A/N: Thank you, fritzen and Danielle, for your reviews. Thank you for reading this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
1822
Flynn and Rowan rushed through the dimly-lit back streets of St. Louis. Despite the lack of light, they managed to spot the occasional streaks of blood against the building's walls, leading them further away from town.
As they rounded the corner, a junction between three different buildings, they skidded to a stop. Panting for air, they glanced up and down the different routes.
"Which way?" Flynn asked, eyes darting around in search of obvious clues.
Rowan shook his head as he scanned the area. "I don't know…" As he turned to ask Flynn a question, Rowan saw quick movement in the shadows behind Flynn. "Look out!"
Flynn whirled around to defend himself but felt Rowan's hands shove him out of the way just as the spear came rushing for his head. Rowan dodged out of its path a bit too slow. The crack against the side of Rowan's head caused the rod-iron spear to chime with the contact.
Rowan collapsed onto the dirt with a hard thud. Flynn's eyes zeroed in on him but the man didn't move. Before he could call out to Rowan, the man with the spear spun around to attack Flynn.
Flynn turned dodged out of the way of the man-made spear coming for his torso. His hands grasped the rod-iron spear, trying to pull it away from the dirty half-naked man before him.
The man was stronger than his lanky frame appeared as he jerked the spear from Flynn's hold, slicing the palms of his hands. The man swung it around quickly, trying to strike again. Flynn leaned out of the way, ducking to avoid it smacking him across the face. His attacker didn't relent as he continued to impale Flynn.
Flynn evaded out of the way again, one hand grabbing the spear while the other slammed into the man's face. The man jerked the spear to the opposite side of Flynn, causing Flynn to fall off balance. Once Flynn got his feet back under him, he felt searing pain pierce the side of his thigh. He collapsed to the ground, rolling in the dirt away from his assailant.
As Flynn rolled to a stop, his back pressed against the wall of a nearby building, one hand gripping his injured leg while the other raised protectively to brace for the impending attack. Before the spear could find its home in Flynn's chest, the unmistakable sound of a gun firing echoed loudly within the dead of the night.
The man with the spear stopped, slowly looked down to his abdomen to watch a trail of crimson trickle down his left side. He whirled around to see Rowan standing there with his modern gun aimed at him, a patch of blood and dirt soaking his blond hair on the injured side of his head. The man snarled and hissed at Rowan as he raised the spear to strike again. Rowan fired two more rounds into the man's chest, bringing him to the ground for good.
Flynn staggered to his feet, his eyes locked onto the half-naked man on the ground, watching the blood pool around the body. Rowan asked, "Ye all right?"
Flynn nodded as he took a couple of unsteady steps forward. "Yeah," he replied, "thanks." Bending over the dead man, he flipped him onto his back to study the man's face. He stared at the lifeless expression, eyes narrowing at him suspiciously.
Rowan noticed the look of recognition on Flynn's face. "What is it?"
Multiple voices shouted in the night, echoing through the back streets toward them. Glancing up, they could make out the faint glow of torches approaching. Flynn shook his head as he stated, "We cannot stay here. Let's get out of here before the mob shows up." Rowan grabbed Flynn's arm, tossing it over his shoulder to help him move quicker.
Just moments after Rowan and Flynn fled the scene, the deputy and the unruly mob arrived.
Lucy and Rufus paced the front of the general store as they worried about their missing friends. Lucy chewed on her thumb as her eyes darted around the vacant dark street.
Rufus, out of sheer boredom, rearranged the bulletin board posts in alphabetical order. As he moved another page around, he stopped. "Hey," he called over his shoulder to Lucy. "Didn't the sheriff mention a few people were killed before we showed up?" Lucy hummed a response, not bothering to look at Rufus as he continued, "Because it looks like they were considered missing…"
"What?" she asked, stopping her pacing. She approached him and looked at the paper he held. It was a missing persons poster and the date it was posted was a few days before they showed up in this timeline.
Rufus moved another page over. "Here's another." He moved a couple more around, finding a total of six missing person posters. "What is going on here?" his eyes widened with realization, "Do you think Flynn and Rowan are missing?"
Before Lucy could reply, they heard uneven footsteps on the wooden platform approaching them. Flynn sighed sharply as he groaned, "Not missing."
"What the hell happened to you two?" Rufus asked. "You just disappeared!" As they stepped closer to them, Lucy and Rufus gasped at the sight of the two. Rufus asked, "What the...did you two get into a fight or something?"
"Or something," Flynn muttered, rolling his eyes at Rufus's imagination. He was eternally grateful for the empty streets so as not to attract unwanted attention - by their appearances or Rufus's startled but loud commentary.
Rowan shook his head slightly. "We found the man," he whispered, eyes darting about the street before returning to look at the two. "What have ye got there?" he asked, motioning with his chin to the papers in their hands.
Lucy held the pages out to them. "Rufus found a bunch of missing persons posters," she explained. "Looks like they're a few days old." Rowan took some from Lucy's outstretched hand, holding it for both of them to see.
Flynn studied the images. They were all men of varied ages. A couple were locals but there were a couple of drifters. Outside of their gender, these men had nothing in common - except for one unapparent detail.
"These are the victims of our murderer," Flynn confirmed.
Lucy gasped as her eyes widened. Rufus's mouth fell open as he stared at Flynn. "Wait, what?" Rufus asked.
Rowan nodded. "Aye, they are," he agreed. "We got a good look at some of them…" he turned his gaze over to Flynn, "looks like our man has been here for some time." Flynn's jaw tensed as he nodded, eyes fixed on the portraits in his hands. Rowan readjusted his hold on Flynn's arm which remained over his shoulders.
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked quietly to Flynn.
"We should get out of here quickly," Flynn replied. "I think this was a trap."
"What do you mean?" Rufus asked. "What trap?"
"I'll explain when we're back at the bunker," Flynn stated. "It's best to get as far away from here as possible."
"Wait," Lucy called out to the men walking away. "What about the murderer? We can't just - "
Rowan spoke softly, "He's dead." He allowed the shock to fade from Lucy and Rufus's expressions before adding, "We had no choice."
"Let's get the hell out of here," Flynn muttered, heading off into the dark toward the time machine.
1781
The team managed to slip out of the hidden hut, traveling back along the rocky coast toward their time machine. Just as the machine came into view, an eruption of gunfire filled the dead of night. The four scrambled for cover amongst the rocks of the shore as the bullets ricocheted off of the stones.
Jiya and Wyatt hunkered behind a large boulder near the machine. Quinn peered over the top of his cover, gun at the ready to return fire as he scanned for the person shooting at them. Tenley braced her back against a different rock, separated from the others.
Quinn kept his head down as his eyes darted about the dark landscape. When the gunfire continued, he saw where they were coming from as the blasts illuminated the night. There were three out there - and based on the frequency of the bullets - they had modern weapons. These were not simpletons of the era.
Wyatt shouted over to Quinn, "What do you see?"
Bullets continued to snap over their heads, ricocheting off the rocks, keeping them in place with racing hearts. Quinn turned his gaze over to Wyatt, shouting back, "There's at least three of them!"
Wyatt turned his head toward the cove where the machine sat. He could see the outline of it from where he sat. He knew they could make a run for it but they'd have to provide some cover to do so. He looked at Jiya and spoke loudly enough for her to hear over the battle, "When I tell you to, I need you to make a break for the machine."
"Are you crazy?!" she shouted back to him, lowering herself against the rock as bullets flew around them.
"Trust me!" he told her. "We have to get out of here and you're a pilot! You have to do this!" He saw the fear in her expression and added, "Quinn and I will keep them off of you but you have to do this!"
Jiya felt sick to her stomach as it knotted painfully in her belly. Her heart slammed against her chest at the idea of going by herself. Licking her lips, she nodded.
Wyatt adjusted his grip on his gun, turning to look at her again. "Ready?"
"No!"
"Go!" he shouted, turning to fire a few rounds over the top of his cover. Jiya pushed herself to her feet, running madly toward the time machine.
Tenley could see Jiya's silhouette running for the cove. The sounds of the bullets raining down upon them had not eased. She feared they were going to die on the shore of this place.
Quinn returned fire before lowering himself behind his cover. He glanced over to meet Tenley's wide-eyed stare. "Stay there!" he called out to her. "We'll get ye out of there!"
She nodded, trying to keep her breathing calm. Her eyes bounced down the shore and saw the machine coming to life within the dark cove. She could see Wyatt returning fire.
Quinn turned toward her again, shouting over the gunfire, "Get ready to come to me!" Tenley's eyes grew wide as her breath hitched in her throat. Quinn waited until there was a pause in the enemy's assault before shouting to her, "Now!" He leaned over his cover, firing his gun at them.
Tenley forced herself to her feet, racing across the uneven ground toward Quinn. The moment she neared him, the bullets plinked off the nearby rocks, zipping dangerously close to her head. Quinn reached out and grasped her by the forearm, tugging her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to rest her back against his chest as they hunkered behind the rock together.
Wyatt saw that all of the gunfire had focused upon Quinn and Tenley's location. He leaned over his rock, carefully aiming at one of the dark silhouettes. With excellent precision, he managed to take one of them down. The moment the body fell, they turned their attention onto Wyatt. He ducked behind his rock, eyes lifting to meet Quinn's appreciative gaze.
Quinn's lips pressed against Tenley's ear as he whispered, "Ye better get ready to run."
She shook her head. "I...I can't!"
"Ye have to," he told her. "I'll be right beside ye...But we need to reach Wyatt, then the machine…" She shook her head again, closing her eyes to keep the tears behind them. He whispered again, "One step at a time, yeah? Wyatt, then machine. Ready?"
Swallowing the rising bile in her throat, Tenley opened her eyes. She felt a lump forming painfully in her chest, keeping her from breathing easily. Quinn gently nudged her away from his body before grasping her hand. "Trust me," he told her, studying her face.
He turned for a moment to fire off another round toward the two remaining enemies. After firing, he gripped her hand tightly, pulling her alongside him as they made a beeline toward Wyatt.
As they ran, the enemy fired upon them, chasing them with bullets. Tenley felt Quinn's arm jerk within her grip and a pained growl come from him. When they reached Wyatt, Quinn pulled her down beside him again. She tried to look for a wound but he shook his head, giving her a silent warning that now was not the time.
Wyatt ducked down from the oncoming barrage. "I'll hold them off! You get her to the machine!"
Tenley shook her head, mouth opening to retort when Quinn shouted, "No! We go together!"
Wyatt studied the two before nodding. "All right…" he shifted his weight on his heels. "Ready?"
Quinn nodded. "Aye. Let's go!"
The two men stood up, firing at those on the hill before turning and making a mad dash for the machine. The three could hear the people on the hill shouting at one another but they couldn't make out the words.
Just as the time machine came into view, another shot rang out. Quinn fell to the ground, bringing Tenley down with him. Tenley hissed as her knees, palms of her free hand, and her left cheek got scraped up from the jagged rocks beneath her. She pushed herself to a kneeling position, glancing over to Quinn. "Quinn?!"
Wyatt dropped to a knee, whirling around to return fire. "Get him up!"
Tenley reached for Quinn and saw he was alive. He blinked at her, grumbling under his breath as he scrambled to his feet with Tenley's help. He hobbled slightly as they continued for the time machine.
Wyatt stood, still firing as he backed toward the rest of his team. Turning on his heel, he ran to catch up to Tenley and Quinn. Seeing Tenley struggle to get Quinn into the time machine, Wyatt grabbed Quinn's arm, tossing it over his shoulder. "Come on! We gotta get out of here!"
Tenley climbed into the machine last, turning around to see the two men rushing into the cove behind them, preparing to fire once more at them. When their eyes connected, the men lowered their guns. Tenley's brows drew together as the door closed, breaking their contact.
"Better strap in fast!" Jiya shouted as the machine started to come to life. She didn't wait for anyone to strap in before getting them the hell out.