Hello again, you guys. (And girls. I am a girl, but I'm used to saying guys as in everyone. I do it all the time. Please do not be offended. My computer is; it says it's a gender specific word, and should not be used. Oh well.) I'm having plenty of fun writing this. If you have any suggestions about what should happen next, as always, make sure you tell me. I will consider it.

Very annoyed about lack of reviews. I must update every day, or I won't be able to finish the story this year. There are twenty-three chapters. It will be done May 26th.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the things I own. The things I own are the things not owned by Colfer. Colfer owns everything except the things I own. The things Colfer own are the things I do not own. :) Try that one, all you people who think you're the next Artemis Fowl.

A light flashed through the trees, and came closer, revealing the dark silhouettes of about twelve men.

Justin moved beside her, grasping the back of her neck expertly. Juliet stayed still. There was no point to trying to get away. It wouldn't stop hurting, and they'd catch her in a few minutes at the most. It was better to surrender with dignity.

"Down here!"

The men collected above them, staring at Juliet in curiosity. And no wonder. She was something to be curious about. Especially in her present state. Covered with blood, hands and arms broken and mangled. Even more curious though, was that she still looked stunning. And even more dangerous than she had looked before. If possible.

"You went through the rapids, didn't you, you clever—"

"Liam!" said Justin warningly. "Leave her alone. I have a bloody bruise from where she kicked me, and probably a fractured rib." He was overdoing it, but still. "Remember what Axel looks like. She did most of that with a kick. Her feet are fine."

Everyone backed away slightly, giving her more room. Juliet picked her way carefully up the bank, ignoring the hand that Justin kept on her shoulder. She'd have to live with being guarded from now on. Besides, it helped her keep her balance.

At the top, she stopped, waiting.

Justin gave her a little push. "Go on. We need to get you to a hospital. Your arm can't start setting like that. It's shattered. And you've lost too much blood. Move."

Grumbling, she took a step forward, and then started jogging, suddenly realizing that the men were probably tired, and wouldn't want to have to keep up with her. But they would have to of course. She wasn't going to slow down, and they couldn't let her get away again.

Like she thought, the men fell into step beside her with much groaning, and many complaints. Justin said nothing, but he made it clear with a frown, what he thought of her showing off.

Juliet scowled right back at him. She wasn't showing off. She was making them mad.

By the time they got back to the cars, the men were ready to go to sleep, and Juliet was staggering from the pain in her arms. She was careful not to make it obvious though.

Justin helped her in, very politely, and slid in beside her, snapping directions to the nearest and best hospital. He wasn't going to take any risks with Juliet Butler. They had had plenty of trouble getting her, and Chance wouldn't be too happy if they lost her again.

Juliet leaned back into the seat, nodding her thanks as Justin turned on the heat. Sooner or later, she reasoned, she was going to die. She might as well die comfortably.

She went to sleep.

Liam glanced over at Justin as they sped along the highway towards the hospital. "How'd you do it? I mean, she was just going nuts, and then she just comes so quietly…"

Justin rolled his eyes. "It wasn't that hard actually. I think she might have died if she had been left alone out there. And I think she knew it too. She only put up a pretense of a fight, and then let me coax her into coming. She's a mess, and she knows it."

"I just don't understand why she went through the rapids."

"It's not like she's going to tell you." Justin shrugged, ignoring her head as it settled on his shoulder. "Don't bother her, okay Liam? Chance is not going to care if she beats a few of you up for being annoying. Not so long as she is safe within our custody."

The car pulled into the emergency room entrance area, and Juliet stirred, sitting up with a sigh. "The police are looking for me, because of Axel you know, so you might want to be careful. And you might want to make up a story that sounds reasonable about why I am this way."

"I've got it," said Justin calmly. "We were biking along the river walk, you looked back, and lost control, and went through the broken railing. You couldn't swim well enough to get out of the water before the rapids, and messed yourself up. End of story."

"Fine. Fairly easy to remember."

"Just one thing." Justin squeezed her shoulder for a moment, drawing a small gasp of pain from her lips. "You try to communicate with anyone, and life will not be pleasant for you. If you cooperate, I'm sure we'll be quite hospitable."

"I know."

Justin released her, and stepped out, holding the door open for her. Juliet slid out painfully, biting her lip as her arm brushed against the door. "Anything else? My name?"

"You're my younger cousin. Keep your first name." Justin paused, sliding his arm around her like an older brother might. "And one more thing. Try to act a little less professional, and a little more like it hurts. Try to cry if you can. Make it believable."

"I don't cry."

Justin looked at her hard. "What do I have to do, to make you cry? Cry yourself, or I'll make you. No teenage girl is going to walk in there looking like this, and not be crying. Whether it's from your spoiled looks of the pain, cry. Understand?"

"I don't cry."

There was silence for a moment. Then Justin grabbed her arm, and twisted. Hard.

Juliet screamed through her teeth, and dove on him, smashing him into the concrete, and planting her feet in him again and again. The language she was using was scorching, and it was only getting worse.

Finally, he managed to roll out from underneath her, and grab her arms again. He regained control quickly, with a few jerks and twists, and Juliet lay still on the concrete, forcing herself to calm down. "Don't try that again. I don't have to take you in there, you know."

"I don't care."

"You will in a moment," grunted Justin. He gave one massive twist, and snapped her fractured shoulder.

Juliet jerked, body throwing itself into uncontrollable spasms of pain. Justin held her down, waiting. To his surprise, as well as the other's, she did not cry, though she was just barely holding back. He had the idea, that if they had been anyone else, she would have let herself bawl long ago. But no. They were Anthonys, so she would not cry.

"Do you want me to break the other one?"

"No!" she whispered. "No… I'll make myself cry. Give me a moment, I've forgotten how."

For a moment, her faced screwed up as she thought. Half to hold back the tears, and half to bring them.

Then she started crying. The perfectly frightened, tired, wet, and very much in pain from both her looks and her arm kind of sob that any respectable teenage girl would be crying.

"Better," muttered Justin, and picked her up, and pulled her towards the emergency room as he dug a pair of fake identities out of his wallet. He could imagine the commotion he was going to make with her, and even more so if she hadn't been crying. To not be crying would mean there was something not normal about her. And people were curious about the not normal. They investigated it.

Juliet got immediate attention. Something that was pretty hard to get in hospital emergency rooms. Usually, they made you wait for a few hours at the least. Juliet had her x-rays in less the twenty minutes, and two hours later, was lying in a bed, with various tubes sticking in her, and a nurse to check in every half hour.

Things were not quite so bad as they had looked but they were bad enough. The left wrist was only badly sprained, and there were only a few breaks in the fingers though plenty of fractures. Those would heal quickly. The right wrist was broken, as was her arm in three places. She was going to have quite a few scars, too, from the numerous cuts she had received.

Justin went with her, watching everything carefully, and acting the older cousin. He did it quite well, with just the right tone of anxiety, and everything.

Once the nurse had made her comfortable, she went out, and shut the door. Justin immediately turned back into her captor. "You'll stay here for the night. Then we're checking you out. Early morning. We'll take care of you back at the manor."

"Yeah," said Juliet drowsily. "Whatever."

"I suggest you don't try anything. It would be very painful, believe me. I don't have time to play games."

Juliet looked at him.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just that that was slightly unnecessary, considering my condition, don't you think?"

"Not really." He leaned back in the chair that had been provided for him, and looked at her. "You'd try it if you were really desperate. And you might get away with it."

Juliet went to sleep. There was no point in talking to him, after all.

She woke up an hour later with a start. The clock said four in the morning. The nurse must have jut gone; she could hear footsteps retreating down the hallway outside.

In the chair beside the bed, Justin was asleep, hand still on the gun inside his pocket. For a long time, Juliet studied him, trying to decide whether or not he was going to wake up if she moved. If he did, he'd probably accuse her of trying to run away.

His breathing was not right. It was a little too light. He was sleeping light. Asleep, but light enough to wake up if she moved more than a few inches.

She glared at him in frustration, knowing there was no way to leave, and he'd wake up when the nurse came back most likely. She had twenty-five minutes to think.

Dom… what had he done to her when she was little? Of course, she should have remembered.

Carefully, she reached out, ignoring the tubes in her arms, and slipped her hand into the hollow of his throat. She could feel his blood pounding softly against her fingertips. The tricky part now. If he woke up, he would be more than a little angry.

Slowly, she began to press down, letting up a little, and then pressing down again, ignoring the pain from her movements. The blood flow to his head would be less, and eventually, he'd go into a deeper sleep. At least, that was what she hoped would happen.

Justin stirred slightly, and settled deeper into his chair as his breathing did the same.

With a smile, Juliet drew her hand away, and began to examine the tubes in her arms. She must get them out. And quickly too. Twenty minutes, and then she would be found out.

It was agonizingly slow, but finally she succeeded in detaching everything from her, and getting dressed. Then, she pulled off all the braces and splints. She had to. Someone might stop her otherwise, and ask questions. If she was lucky now, she would be long gone before the nurse came back. If not, she would be in a lot of trouble.

What she was counting on, was that most hospitals had roofs that were easy to climb across. Flat, and then sloped down to the next one.

Before going, she rifled through his jacket pockets, taking out her cell phone, and slipping it into her pocket. For later.

Quietly, she moved to the window, pulling back the latch with her teeth, and ducking out. Yes. The roof was wonderful. A little bright, perhaps, but it was good. It would work.

Juliet glanced back into the room at the clock. Fifteen minutes. She had fifteen minutes to get out of there.

She moved to the edge, and looked down. What she saw, was not good. It was not good at all. The Anthonys had positioned themselves below her, at the places she might hope to climb down. They were smarter than she'd thought. Being respected was beginning to annoy her.

Juliet turned around to go back inside, and heard Justin stir inside the room. He was waking up.

An awful place to end, isn't it? Don't worry. I will update soon. Probably. As soon as you review, anyways.

In case any of you decide you can't wait, and shall die, or something like that, I'll give you a hint. Juliet will get caught, eventually, but it won't happen right away. Fun things will happen first. There is no fun in writing without them. She will run away one more time, and get caught once more, and then she will visit the Anthonys place, where more interesting things will happen.

Like always, I am happy to receive mail from you, so write me if you feel like it, and make sure you mention your pen name, and try to mention a story, if you have one. It helps me know who you are.