of heavy boots filled the void. Whoever it was, moved slowly as if they were searching for something.

Shit.

I slowly unfastened my rapier from my belt, careful not to make a sound. Across from my, Lucy did the same. Our eyes connected and she gave me a little smirk.

As soon as the tip of a boot appeared in my field of vision, I surged upwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucy doing the same.

Our opponent was a large man with long, matted hair. His nose looked like it had been broken a fair few times and never been set properly. He was wearing a padded jacket that looked dirty with substances I'd rather not describe.

I hit him in the nose, and I hope I broke it again. He cried out and held a hand to his face.

His other hand lashed out against me with a dagger.

He made some uncoordinated attempts at stabbing me.

Lucy, using one of the poles as leverage kicked him so hard in the shoulder that he fell to the floor.

He scrambled to get up, but Lucy wouldn't have it. Her rapier was under his chin and he froze.

"Get to the door." She ordered him menacingly.

He got up with slow deliberate movements. I think he understood that we meant business. As he got to his feet, he held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, but Lucy never let down her guard. I was ready to back her up if need be though.

He inched backwards until he stood exactly in front of the double doors.

The train slowed down before arriving at the next station.

"This is your stop" Lucy sneered at the man.

She pushed him out of the train onto the platform.

Quick as a whip, he reached for something on the inside of his jacket and out of instinct, I pulled Lucy to the floor.

Thuck

Thankfully, the doors were already closing back up. The man smiled nastily. The blood running in a steady stream from his nose, stained his teeth red.

I looked behind me. Stuck in the rubber seal that held the doors closed on the other side behind us, was an old throwing knife. If I hadn't pulled Lucy down, it would have been stuck in her skull instead.

She looked at me with wide eyes before huffing a small laugh in relief.

We returned to our seats and Lucy's bag.

"Thank you, skull." I groaned before plopping back down.

Lucy looked at me strangely.

"What?"

She gave me a small smile. "Nothing."

Rather than sitting across from me, she sat down next to me this time and leaned against me.

I almost dozed off as we sat there quietly, going north.

"Careful!" Lucy yelped when we left the station.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to her. I had my rapier out in seconds, but she appeared to have already disposed of whatever ghost had been there.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Why don't you have the Orpheus glasses?"

"Well, I can't have them with me all the time, can I? They look ridiculous and I can't exactly pass them off as an accessory." I defended.

"Where are they then?"

"I'll need to get back for them eventually. I just hope those idiots haven't burned the house down. I put them in a safe in the basement."

I tugged on her hand a bit to get her to follow me. "We need to go through the forest. It's this way."

She followed easily but kept her hand on her rapier. We had come out at the bottom of a cul-de-sac, but off to the side was a pathway that led towards where we needed to go. It wasn't far.

"Look, there. Here's an entrance." I pointed at the gate in the low fence.

Lucy snorted. "Woods with entrances. Do we need to pay a fee as well?"

I rolled my eyes but couldn't find a response that didn't sound stupid.

When we passed through the gate, I'd had enough of my socks. In their wet state, they only served to annoy me rather than provide any sort of warmth. I pulled them off and put them in my pocket. Lucy copied me but put hers in her rucksack.

"Oh, quit moaning, you mouldy, old piece of bone. You don't have any nostrils anymore."

I felt my mouth curling in a small smile.

It was still cold, but I felt better somehow, with my bare feet on the ground.

"It's not too far anymore."

"Where are we even going?" Lucy asked. "You have a treehouse or something in there?"

I cleared my throat. "Not exactly. This way."

Lucy dug a torch out of her rucksack, but I didn't need it. I knew every branch and root here.

I took her by the hand, and we walked along the outer paths until we reached a familiar oak tree.

"We'll need to leave the path now, alright? It's not far."

Sticks scratched at the soles of my feet, and leaves stuck to them.

"If I step in dog poo, you're the one who's going to clean my feet." Lucy mumbled from behind me.

"You could also just be careful where you step. Anyway, here we are."

Finally, we reached the right place. I pointed at it.

"It's a fence, Quill."

"It is."

She crossed her arms in front of her. "It's a bloody tall fence."

"Yup. How are you at climbing trees?"

"I uh – decent, I suppose?"

I nodded. "Good enough. That tree," I pointed at the gnarled old oak next to us, "Has a thick branch that reaches the other side of the fence."

"You want us to climb a tree? What's even on the other side?"

"My house. Well, my parent's house."

She looked like she was about to slap me. "If this is your house, then why the hell aren't we just knocking on the front door?"

I ran a hand down my face and blew out my cheeks. "Well, because if my mum saw you, you would first sit through an interrogation and then we'd be married before morning. I didn't think you'd want that. Also, I promised my mum that I wouldn't get in trouble." I said under my breath.

Lucy covered her mouth with her hand, but her shoulders were shaking. Even her eyes were laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you want to go first or shall I?"

"You go," she grinned. "I want to see mummy's boy in action,"

I poked her in the ribs, making her jerk and squeal and suddenly, it didn't feel like we'd been running away from black market dealers. It felt more like sneaking around with the girl I liked, and I prayed to whatever deity might hear me that I wouldn't embarrass myself and fall flat on my face in front of her.

I tried to push all the confidence I had into the smirk I gave her before taking a hold of the lowest branch. Luckily, I had climbed this tree a thousand times while growing up, so I had muscle memory on my side.

I reached the right branch and looked down at Lucy.

"Are you coming, Ms Carlyle or do you need a written invitation?"

She grinned at me and easily and elegantly jumped from branch to branch.

I heard a sharp intake of breath when she reached the thick branch I was sitting on. From there, she would have full view of the house.

Had been anyone else, possibly in the entire world, I wouldn't have hesitated to take the opportunity to do some serious showing off, but I knew that Lucy Carlyle was not so easily impressed, so I sat there on the branch, holding my breath, waiting for her to react.

...

I feel like I should tell you that I wrote maybe 75% of this on my phone while watching Peppa Pig with my youngest.
We watched the one where Grandpa Pig needs to mend the computer in order to beat Granny Pig's highscore in the Happy Mrs Chicken game.

I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Let me know if there are any porcine elements that snuck their way in.

I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and if I don't have time to post before, then Happy New Year too!

Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the chapter!