Chapter 7: Confrontations

The night had been spent at Fetch's place and she was actually rather grateful because she didn't want to go back to Reggie. He had been nice at first, but when his true intentions came out and he realized his brother was siding with the conduits, he showed his true colors. He hated conduits and the only reason he loved Delsin was because he was his brother. Honestly, she didn't blame him because everyone's views of them were twisted by Augustine and the D.U.P.

Fetch hadn't been around when they left, but a quick phone call revealed that she had been out on the streets dealing with the dealers. That left them with an open day of opportunities to find out more information that they needed to get to Augustine. But of course, something else was on Delsin's mind...

"Hey, we have all day and we gotta wait for Reggie so...help me do a tag? The people here need a little something to get them fired up," he offered, raising an eyebrow and then nudging her with his hip. "Come on, girl. You need to loosen up and do something a bit rebellious. Cops are already looking for us anyway."

Evelyn huffed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was now day three she was spending with Delsin and he was so much different that she was. Of course, she always had a bit of a mischievous side, but it only really showed around Elijah. She knew him and felt comfortable with him which was why she let that side of her show. She barely knew Delsin and wasn't exactly comfortable with him yet, but...

"Come onnnnn. You had enough fun yesterday tagging the side of the boat house. As soon as Reggie calls, we'll head out. It's not like there's anything better to do," he pleaded, pulling the hood over her head in a teasing way.

"We could be looking for more leads," she added, just to get under his skin a little.

"Yeah but by the time we find something, Reg will have already called us. You gonna make me pick you up and carry you? Haven't carried around a girl in a while..."

"Alright!" she blurted, feeling her face flush. "Fine, let's go tag. No carrying."

He smirked and gestured her to follow, earning him a roll of her eyes as she picked up a quick pace to follow after him. Before they even left Fetch's place, he hid his stash of tagging stuff and she was sure that was where they were headed. She was deemed correct when they approached the alley where he hid his backpack. He took it from behind the dumpster and shouldered it, flashing her a grin.

"Got a perfect idea. Come on."

The two of them made their way across the street to a nice open stretch of cinder-colored wall. Once they got there, he pulled his backpack down and set it on the ground, shuffling through it before pulling out a couple large sheets of paper-like material and a pencil.

"Gotta make the stencil. Watch my back, will ya?" He winked at her as he spread the paper down on the ground in front of himself.

Crossing her arms, she stood at the edge of the sidewalk, watching a few other people walk by and look over to see what they were doing. No cops. Every once in a while, she glanced over her shoulder to see the progress and more piles of random cutouts she didn't understand kept piling up. But soon, they were ready and he started taping the first one down.

"Hey, can you hold the other corner?" he asked, his voice muffled by a strip of tape clamped between his teeth.

"Got it," she snorted, heading to the other side and standing on her tippy toes to try and hold it up as much as she could.

He chuckled at her height and bumped his hip into hers after he taped up the corner opposite. "You can let go."

Evelyn huffed and let go, taking a step back to watch him start tagging, but he shook his head and handed her the can, a can of black.

"Nuh, uh, you're up. You get the main stuff, I'll do the finishing touches," he explained.

"Fine, fine," she said with a roll of her eyes.

She shook the can vigorously and took a step back as she pulled the lid off. Just like last night, she started to spray, though this time keeping in the realm of her sheet of paper. The chemical, nail polish smell of the paint filled her senses and for once, the misting sound of the paint seemed to block some of the other sounds out, which was refreshing. She continued on the with black paint until the stencil was full and then she capped the can, tossing it to Delsin. He twirled it in his fingers and then proceeded to tear down the stencil and start to put up the other.

She stepped in to help keep it up and he quickly taped it in place and handed her another can, this time a light blue color. Repeating the process, she locked her eyes on the shade of blue as it started to fill in the picture, making it look like a security camera. He tended to have some quirky twists with his artwork, so it made her wonder exactly what this was going to be when it was done.

After the blue was filled in, they repeated the process with the paper and she was spraying the last layer with white. She had to admit, the sound of the can was soothing in a way, as it blocked out some of the noise she was so used to hearing, and the way simple shapes became a picture was pretty cool. After she was done with the white, Delsin took the lead, adding the finishing touches that he didn't want her to see quite yet. The only can he wasn't using was the blue, so she took hold of it, pressing her lips together and wandering a little bit away from the artist and his work.

He seemed to like to convey his messages in words, but not everyone got the chance to take a step back and observe the work and pull the meaning from it. So she shook the can, taking a moment to ponder the size she wanted it, and then started to write. The paint went smoothly on the wall and there was something about free-hand rather than the stencils that felt much nicer and less restricting. Not as pretty, but it was meant to convey a meaning. Something that maybe people around her could hold onto. She wished she could have had something like that when she had to start living on the streets in fear of her life. Elijah had been the only one holding her together.

Taking a step back, she admired her rather sloppy work, but found it brought a little bit of a fire to her. Maybe even to the people watching. Sprawled out in light blue paint, was the phrase:

'REVOLUTION IS COMING'

"Atta girl. You having fun?" Delsin appeared beside her with a small smirk on his face as he looked over the words. "I like the way you think. You wanna see the finished product?"

Capping the spray can, she took a few steps to the side to see what teh finished product was. The security camera she painted was still there, but now there was also a seagull crapping on the lens. She snickered, setting the can down and looking it over.

"Well...that's one way to get a point across. What are you gonna call it?" she asked, knowing he liked to come up with witty names for them.

"I was thinking you could name this one," he suggested. "You know as long as it's good."

"Alright fine. How about..." She pressed her lips together, taking a moment to think. "Hey...Lens Crap? Like lens craft?"

"You're not bad at the naming thing. Lens Crap it is." He chuckled.

Evelyn felt satisfied that he accepted the name. Though the fact that they were watching always gave her the creeps. Her eyes took a quick sweep over the small area they were in and she was actually surprised to see that there was indeed a security camera across the street, aimed right at them. It was probably best they got going...but first...

"Toss me a can," she told him, walking across the street in front of a stopped car.

Delsin didn't hesitate and tossed one too her as she was walking. She caught it easily and set it down on the ground once she got to the security camera. With a little bit of effort, she leaped up to a small outcropping and turned the camera toward herself, using a single finger to crush the lens and then tearing it off the stand so it hung by a wire. She dropped down, scooped up the can, and jumped back up, managing to take the cap off and shake it up before spraying. Working quick, she got the letters formed sloppily, but it was still easy enough to read, dropping down one final time, she looked up at her work.

'CAN'T SEE ME'

"Nice," Delsin chuckled, taking the can from her as she put her hands on her hips.

"Figure it's a start." She shrugged, figuring if they were going to start defacing property to win their cause, they may as well start with the people watching them.

"Well you figured well. They can't see us now, so..."

"Sure there's plenty more we should be tearing down before they can't see us completely."

"Why don't we go and-"

A ringing phone interrupted them and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, leaning a bit closer to her and putting the phone between the two of them. Reggie's voice was on the other line, but halfway through speaking, Fetch's voice joined the mix. She didn't realize Delsin had accepted her into the three-way call, which annoyed his older brother.

"Look, we'll be fine getting there, it's not a problem," she tried, though figured he'd not want to hear her voice so it would just annoy him further.

She proved to be right.

"Just call me when you get there," Reggie snapped before hanging up.

Shaking her head, she put her hands in her pockets and took a small step away, frowning to herself.

"Don't worry about him. He's always a stick in the mud. Come on, we should get going to check this place out," he muttered, turning and then neon-dashing up the side of the wall.

Evelyn shrugged a little to herself and followed after. Lucky for them, this bridge wasn't too far away so they got there rather quickly, though there was one major problem awaiting them when they slipped through the fence.

She barely poked her head out from behind the shipping containers when automatic turrets started to fire. Quickly, she ducked back before a bullet could hit her and she pressed her back against the metal container, wincing. Well they obviously weren't going to get around that way. But they could easily climb over.

"Up and over," she commented, swinging up and onto the shipping container.

"What? Don't you want to get hit by hundreds of bullets one after the other?" Delsin joked, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Ha ha. Very funny." She climbed up again, slipping through two of them before dropping down behind the turret.

With ease, she ripped off the power source. The two of them continued forward, finding a few other turrets along the way but effectively dealing with them. As they got deeper in, she started to feel more anxious and uneasy. It wasn't until they got to the gap in the bridge that she started feeling hesitation.

"I dunno, Delsin. Maybe we should head back," she suggested, looking at the ominous barrier.

"This is a lead, Ev. You said it yourself, you'd go when we had a lead. I'm not going over until you do," he huffed.

"Well we could stand here all day." A flicker of fear flashed in her eyes at the thought of having to go over first.

"Uh no? Look you really gotta get over this. If you really want to find Elijah and help make a difference, you can't turn back every time it seems bad."

She knew that. Gosh she really did. But moving past her fears seemed so difficult. Slowly she seemed to be working toward things she hadn't done before, but she had a bad feeling about this place.

"You go first, I'll be right behind you," he assured, patting her on the shoulder.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she stepped forward, looking toward the edge of the bridge and preparing herself. Just as she launched herself into the air, D.U.P. appeared from the other side and started to shoot. She dodge the first bullet, but another caught her in mid-air, sending her flying toward the ground. She landed harshly at one of their feet, her whole body feeling as if it had been hit by a train.

Before the D.U.P. could grab her, a smoke-shot hit him square in the chest, giving her the chance to scramble to cover. Delsin joined her side, peeking over the barrier they were behind to shoot until she recovered. It only took her a moment and she shook her head.

"I told you I had a bad feeling!" she shouted, wincing every time a bullet was fired.

"It's only a few! We can take them out quickly if you help!" he whined, shooting from one cover to the next in a cloud of smoke.

Ugh. Maybe she should have stayed behind. Taking a deep breath, she jumped into the fight, blowing two of them back with sound. They landed flat on their backs and she hurried to the closest one, subduing him and pulling him effectively out. She dodged another attack and plastered her back against a concrete slab, waiting for one moment before ducking out to attack again. A couple times, she got sprayed with bullets, but she made sure to duck into cover until her body healed itself moments later.

Between the two of them, they took out the ten D.U.P.s within minutes and while she was starting to feel more comfortable in a fight, she hoped that there wasn't anything else waiting for them up ahead.

She was the first to drop down on the lower level and he followed, taking a look around at the place that seemed barren. That was, until the witch herself appeared from higher up, looking pristine and menacing as usual.

"Ah shit...," Delsin murmured. "Lady, you are hell on bridges, you know that?"

Evelyn hung back a little, glaring up at the woman when she stopped at the edge to look down at them.

"So you recognize me?" she asked, putting her hands behind her back.

"Oh yeah, yeah. You're the one that had me dead to rights a couple weeks ago and just let me walk away. And I'm pretty sure she knows you well enough."

He gestured over to her and she clenched her fists, lips forming a thin line.

"Of course. I'd recognize her anywhere. Evelyn. Really surprised you decided to step up. Figured you'd be hiding behind a rock," she snickered, smirking at her.

Anger started to boil through her veins. "Give me Elijah and I'll leave you be. For good."

"No, see that's not how it works. Your friend has proven to be very unhelpful. No matter what we do to him, he doesn't seem to want to give us any information on you. I only took him because who I really need is you. But now that I know who exactly you're hanging around, I think he's disposable."

"You touch him and I swear-"

Delsin grabbed onto her sleeved wrist.

"I've heard that you two have done something different. You're getting stronger," she continued. "And I'm going to prove that right now."

She gestured to the side and neon lights switched on in several places around them. Not only did this happen, but a large D.U.P. came charging toward them, leaping down and landing right beside them. She skidded backwards from all of the force and her eyes widened as rocks wrenched themselves from the ground to encase the D.U.P. in protection. Never before had she seen one like this and instinctively, she scrambled for cover, ducking down just in time.

She pressed her back against he concrete, chest rising and falling rapidly with panic as crashes and shots of neon lasers filled her ears.

"Evelyn! I need a little help over here!" Delsin shouted from somewhere to her left.

But she could barely hear him. All the other noises were overpowering her senses and the fear settling in her stomach left her frozen in place. Sure, she had been fighting the smaller D.U.P.s, but this one...there was no way she could face him. And even if she had the ability to, she was too afraid. She would be letting Elijah down, but she couldn't do it. Her limbs began to tremble lightly at the thought of her best friend dying because of her, but what was she supposed to do? What if she went out to fight and got caught? Or dead?

"Evelyn! Evelyn, listen to me!"

She could hear his voice but he was too busy dodging the attacks to come and get her.

"I've seen what you can do! This'll be cake for the two of us, but you need to fight! Elijah needs you! Not me, you," he shouted, another crash following his words.

He needs me. He needs me. She tried repeating that in her head over and over as her limbs shook. You're more powerful than anyone I've ever met.

It was those words, Elijah's words, that got her to stand. Her hands still shook, but she slowly turned to face the lone D.U.P. as she lifted her arms. The echos of each attack before hand channeled into her body and her eyes glowed a bright white as the soundwaves charged toward the man. The rock barrier spinning around him practically exploded at the force of the attack. Delsin didn't waste any time and sent a neon missile toward him, which exploded on his chest. He landed on the ground, but only seemed mildly winded.

A moment later, he burrowed some concrete into the ground, which traveled straight toward the two of them. She started to run and turned tightly enough to dodge, but her new conduit friend wasn't so lucky. He got shoved off his feet and landed several feet away on his back, completely vulnerable.

In the blink of an eye, she'd sprinted over, placing her hands on either side of his head and forming a protective barrier around him as a rock of concrete hurtled their way. It crumbled on the shield, but put some strain on her. Delsin sat up, panting and giving her a smirk.

"Atta girl. Let's finish this guy off," he chuckled, scooting out from under her.

With a shaky nod, she turned, letting the barrier fall. He charged toward the guy, shooting neon laser after neon laser. Several of them hit him and when he fumbled the moment after he got hit, she sent sound waves his way. The combination of the two of them attacking and dodging flowed smoothly together and soon they had him on his knees.

She panted, leaning over as he subdued him. Sweat trickled down her forehead and she looked up at Augustine.

"Okay, so maybe I, you know, lied about the neon thing. But listen, I think I can save all of us a lot of time, here," Delsin wheezed. "I just need to...leech a little power off you and for you to let Elijah go."

"You want me to just give you my power? Let one of my prisoners go?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I mean not enough power to sink bridges or anything. But enough to pull your concrete daggers out of my friends, yeah. Then after that, you will never see us again."

Evelyn knew that wasn't going to fly with her. And she was proven right when the woman shook her head.

"I've got a better idea," she started, waving a hand. Concrete crawled up his leg and trapped him in place.

As soon as she realized what was about to happen, she started to run. However, she was caught in place as her ankle got trapped and it slowly crawled up her body. Panic flooded into her system and she struggled.

"How about the two of you come back with me?"

"I kinda like my idea better," Delsin growled, lunging toward her to try and grab her wrist and get skin contact.

Augustine was too quick. She latched onto his wrist with a leather-gloved hand and smirked. "Oh Delsin. You disappoint me."

More concrete slid up her torso, trapping her and preventing her from moving anything but her head. Her heart started to race, frantic movements contained within her shell.

"Stop!" she screamed, trying to hold the tears back when she realized she was just going to be taken in and experimented on, the thing she had been running from for years.

"And you think I'm going to stop? When I have you and your little rebel friend in my grasp?" Augustine snorted, letting go of Delsin to move over to her.

But just as another tear slid down Evelyn's cheek, a screech from above interrupted them. Augustine stumbled backwards and she tried to angle her head to see what was happening, but she couldn't see anything...except the ground getting further and further from her in her concrete shell.

"Delsin?" she shouted over the wind, her hair flying in her face as she tried to turn her neck. She could just barely see his own concrete prison from beside her. "What the hell is happening?"

"You think I know?!" he shouted back, his voice sounding just as panicked as hers.

Some of the concrete was crumbling from her body and she was able to move more freely. They just made their way over one of the taller buildings when she was suddenly dropped.

With a scream, she landed on her back, the concrete encasing her crumbling as she landed on the roof. As soon as she landed, she rolled over to try and see where Delsin had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen. Not with her or in sight. Sighing gently, she let herself fall onto her back. Her eyes blinked up at the evening sky and she drew in a deep, steady breath.

Now what?

A/N: Hey guys! So this is the last chapter that I have prewritten. Now, I'll have to write the chapters as I go, so it'll be longer for me to pop them out, though this one has been a while coming anyway. Sorry for the wait guys! Life has been hectic and I've lost a lot of motivation to be creative. I'm trying really hard to get back into writing but at this point I would love to publish a novel so most of my efforts have been for an original idea. That being said, I'm in the planning stage of my novel so until I actually get writing, I'm going to try and write any of my fanfictions to keep me still actively writing. So hopefully that means more from me soon! Thank you guys so much for continuing to read this and any of my other fanfictions, I really appreciate all of your support! Hope you enjoyed this one! :)