Chapter 11

Shattered

Uhura was humming quietly to herself as Scotty worked in his cell. As far as she could tell, Sulu, McCoy, and Spock were resting (not quite asleep, but at least relaxing as much as they could), which she was honestly quite relieved for. She was pretty sure that Sulu was getting an infection. His face was taking on a red tinge and his breathing was growing heavier and heavier by the hour, but she couldn't be sure if it was a fever or from the pain. She couldn't exactly reach on over and touch his forehead, and she was sure that if she asked if he was alright, she was just get a Kirk-ish answer of "I'm fine. You?"

She hadn't heard much from McCoy or Spock since Scotty got his hands on the communicator, even though Spock had kept a watchful eye on Scotty's work before he drifted off into another healing trance. McCoy, she suspected, didn't speak because of his gut-wrenching worry for Jim and was probably silently trying to reassure himself.

While she could understand where McCoy was coming, she had faith in Kirk that everything was going to be fine. All of them were going to escape and go home together. It was the Kirk factor – the only solution to this apparent no-win scenario, so McCoy's concern almost seemed over the top. At the same time, she also had a feeling that there was something else that McCoy wasn't telling them. She had no idea as to what though. But then and again, McCoy had been with Kirk for so much longer than they had. The two were literally inseparable and if anyone was going to know what posed as the most risk to Kirk, it would be McCoy.

She opened her mouth to ask him – it wasn't like they were going anywhere anytime soon and they had to be prepared for anything, especially when it came to Kirk – but she was distracted by the communicator she had in her lap come crackling to life.

Instantly, they all snapped to attention; even Scotty's hands came to an idle rest as Wolff's voice suddenly flittered through.

"Kirk, are you there?" There was a pause. "I know you're out there and I know you've stolen a communicator off one of my men. You can hear me, Kirk. I know you can."

They held their breath, hoping that Jim wouldn't rise to the bait and would stay hidden and safe. Thankfully, there was no answer from Jim.

Wolff continued in a gleeful tone. "Who's the girl that you have wandering the woods with you? I thought you were a gentlemen. I can't believe that you'd let a beautiful girl like her stay with someone as dangerous as you. She will go through such harsh hardships by your side. Just ask your crew. Why, my uncle just informed me that Uhura was even willing to give up her body to stop the beating of your Engineer."

At first, they were confused about what Wolff was talking about. Girl? What girl? And then, they closed their eyes in defeat, knowing that Wolff had pushed the right pressure points. Jim, despite how womanizing he was, had always respected women and had proven over and over again that he did not take mistreatment of women well, particularly if that woman was Uhura. She was like his sister to him, and he was the sort of brother who punched first and asked questions later.

Jim's snarled response was dripping with anger. "Wolff, you're going to live to regret touching my crew. Oh wait. No, you won't, because I am going to rip your fucking head off."

Wolff just laughed. "What are you going to do, Kirk? This is chess, and I'm winning. I've got your bishops, knights, and rooks in my dungeons, rotting away. All your pawns are stuck in the sky, unable to go anyway. All you have left in your hand is yourself: the queen. What can you possibly do?"

"I thought you said that you weren't going to underestimate me, Wolff."

"I won't. Let me make you a deal, Kirk. My uncle has personal interest in that girl that you have with you. Why don't we do a pawn promotion? You give me the girl, and in exchange, I'll return one of your pieces to you."

"First of all, I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. What girl?"

"Oh, Kirk, at least give me the same courtesy as I give you. Do not insult my intelligence."

"You do you, Wolff. Believe what you want. Secondly, chess games can be won with simply a queen and a pawn, and you know it. You keep saying that you won't underestimate me, but I somehow doubt that. Good luck, Wolff. The next time I see you, it'll be the last thing you ever see. And to my crew, in case they're around you, you sadistic jackass, don't do anything stupid, got it? I'm coming for you." He switched to Vulcan. "Live long and be prosperous, you bastard," he finished in Standard.

Uhura shot a look at Spock as Kirk hung up and silence reigned. "Did you hear that, Spock? He said the phrase wrong!"

Spock inclined his head. "Yes, but Jim has impeccable fluency in Vulcan. It is highly unlikely that he would have mispronounced that statement unless there was a reason for it."

"Wha did Jim say specifically?" asked Scotty.

Uhura tapped her fingers. "He added a word. Instead of 'live long and prosper', he said 'live long and be prosperous'. Any idea what that could mean?"

"It means that we have one day to prepare ourselves," McCoy said from where he was sitting. His arms were crossed and he was frowning. "Using one extra word means one day."

"How do you know that?" Sulu asked. "Why not one hour?"

"One hour would be one extra syllable. Days are words."

"How do you know this, Doctor?" Spock questioned.

"It's something that Jim made up after I found out that he was James Bond, doing stupid shit under Komack. Before I got clearance, Jim would leave me little messages to let me know when he was coming back. It's simple and virtually undetectable unless you knew what you were looking for." McCoy turned and looked at them with an unreadable expression in his eyes. It was quite reminiscent of Jim when he was preparing for shit to go down. "The point is: we have one day to get ourselves out before Jim storms this castle for us."

"About that, you're not telling us something, Leonard," Uhura said, crossing her arms. "We're all worried about Kirk and we don't want him getting hurt, but you're acting like this is the end of the world. What's going on, Leonard?"

McCoy sighed. "You all know of Jim's past, and though he may seem normal and happy-go-lucky for the majority of the time, you guys don't see the scars from Tarsus that are always festering. And honestly, this whole thing is probably cutting a bit too close to home. I can fix open wounds and broken bones. But I can't fix what I can't see. I mean, you've all seen those moments when Jim didn't seem like Jim."

They all thought back to those times when they felt a shiver of fear run down their spine at the sight of that greyish tint in their friend's eyes. The way he held himself then and the way he spoke – it was as if there was another person before them. There was something hidden deep within Jim – something that they had only ever seen flickers of – but it was still able to incur such bone-chilling awe.

"Jim told me once that he was afraid of turning into a monster again. He said 'again'," McCoy said softly and sadly. "Because he's already seen that side of himself that would do anything to protect what he holds dear. He was that when he was on Tarsus IV. He's spent years trying to run from that darkness. And he succeeded, until he met us. He didn't have anyone to care about until us, and add on to the fact that what Wolff is doing is eerily similar to that of Tarsus? I think Jim might break after all the adrenaline has worn off. I'm a doctor, but even I'm not equipped to save Jim Kirk from himself."

Jim breaking was something that could never happen. They had all known about Jim's past and how many times he had broken, but only Spock knew just how much Jim had shattered. Spock had seen Jim's memories, and it nearly destroyed him, even though he had no doubt that what he saw was only a fraction of Jim's true pain and loss.

Humans were truly remarkable, to be able to pick themselves up even when everything seemed to be lost – Jim was the testimony to that – but even humans had their limits. Even James T. Kirk had a breaking point. Jim had already defied the impossible, getting back up each time he was knocked down. He had survived when all odds were against him and painstakingly put himself back together. He was strong, yet fragile at the same time.

Spock had seen the signs of it for a while now – since that mission with the wisps and Jim's attempts to pull away from them. Far before this all happened, before Wolff came and Dreyes murdered, Jim was already breaking. The toll of people that he cared about dying under his command, his incessant need to protect, and the constant fight to prove that he belonged on the Enterprise – that he was more than just PR stunt, that he was more than his father's ghost – it was weighing Jim down.

Spock just knew that if Jim lost this battle with Wolff, he would shatter, and not even McCoy would be able to glue Jim back together. And he could not let that happen.

"Doctor, what can we do to help?" Spock asked.

McCoy just shook his head. "Other than breaking out and getting to Jim before something happens, there's nothing else that we can do."

Scotty rolled up his sleeve. "Then what are we waiting for? Spock, I need yer opinion on this."

Spock listened intently at Scotty's words, adding input where needed. By his estimation, they would be able to escape in fourteen hours and thirty-three minutes. It should be enough time to get out, find Jim, and get a hold of their crew trapped in the sky to take down Wolff.

But it was already far too late for any of them to be able to stop the wheels from turning.

The leaves rustled quietly, providing the perfect cover as Jim and Chekov crouched at the edge of the castle's clearing. It was quiet and there were barely any signs of human life outside of the castle walls, but Jim wasn't there to case out the manpower. He had already done that with Thea earlier; he was here now to finally make his first move with his Queen piece.

He had brought Chekov to the specific weak points of the castle. They had behind their marks as they circled the castle before returning to the cover of the forest. The first trap in Jim's complicated plan had been set, and now it was up to the young Russian to finish the last touches.

Jim glanced over at Chekov. The Navigator was silently and determinedly memorizing all the possible details that he needed while he muttered under his breath and worked on the circuit board that he had brought with him. Jim's hand palmed the handheld jamming device that he had created back in the cave, reassuring himself for the hundredth time that it was working. At this point in the game, he couldn't afford to lose his trump card and have Wolff know that Chekov was with him.

He had somewhat suspected that Wolff and Greenaway would be paranoid little bastards and place cameras throughout the woods surrounding their stronghold. Being seen was always part of his plan – he needed Wolff to know that he was still alive – but he hadn't accounted the impact that Thea would have left.

Why the hell was Wolff so interested in Thea? Did he see Thea as a new weapon against Jim? Or was there something deeper? Jim couldn't stop thinking about it. A gut feeling said that Wolff's interest in Thea was linked to the children that they had kidnapped, but there was something big missing. Something huge, and Jim couldn't figure it out without all the facts.

His gut wrenched with unease. An ominous feeling settled heavily on his stomach, almost winding him with how fast it set in.

"Keptin?" Chekov asked quietly.

Chekov's call snapped Jim out of his deep thoughts and he glanced over to see Chekov looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and concern in his expressions.

"Yeah, Chekov?" he replied breathlessly.

"Everything all right?"

Jim frowned. "I don't know."

Instantly, Chekov was on guard and he scanned their surroundings, even though he was sure that Jim had already done it at least one time for every second that they were still out in the open. "What is it, Keptin?"

"Something's wrong." Every single instinct in his body was screaming at him, but he didn't know if it was because they were in danger or if the kids were. Either or, Jim wasn't risking it. "You done? Let's go back. Now."

Chekov nodded and immediately shoved his circuit board into Jim's backpack. Jim wasted no time and shouldered it, and like shadows, the two blended back into the darkness.

Thea's quiet song echoed in the cave, lulling the children curled around her into a calm sleep. She smiled softly as she played with Lisa's ginger hair with her right hand. Danny and Eric laid by her left side, their small hands clutching onto her pants. She spared a glance upwards towards the cave entrance, checking to see if Liam and Tommy had come back from getting water.

She felt the urge to reach for her bow, which laid not too far from her, and go looking for her brother and Tommy, but this was a routine mission. Liam was old enough and had gone out with Thea so many times to know how to go through the woods undetected. Besides, Thea's headache had kept her from leaving earlier. After sitting quietly in the relative dimness of the cave, the throbbing had gone down and she could feel all her muscles relaxing in the absence of the pain.

The sounds of quick footsteps and heavy panting reached Thea's ears. Instantly, she was on guard, drawing her kids closer to her while grabbing for her bow at the same time. Her face twisted into a snarl as her body posed defensively around the kids, like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

Liam dragging Tommy into the cave was not something that she had expected, and the sheer panic on their faces kept Thea on guard.

"What happened?" she demanded immediately. "Are you guys hurt?"

"Guards…" Liam gasped out, trying hard to catch his breath. "We saw them, not too far from here. They were heading towards us!"

Thea sprang to her feet, a pang of guilt hitting her as Lisa, Eric, and Danny woke up with her sudden movement. "Did they see you?"

Liam shook his head. "No, but it won't take long for them to find us. What should we do? Should we run?"

A million thoughts rushed through Thea's mind. She had two choices: to flee or to fight. It was basic evolutionary biology. If they ran, Thea had no doubt that they would be found even faster. With Lisa, Eric, and Tommy so young, they wouldn't be able to travel too far. Liam and she could carry them, but they couldn't guarantee that the children would stay quiet the entire time. And there was the uncertainty of finding new shelter that was safe and hidden.

That left her with only one option: to fight.

"How many guards did you see, Liam?"

"There were eight. All armed."

She slipped on her cache of arrows, her bow already in her hand. "I'm going to draw them away from here. You stay here, Liam. Take care of the kids."

Liam stepped in front of Thea, his arms spread out. "Thea, it's too dangerous! I can't let you go!"

"You'll have to, Liam. You remember our deal. I get to live my life how I want, remember? And I choose to go. For you. For Lisa, Eric, Tommy, and Danny. I have to go."

"Promise that you'll come back then."

Thea gave him a sad smile. "You know I can't make that promise. I haven't been able to make that promise for a while now."

"What about Captain Kirk? He should be returning soon! Why don't we wait for him?"

"We can't! There's not enough time!"

"He's the one they want! Why should you have to go out in his place?!"

Thea was momentarily floored. "You're willing to sacrifice him? He's trying to save you!"

"But he's not my sister! You are! Forgive me if I care more for you than him!"

"He's your best chance at surviving, Liam, not me!"

"I don't care!"

"Well, I do! Between the two of us, you know who has the better chance of living through this. I made a promise to our parents, Liam. I don't plan on breaking it."

Liam's eyes teared up and his entire face contorted with guilt and sorrow. "I can't lose you too. You're my sister! I'll do anything if it'll keep you safe!"

She smiled sadly, "I know. But you know that being safe was never an option for me, Liam. I'm on borrowed time." Thea stepped forward, hugging Liam tightly, trying to send all her love for him through the single action. "I love you, little brother. Please. Stay safe. For me."

After a full minute, she released him and determination made her posture hard, like an Amazonian warrior. She turned, steel in her eyes, and took off running, away from the comfort and safety of the cave.

It couldn't have been more than one hundred feet before she heard the voices of the soldiers. Damn. They really were far too close for comfort.

The chatter was loud and obnoxious. Laughter at some joke reached the air. It was obvious that they didn't have a care in the world. Here they were, tasked to hunt down some innocent, starving children who barely had the strength to survive, let alone defend themselves, and they were so unconcerned, so confident in themselves, that they acted like they were at a party.

Anger rushed through her, making her fingers clench around her bow so tightly that the wood felt like it was about break any second. How dare they be so callous and nonchalant about killing kids?! Kids! But some logical part of her brain kept running, completely inhibited by the feel of fire coursing through.

There was a reason why these men were carefree. They were fully grown men who had guns or knives, or whatever else on their person. An average human being wouldn't stand a chance against them, let alone children. Let alone her.

Fear almost froze her. Could she do it? She had nothing – no strength, no real skills, and she had never used her bow and arrows against another human before. She was weak; her body sickened by starvation and exposure to the elements for so very long.

The sheer, overwhelming sense of terror made her knees buckle and she almost collapsed right then and there. A vicious throb attacked her mind, the headache from before roaring back into existence.

She closed her eyes, swaying in place for a brief second, just wishing that her little brother was with her, running his gentle fingers through her hair and caressing her head to ease the pain, even if just a little. She wished she was back in the cave, seeing the trusting and loving gaze of her kids as they gathered around her.

Resolution struck her again. Her kids and her brother were why she was here, defying Greenaway and his men to her last breath. She couldn't fail them now.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated. Using her desperate desire to protect her brother and her kids forcibly clamped down on her fears, and she grimly shouldered on.

There was no room for her folly. There was only the task at hand.

Snapping into action, she leapt out of hiding and she yelled, "Hey, you buffoons! I'm over here! Come at me, if you can, you stupid gorillas!"

She immediately ducked as a gunshot rang over her head. In the same movement, she turned tail and sprinted in the opposite direction of where her kids were. She side-stepped trees, pausing every now and then to shoot off an arrow at the guards. She missed every time, but she got some close shots. And she was getting closer each time.

She didn't know what frightened her more – the men closing in or the fact that she was getting closer. It was one thing to kill game for food to feed her children, but killing another human in cold blood?

She didn't know which would kill her first – that or the soldiers.

The woods were silent when Jim and Chekov returned to the cave, but Jim knew that the quietness was misleading. At times, it could feel calming, but this...This felt like the calm before the storm.

Getting closer, Jim could see a single set of footprints leading away from the entrance. They were fresh and the gap between the small prints grew larger and larger as they get further away from the cave – someone had run out in a hurry. But there were no footsteps to indicate that they had come back. The heavy feeling in Jim's gut solidified more.

With his chest feeling tight, Jim burst into the cave. Immediately, his blue eyes scanned all the children. He accounted for all but one.

His heart sank.

His attention locked onto Liam who had jumped towards him with sheer panic and fear in his expressions. "Where's Thea?" Jim breathed out.

Liam's words were shrill and rushed. A wild look entered his eyes. "Soldiers came while you were gone! I don't know how they found us! We did what you said and stayed quiet, but we heard them coming closer. Thea...you have to go save her!"

Jim swore under his breath. Those footsteps that had run away from the one place that was supposedly safe – it belonged to Thea. "She ran, didn't she? To distract the soldiers away from the kids?"

He had done the same that last night of his relative freedom on Tarsus. But he had been caught. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Thea. He had to save her.

"Which direction did she run, Liam? And how long has it been since she's run?" he said, his voice raising unbidden in volume. "Tell me now!"

"To the west. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes!" Liam's fists grasped Jim's shirt. Tears were tricking down his cheek. Jim couldn't tell if it was more from fear or anger at being so utterly helpless. Jim had been there too. He knew exactly what was running through Liam's mind.

"You have to save her!" Liam pleaded. "Please!"

Jim, as adrenaline-driven as he was, gently reached down and pulled Liam's hands away from him. "I will. I promise," he said softly. Then steel entered his eyes. "Stay here. Don't follow me. I'll go after your sister," Jim commanded, turning on his heel to face Chekov.

He swung his bag around and rummaged through it quickly, pulling out that phaser that he had stolen and pressed it into Chekov's hand, knowing full well that Chekov had limited skills with archaic guns, and he needed to be able to defend these kids if more soldiers came searching for them. "Chekov, keep them safe."

And then he was running.

"Be careful, Keptin!" Chekov called out, but Jim was already gone, sprinting into the depth of the forest.

He pushed his body to its limits, running as quick as he could while tracking Thea. For a while, all he saw was her footsteps and a few strands of hair that had gotten snagged in her haste, but a couple of hundreds of yards into her path, she was accompanied by cracked branches and footsteps of the bumbling soldiers.

The sight of it forced Jim to run faster. He didn't even care if he remained unnoticed anymore.

He just had to get to Thea.

Thea kept moving, dodging, running, scampering like a hunted rabbit, her black hair getting caught on some branches as she kept going. She had to keep them away from Liam and her kids. Her chest started to burn, her lungs pleading for her to stop moving. She ignored it; she couldn't afford to listen.

But sometimes, fate wasn't kind. Fate was cruel and unforgiving.

A bullet pinged over Thea's ear. Her body flinched on instinct, and in that momentary pause, one of the soldiers struck true. Thea let out a scream as a bullet buried itself into her right calf, making her crash to the ground, her bow escaping from her grasp, falling just out of her reach.

"We got her!" shouted a soldier.

Thea whimpered, crawling towards a tree to pull herself upwards. Even if she had no chance, she wasn't giving up without a fight.

This was going to be her last stand.

She leaned against the trunk and notched an arrow against her bow. Exhaling, she pulled the string back and waited for the soldiers to arrive.

Another shot rang out and she gasped out in pain as her bow was ripped from her hands by the bullet. It had grazed her skin, and blood started dripping onto the ground.

Footsteps came to a stop a small distance away from her, and heard one of the men sneer at her. "Well, well. Lookie at what we have here. It's one of them kids that escaped."

There was a low whistle. "She's a pretty one."

Thea flinched, pulling back to press against the tree trunk. She looked up and saw eight men – just as Liam had said – leering at her. They were all plain and unassuming, which was unsurprising considering that they were mere foot soldiers, but they were carrying heavy weaponry.

The two men in front of her – probably the ones in charge of their mission – were each holding Glocks; the others had smaller 9mm handguns. Thea only recognized the types of guns because she had heard Jim mumble to himself when he had gone through the inventory that she had stolen.

It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"So, what's your name, little girl?" asked one of the lead soldiers with a lewd grin on his face.

Thea remained defiantly reticent.

The soldiers laughed. "She's a feisty one, I can just tell."

"What should we do with her?"

"Greenaway said to bring all the kids that we find to him."

"But he never said that we couldn't have a little fun before, right?"

One the men laughed and nudged his comrade. "Well, we do have to make her tell us where she's hiding the rest of the kids."

Something akin to lightning ran through Thea and she couldn't help herself. "How did you know about them?!" she demanded.

"Ah, so there were others. Wasn't one-hundred percent sure on that." The other leader took a threatening step forward. "Why don't you tell us where they are and maybe we leave you only slightly bruised?"

Like a feral dog being backed in a corner, Thea just snarled back, her entire small body quivering with anger. "Over my dead body, you fuckers."

All eight men now had matching grins.

"That can be arranged." He raised his gun to point at Thea's face.

She didn't even flinch. Her black-brown eyes strong and unrelenting.

A shot rang out.

Shock spread across her face. The soldiers' expressions matched hers, save for one, who fell to the forest floor, dead with a bullet hole in the back of his head.

"Don't you fucking touch her," a cold and furious voice echoed around them, just dripping with pure venom. It was a voice that the entire universe had come to fear – it sent shivers down people's spines and threatened, no, promised that hellfire was coming to burn them all alive.

Slowly, the soldiers turned, and standing several feet away from there was Captain James T. Kirk with a wild look in his expressions. There was a six-chambered revolver in his unwavering hand. Bloodlust rolled off him in waves, making the men instinctively desperately afraid for their lives. Before Jim Kirk, they were mere ants under his boots. Like the animals they were, their bodies started prepping to flee, if only to ensure their survival.

But underneath all the bravado, all that anger, Thea could see Jim's exhaustion. His chest was heaving from his desperate sprint to reach her. His body was still bruised and probably still aching from the crash. Not the mention that he had had an awful concussion prior to all of this. There was no way that he could be standing before them all like it was nothing. He was good at hiding it all though. Through his entire time with Thea and the kids, it didn't seem like there was a single thing wrong with him. She had a feeling that it was second nature for Jim to hide all his pain and fears to the world. Of course he would, what with the heavy burdens on his shoulders. The moment he showed weakness was the moment he got buried underneath it all.

Jim may be strong and he may have a ridiculous number of skills that Thea never knew about, but she knew, that after everything, Jim was probably greatly weakened. There were still seven men left, and Thea knew that he had, at most, five more bullets left in that revolver of his. She didn't know if she had another weapon on hand or if he had time to grab anything out of his backpack that was still firmly hanging from his shoulders. Was he even physically able to take the last two men down before they got off a good shot and injured him? She didn't know, and she couldn't have that.

Despite her own desire to survive and see her little brother again, she hadn't been lying when she said that Jim was her brother's best chance at living. She had to protect that at all costs.

Once the leaders got over their initial shock, they seemed to grow a backbone, which helped calm their men.

"Captain Kirk, how nice to see you here," said one of them. "Captain Wolff mentioned that you were still alive. I think we're going to be highly promoted if we bring him your head."

Jim was unfazed. "You're welcome to try, but never underestimate your opponent. It's my third rule."

"There are seven of us left." Ah, so the men had done the same math as Thea. "You may take down most of us, but there will be enough of us left to bring your head to Wolff. I don't think you'll be able to win, Captain."

"Well, luckily for you, you won't get the chance to find out if you're right."

A flash of grey entered Jim's eyes and his entire body sprang into action, even as his finger pressed the trigger. In rapid succession, Jim fired two bullets, hitting two of the men in the chest. They didn't even have the time to raise their guns before they were dead.

The other five men had quicker reaction time and lifted their own guns, firing at Jim as fast as they could while they, themselves, scampered to find shelter behind trees, forcing Jim to duck behind one as well. Jim poked his head out once and assessed the locations of all the men in a split second. His blue eyes slipped over to Thea, connecting with her and praying that she could understand his silent message to run, but his attention on her was short-lived. His focus immediately shifted back to his opponents.

Calculations ran through his mind. He was still just so damn relieved that he had gotten to Thea in time, but he had definitely pushed his body too hard to do so. The aching and soreness had come back with a vengeance. He was good at shoving that all down and completely ignoring it. But even if he did, it didn't change the fact that he was at a huge disadvantage. Damn it. He wished he had that phaser with him, not that he regretted his choice to leave it with Chekov. But that left him with three bullets and the knife that he had hidden in his boot.

Amidst the continuous rain of bullets, he risked another cursory survey of his surroundings, glancing over at Thea to make sure that she had escaped, but instead, she was reaching for her bow surreptitiously. Jim could see blood dripping down her shaking hand, and he instantly realized what had happened to her and what she was planning on doing, despite her injury.

Shit. She was going to stand and fight with him. He closed his eyes in defeat. Of course she would fight. She was a strong one, and like Jim, would have never let anyone fight her battles for her. He remembered the scuffles and brawls he had back on Tarsus, putting everything he had into each fight, thinking that it was his last.

It was a dangerous thing to do – to fight when you had nothing to lose. And right now? Thea was just that. She would give anything to save her kids.

Jim couldn't have that. He had to act before she could.

All his plans flew out the window and he didn't think anymore. Sometimes, all that was left was to rely on instinct.

In one smooth movement, Jim bent, grabbed his knife, and stepped out of hiding, raising his gun. He fired once, hitting one of the men in his foot. The man screamed and fell over, clutching his injured appendage. The scream was cut short as Jim buried a bullet into his temple.

Without hesitation and moving so fast that the men could barely react to him, Jim descended upon them like a swarm of locusts. He ducked quickly, reading the bullets' path by the way the guns were being held by the soldiers. The two that had Glocks had a larger recoil than the ones with the handguns and would take more time to adjust their aim – about 0.4 seconds more. One tended to tilt a bit more to the right while the other was off by a centimeters down. The handguns were a bit more problematic with better accuracy due to their smaller size. Clearly, the men had had training in sharpshooting, but they only had about fifteen to seventeen rounds, and they were rapidly emptying their clips.

It was a dance – a graceful and deadly one that Jim was extremely gifted at. His speed at side-stepping and ducking was outstanding. And his aim? Even better.

He took out one of the leaders next – those Glocks posed the greatest threat – with his last bullet, which struck the man in his chest. It took him some time to die, but he was no longer on Jim's radar.

Jim slunk around another tree and emerged like a shotgun, launching himself at the closest man while throwing his empty gun at another. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, as Jim had expected, but he was more focused on the soldier that he had literally caught. He got his arms around his neck and jerked at just the right position. He heard the crack. Some tiny part of him cringed at the sound, but held onto the body, using it as a shield. The impact of the three bullets still made Jim back a couple of feet and drop the man in his arms, but not before he flung his knife at another man.

With a sinking heart, he realized that it hadn't been a kill-shot. His balance was off and he missed by a couple of inches. He hadn't hit the chest, as he had hoped – he had instead grazed the soldier on the arm, and the wrong one at that. It was a deep cut, but his gun arm was still unhindered.

The gun rose and the completely unarmed Jim was too far away from anything that could remotely act as cover.

"Jim!" Thea cried out.

An arrow whizzed past one of the two remaining men, landing by Jim's arm. All three men lifted their heads to see Thea standing a few trees away, her bow still in place with another arrow already notched. In her current position, she and Jim were literally sandwiching the two men. More importantly, she had given Jim a weapon.

"Put down your guns, or I'll shoot you in the eye," Thea warned, providing Jim the distraction he need to wrench the arrow out of the ground.

He leapt to his feet, and Thea and he acted simultaneously. Jim sprang forward, closing the distance in seconds, and plunging the arrow into the back of a soldier's neck. At the same exact moment, Thea sent an arrow flying at the other man, striking him in the shoulder and forcing him into Jim's range.

In that split second before Jim tackled him to the floor and punched his larynx so hard that his trachea collapsed. The soldier knew exactly what laid before him – he was going to suffocate. He knew he was going to die, but if he must, he wasn't going alone.

When Jim's full momentum sent them on a downwards trajectory, he tilted his gun and fired. It was his last act in this world, and it had the most damaging and absolutely devastating consequences that anyone could have possibly imagine.

Panting heavily, Jim remained sitting on the suffocating man while he regained his bearings. He watched the last of the soldiers claw at his throat, the pleas and fears screaming in his eyes, with such cold apathy.

"Jim…"

Jim's head snapped up at the sound of Thea's extremely weak voice. What he saw would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

She was leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree, her hands pressed against her abdomen. The bow and arrows had fallen to the ground, forgotten. Blood was slowly seeping through her pale fingers as she looked up at Jim, her expressions completely blank, as if she didn't believe what had just happened.

Horror struck Jim so hard that it almost knocked him off his feet.

"Thea!" He rushed to her, just as she started to collapse.

Skidding, he caught her just before she hit the ground. He shifted, essentially holding her on her lap with one arm supporting her back and the other pulling his backpack off to grab his leather jacket – the same one that, not so long ago, she had been using as a blanket. He pressed it hard against Thea's gunshot wound, eliciting a small groan of pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jim rushed out breathlessly. "You're going to be fine, Thea. I'm going to get you some help. I promise, you're going to be fine." But even as he spoke, he could feel her blood soaking into his coat – her life fading away with each second.

Thea, her white face completely stark against the blood on her hands, chuckled as one of her shaking hands reached up to touch his cheek. "D-don't make promises…you can't keep," she managed to get out through her struggle to breathe.

Tears overflowed his blue eyes and started dripping down, the drops landing on Thea's already unfeeling cheeks. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I promised that I'd save you," he cried softly. "I'm sorry!"

Thea blinked slowly and a smile graced her beautiful face. "You did. You…you may not understand that," she breathed, "But you did. You saved me."

She gasped, her back arching in pain as it lanced through her. Blindly, her hands reached upwards, towards the blue sky. It was beautiful, swallowing her and all her pain. There was a light in the distance that she could barely make it, growing ever stronger and closer.

Jim had been around death so many times that he could recognize the signs like he knew his own name. Choking out a quiet sob, Jim let go of his hold on his jacket and Thea's wound, and instead, held onto Thea's outstretched hand and pressed it against his cheek.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" he repeated over and over again, his words breaking as his soul faded with Thea.

"S-save Liam and…the others. P-promise me you'll save them."

Jim nodded against her hand, pressing it to his lips and kissed her cold hand. "Yes. Yes, I promise. On my life, I'll save them and keep them safe."

She smiled. "I know you will." The light was getting closer. "T-thank you, Jim." Tears dripped from the corners of her eyes. "Thank you…"

She exhaled one more time. And then her eyes saw no more.

Her bloodied hand slipped from Jim's and she lay limp in Jim's arms.

"Thea?" Jim softly called out, his heart-breaking when he saw that she was gone.

Shaking like a leaf in a gale, Jim slowly reached forward with the hand that had held hers a moment ago and gently closed her eyes. Even in death, she was beautiful, like Snow White, with her pale features and raven-black hair. She had been too young, lost too soon.

And all because of him. All because he wasn't strong enough to protect her.

Jim leaned down and kissed her forehead before lifting her head with his left arm and her torso with his right, hugging her tightly against his chest as he openly sobbed. His body rocked as his grief completely overtook him.

He let out a heart-wrenching scream that echoed through the woods, letting everything and everyone that heard know of what the world had lost.

His cry faded away in the emptiness, leaving Jim alone as his soul completely and utterly shattered into nothingness.

To be continued...

...Please don't hate me for how this chapter ended? I'm working on the next one and am halfway through, but still working on it so I can't guarantee an update date. Yes, I know. I'm an evil child. Sorry. Feels like my stories are turning darker and darker...But there's a reason for it! I swear! You shall see sooner or later.

Anyway, as always, please review! (And don't hate me!)

Happy New Year's, my lovely readers! Hope you have a great year!

Cheers,

Yuna