Back To Life

~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

Remaining completely still, not wanting to alert them to her consciousness, Elizabeth does her best to listen in on the conversation taking place near the doorway of the room she's being held in. Directing her entire focus to them, she can hear them talking about her, obviously informing her new wardens of just how much trouble she could truly be, inquiring if they were ready for anything that may come their way. Keep their guards up, her captors warn sternly, assuring them that they will return for her in one month's time, at which time their debt will be settled.

Hiding a slight smirk from her lips, Elizabeth is thankful to hear that her next sedative injection is not for another hour, giving her enough clarity to make her next attempt to escape. According to her captors, she should be completely unconscious until then, confident in the injection they had given her when they had set off from their last location. With all the injections she has suffered through, it seems as if her body has finally gained a tolerance for it and that will undoubtedly work to her advantage.

With the thump of the door shutting behind them, she takes a moment, waiting to be certain that they wouldn't come back in within the next few minutes before she slides off the gurney. There was no time to wait where her escape is concerned. Having only an hour to come up with a way out of a place she's never been before, Elizabeth knows that time is of the essence and she couldn't afford to wait around overthinking everything. She was about to peek out into the hall when she heard the sound of gunfire reach her ears, her hand mere inches from the handle, uncertain of her next move and praying this wasn't the end of her.

~ . ~

They have only made it halfway through the base and they have already begun to wear thin, gashes found over majority of their upper body, Jason taking a bullet to his right shoulder, but refusing to back down. Regardless of how beat up they appear, they're still standing, which is more than could be said for their targets, giving them the incentive to keep pushing forward.

He will not stop until she is out of this place and back where she belongs. Signalling his men down different halls, Jason continues down the straight path, checking every room for where they could be holding her. All but ignoring the pain surging through him, his blood soaking up the left side of his shirt, making his anger grow further as he continues down the halls, shooting anyone that gets in his path.

~ . ~

Taking in a deep steady breath, she grabs the closest thing to her, something she can use as a weapon, before she yanks open the door and makes her way out into the hall. Slowly she makes her way down one hallway, peeking around the corner, spotting a guard making his way down the hallway towards the sound of the gunfire. Glancing down at the metal lamp in her hand, she curses the place for not having anything more handy laying around before she takes another deep breath and swings it just in time to collide with the man running down the hall.

Not giving the man any time to recover, she jumps atop of him, bashing him over and over again in the face with the lamp. Her anger raging within her as she slams the lamp into him again and again until his body goes limp. Rising to her feet, she drops the bloody lamp down onto the ground before snatching his gun from his holster and continuing on the down the hallway, away from the sound of gunfire. She was getting closer and closer to the exit when she spots a man down the hall, knowing she couldn't very well take him on, Elizabeth fires off a couple rounds before heading down another hallway, desperate to be free.

~ . ~

Johnny had been making his way down the halls, desperate to find this girl and get the hell up out of there, swearing to the heavens that he wasn't about to die today. He had made his way down yet another hall when she came into view, not at all the victim he had been picturing in his mind when he had set out to find her, but finding that he held more respect for the woman now.

That was, of course, until she started to shoot at him. Obviously, given the circumstances, he doesn't blame her, but damn her for forcing him to take cover dammit. Here he is getting all torn up trying to save her and then she goes shooting at him. Fortunately for them both, he has a good amount of control over his reflexes and restrains from shooting back at her. Jumping back to his feet, he calls Jason to let him know that he's hot on her tail before taking off after her again, praying that she doesn't end up killing him in the process.

~ . ~

Getting the call from Johnny, he booked it down the hall, meeting up with him and Francis just near the center of the base. Devising a strategy to corner her and get her to understand they weren't her enemies, Jason sends Johnny down after her, knowing that she already perceives him as a threat and that should distract her long enough for him and Francis to come up from behind. Tracking her down, the three men split up, watching as she skillfully takes out two men before coming face to face with Johnny.

Clearly out of bullets, Johnny gains a sense of comfort in it, but quickly realizes that she's not about to just give up now. Elizabeth taps the gun against her leg three times before cocking back her arm and literally throwing the gun at Johnny's head, who was not at all ready for her to do so. Fazed by the blow to his head, he stumbles back, giving Elizabeth the opening to jump him, knocking him clear off his feet. If Jason and Francis hadn't reacted quickly, Elizabeth would have snapped Johnny's neck within moments.

Francis grabbed her from behind, yanking her clear off her feet, but she still wasn't about to give up that easily. Before he knew it, Elizabeth brought her head forward before swiftly slamming it back against Francis's face, fazing him enough to loosen his grip on her and allowing her to drop back down to her feet. Clearly attacking her wasn't going to give them any advantage over her, so, Jason does the next best thing and tries to talk her down.

"Elizabeth. Stop." Jason voices, one hand held up while the other helps Johnny back to his feet. "We're not here to hurt you."

"Right." she snaps back. "Like that's the first time I've heard that one! I'm not falling for that again!"

"I don't know if you remember me, but we met at the nurses' ball." Jason's voice remains calm, slowly inching his way to her. "You're best friends with my sister Emily Quartermaine."

"Em?"

"Yeah. I'm Jason." Jason holds up the gun before placing it behind his back and holding up both his hands, a gesture to prove to her that he's of no threat to her. "Lucky used to work for me at my bike shop. Remember?"

"I...I remember." Elizabeth looks him over before looking at the other two men and back to Jason. "Why are you here?"

"To save you." Jason says honestly, holding out his hands to her, palms up, the pain in his shoulder all but forgotten. "Will you let me?"

"After all this time..." she mutters, still uncertain of him and his motives.

"I know its been a long time and I know how hard it must be to trust me right now, but I only want to help you." Jason says, inching closer and closer. "Your life was taken from you...let me help give it back to you."

She stares into his eyes for a long moment, trying to decide just how much trust she should really place in him, before she finally takes a deep breath and shakes her head. Together, the four of them make it out of the base before Francis detonates the bomb, bringing the entire building down within moments.

Driving as fast as they can, they make it to the safe house in record time, all thankful to finally be done with this assignment and that place. Johnny keeps his distance from Elizabeth, having had enough of the woman for now, joined by Francis on the terrace for a well deserved cold bottle of beer.

"You okay?" Jason questions her as she stands by the window, arms wrapped around herself.

"No." she admits before turning to walk over to him, taking the needle from his hand. "Here. Let me."

"You don't have to."

"I know." she says simply. "I want to."

"They don't blame you, you know." Jason finds himself voicing, watching as she scrunches up her eyebrows at his words. "They really don't."

"I almost killed both of them." Elizabeth states firmly. "They tried to save me and I almost killed them."

"Hey." Jason forces her to look at him. "You were trying to survive."

"Its no excuse." Elizabeth says plainly, cutting the thread before quickly bandaging his wound. "There. It should heal just fine."

"Thanks."

"Sure." she replies, tossing the soiled gauze and needle into the waste bin before walking over to stand by the window, arms wrapped around her once again. "So many times I've tried to escape...so many times..."

"Not many people would." Jason voices, moving to stand behind her. "Not many people would fight as hard as you did to escape."

"I came close so many times." Elizabeth voices, tears frozen in her eyes. "Freedom merely inches from my grasp..."

"You're free now." Jason replies firmly. "I know its hard, but try and let it be enough for today."

"Jason..."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks." she voices, turning to look at him, a half smile on her face. "For saving me."

"I'm sure you would have found a way on your own."

"Still." she counters, leaning up to place a soft kiss upon his cheek. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna make some dinner." Jason says after clearing his throat. "Why don't you go freshen up? You're welcome to use whatever clothes I have."

"Yeah. Okay." she replies after a moment. "Thanks."

Watching her walk off to his room, Jason could see that this last year has taken its toll on her in a vicious way, her eyes blank while her words hold no light, unlike the girl she had been before she was presumed dead. Taking a moment to put himself back together, Jason takes a deep breath before walking off to the kitchen to make dinner, knowing she would undoubtedly need a decent meal after the hell she had lived through. Whatever happened over this last year, he knows for certain that the road back will be far from easy, of that much is certain.

A/N: Thank you all for your continued support, I truly hope this chapter meets with your expectations and I can't wait to write the next one. Take care and tons of hugs!