'We don't need him! Everything was going fine!'

'Do not mistake your place.'

Emerald glared harshly at the male sitting across from her. The embers of their fire crackled and disappeared as soon as it floated to the ground, a short life for something so bright. Her ruby eyes traced over Mercury's face, he wasn't even looking at her, trying to find something that would help her find out more about him.

Other than he's skilled. Other than he killed Marcus Black.

His own father.

"What do you want?" Mercury snapped as his cool, steel eyes looked up to meet hers. Emerald did little to hide her surprise, her widened eyes and slightly agape mouth, apparently she wasn't as subtle as she thought she was.

"Nothing." Emerald answered shortly, a small shake of her head as she continued to stare into his eyes.

"Then stop staring." Mercury said, a slight growl biting through his voice. Emerald looked back down at the fire, her hands tucking her knees up to her chest. She rested her chin on her left knee, her eyes watching the flames perform a intricate dance that she doubted anyone could replicate.

Seconds ticked into minutes; the minutes of silence were comfortable. Neither of them knew each other well, it was nice to have a drop of noise and to just sit and be quiet. To not have to worry about trying to cut the small talk and get around to what they wanted to talk about. She was sure he had questions about her.

She certainly had questions about him.

Yet her eyes fled the gaze of the fire and returned to the boy who was staring at the grass beside him. His eyes were cold but anger boiled in them, a deadly blizzard that would make chaos and disaster. She refused to stop staring at his face, refused to stop trying to figure the boy out, and moved down to scan the rest of him.

His clothes were still dirty, still stained with mud and blood, and the edges were burned from what Emerald guessed was the house. His left arm had suffered a mild burn, as did his right shoulder. She refused to help him, he didn't ask for it and he didn't want it, she saw no reason to assist.

Her gaze drifted further down and she found the bandages wrapped around his knees and part of his thighs. Emerald's eyes widened as she noticed his legs shaking, no longer able to withstand the movement and the damage they'd been caused.

"What?" Mercury glared harshly, his eyes burning with the fire in between them as he tried to tuck his legs away from her view. Emerald looked up and lifted her head, surprise once again taking hold of her expression.

"I'm sorry." Emerald said somewhat quietly, unable to find anything better to say. Mercury winced as he pulled his legs behind him and leaned on one of his hands. Emerald stopped looking at the boy and looked back into the forest, the identical trees creating a barrier from their little campsite.

"Whatever." Mercury brushed it off, his tone was submerged in annoyance but she could tell that he was trying to make it seem like nothing. Emerald's eyes glanced over to him for a brief second and found him staring at the fire, his eyebrows knitting together to form a dangerous looking frown.

Emerald turned her head back before Mercury could notice she was looking at him again, and stared into the cluster of trees that surrounded them. Cinder hadn't returned and she said to wait for her, so they waited. For a thief, Emerald was impatient, she could steal anything she wanted with a simple trick.

A shiver ran down her spine, though the area was void of wind, and Emerald paused. An uneasy feeling pooled in her stomach as she realized she wasn't cold, she was being watched. Her eyes automatically scanned the forest for any sign of someone watching, as she turned her head she found Mercury staring straight at her.

She cast a uncomfortable glance that quickly contorted into anger.

"Stop staring." Emerald snarled as she glared at Mercury. To any other person, that glare would've been enough to send them on their way, to make them think twice about what they were doing.

Not Mercury.

"No." Mercury challenged, his eyes boring holes into her own as he stared evenly at her. Emerald's eyes widened, taken aback by the reaction.

"What? Why?" Emerald asked as she reached for her only blanket and placed it around her shoulders.

"Consider it payback." Mercury gave a small smirk, his head tilting a little to show a slight curiosity.

"I hate you." Emerald shook her head as she pulled the blanket further upon her, encasing herself in the warming shell of her throw-over. Mercury raised an eyebrow but decided to remain silent.

Slowly, Mercury lowered himself to the ground, carefully avoiding putting weight on his own legs. Something inside Emerald burned that she hadn't felt in a long time: pity. She watched him cautiously lay on his side, his breaths somewhat labored from doing it so slowly and painfully carefully. He pulled a blanket towards him, it was clearly too small for the tallest of their little group, and he didn't even bother with his arms. He placed the blanket over his legs, hiding them from the view of prying eyes.

Emerald opened her mouth, about to remind Mercury that they hadn't eaten yet, but she snapped it shut almost instantly. He's probably tired. Emerald took a deep breath and tensed her muscles, ready for action at the next second.

Minutes ticked to hours, the night walked on as Emerald struggled to keep her eyes open. Few instances in the night were enough to keep Emerald awake for the remainder of what had to be the morning by now.

Mercury stirred on the other side of the dwindling fire before he lifted his head and looked around them. It was dark, the burning of the fire had greatly minimized and the moon provided little light in their area. Mercury felt the cool grass beneath him and sat up as best he could. He sat upright a hair too fast and Mercury winced and bit back a hiss of pain as his legs were forced to adjust.

"Good morning." Mercury said dryly, his expression tired as he looked towards the female. Emerald rolled her eyes and leaned forward to poke the fire with a stick, the fire burned slightly brighter before it diminished.

"I think the fire's just about had it." Emerald observed before she dropped the stick and placed her hand back on Thief's Respite. Mercury quirked an eyebrow but scooted himself back so he could lean against a rock.

"So have you. I'll watch."

"No way." Emerald shook her head, a disbelieving tone biting into her voice. Mercury gave a stone deadpan, his eyes never leaving hers.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have already." Mercury pointed out before he gestured to the ground. Emerald narrowed her eyes but lounged onto her side beside the fire.

"What about your-"

"What about my what?" Mercury snarled, his expression falling back into a dangerous glare that Emerald looked away from.

"Nothing. I wasn't-"

"Don't lie. You're not as good as you say you are." Mercury grumbled before looking back into the surrounding trees. Emerald paused, a burst of anger at his comment rose up inside her, but she remained silent. She was tired, she wanted a break more than anything.

Mercury gave her one last glance before adjusting and staring out into the distance, keeping watch over their position and looking out for possible enemies. Emerald looked at his legs and then back to his face, his expression was cool and hard as stone, trained to be emotionless.

Emerald rested her head on the ground beside her, listening to the faint crackle of the fire as it fought to survive the cool air of the night. She could hear rustling beside her, she assumed for both their sakes that it was Mercury picking at something like he's been doing for the entirety of being with her and Cinder.

She knew that if he was under Cinder she should trust him, should believe that he'd keep her safe since Cinder still wanted Emerald around, but her stomach refused to settle. Her eyes remained cracked open, she wasn't able to see much but she could see enough.

Mercury was, as she suspected, picking at the grass beside him, but his eyes were trained on the darkness that the forest had created. His eyes were unwavering, almost a statue with the exception for his hand making work of picking the grass away. His jaw was set slightly, tense and relaxed at the same time.

The wind waved by them, brushing through their hair and making Emerald shiver beneath her blanket. Mercury didn't even flinch at the sudden burst of cold air whipping to his face, making it sting.

Though with the condition he was in when they found him, she wasn't entirely surprised. His left hand tore the grass from the ground before tossing it to the side, like plucking a flower and feeding it to the river. His other hand was on his right leg, playing with the end of one of his bandages.

Moments moved, slowly, surely, and Emerald continued to watch. She couldn't help but wonder if Mercury had actually fallen asleep when Emerald was watching. Did he trust her enough to actually slip unconscious? On purpose? Emerald felt the weight on her eyelids as her body begged her to rest, to let it recover from the non-stop movement they'd been going through for far too long.

Yet, she watched. She observed. Mercury was still, his fingers had stopped picking at the grass and at his bandages, he was as still as stone. She could tell he was tense, she was a little concerned about what he would do, his legs in such a bad condition, he wouldn't be able to get up in time to engage in combat.

Before Emerald could slip asleep, she watched Mercury look down towards her for a brief moment. She closed her eyes fully for a second before she opened them to find him looking back down at his legs. He slowly and quietly pulled his small bag of supplies towards him, the scraping of the bag against dirt making little noise with the combined sounds of the night.

He pulled out a few long, white bandages and set them beside his legs. Mercury looked down at his knees for a moment before he clenched his jaw and began removing the blood-stained bandages. Emerald shut her eyes briefly, debating whether or not she should watch this, before opening them with barely enough room to see him.

He grabbed his leg, wincing and hissing as quietly as he could to avoid waking the female beside him, despite her not being asleep. He ducked his head and sighed a shaking breath out into the cold night. He reached to his side for a bandage and slowly began wrapping his leg in the new, clean cloth. He then repeated the almost exact same movements on the other leg.

When he finished, he leaned back against his rock and let out a tired and pained sigh, his eyes bearing a look of something that Emerald had felt for too long.

Weakness.

"You can stop watching." Mercury said quietly and Emerald's eyes shot wider. She leaned on her elbow as she sat up a little more and met his cool, grey eyes.

"How do you know I was watching you?"

"You're predictable. I knew you weren't asleep. No one asleep holds their breath that long. Trust me, I know." Mercury said a little darkly, his eyes leaving hers and meeting the dirty bandages beside him.

"I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter." Mercury shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked back out towards the trees. "Get some sleep. Cinder'll be back soon."