Tyler's right hand was shaking. Sitting on the side of the helicopter, his eyes on the hot pavement, Evan fidgeted with his sleeve. Lui stood a few feet away with his back to them, another plastic cup of strong coffee in his hand.

"Why didn't you just take the fucking deal?" Lui had yelled at Evan when Brian left."Why are you so fucking stubborn? You're going to kill all of us!" He had lunged at Evan, swinging at him with his fists. Tyler had pushed Evan back, getting in between him and Lui. He caught Lui's fist and had shoved him hard. Lui stumbled back, almost falling to the pavement.

"Brian would have still fucked him over in the end! He's never that kind!" Tyler spat.

"Seems like he's been pretty damn kind to Luke." Lui hissed. Tyler's right hand had flexed and closed.

"No one is going to die. We can deal with Brian. He's just as desperate to find it as we are. He will make a mistake." Tyler had said. Evan wondered what 'it' was that they were looking for.

"And so will we by that logic." Lui snarled. Tyler's eyes narrowed. Evan wanted to melt into the pavement and disappear. "You should still have taken that fucking deal. Now, we gotta deal with the fucking bounty on that kid's head and that we got three fucking days to figure this out! I can't fucking believe this. I can't fucking believe you." Lui had turned then, storming towards one of the hangers.

"We can do it, Lui!" He flipped Tyler off.

Now, no one said anything, only watched the heat waves coming off the pavement. No one said anything. Evan was desperate for someone to say something. He wanted them to tell him that it would be okay, that they wouldn't accept any of Brian's deals, that they would find a way to stop him before time ran out. He wished at least that Tyler would let him call his mom but that wasn't going to happen now. Finishing his bitter coffee, Lui turned to look back at them, sighing.

"What are you going to tell the others?" Lui asked Tyler who said nothing, his gaze on his shaking hand. "You can't not say anything to them. They'll have a lot of questions when they start getting shot at in three days if you don't say anything."

"I'll tell them about Evan's bounty...and that Brian is willing to give a lot of money for him, therefore a lot of people are interested in finding him." Tyler finally said.

"And not about the time limit that Brian gave us?" Lui cried.

"You know how they will react if I do." Tyler sighed.

"Of course I do which is why you have to tell them. If they find out that you choose some fucking kid over them and didn't say anything about it, they will personally give Evan to Brian." Lui snapped. "Don't you dare tell me that isn't how they'll react when they find out that you betrayed them all! We'll never trust you again."

"Shut up!" Tyler suddenly yelled, making Evan jump.

"How would Craig feel? Or Jonathan? What about Smitty who you had to convince to join you and not Brian? I bet that he'll really be regretting his choice when he finds out." Lui snarled.

"I'm trying to have the least amount of blood spilt, Lui!"

"Everyone's gonna have a bullet in their head because of that kid!" Evan had enough. He got up, walking away from the helicopter. He could hardly breathe, tears welling up in his eyes.

He wanted to go home. He wished Adam had never ended up at the river. He wished he had never climbed that fence. He wished he had never biked to the river. He wished he had been brave enough to go to school.

"Evan?" He started running. He had to get away from them. Maybe if he kept running, he'd get away. He'd go home. Everyone was in danger now and it was his fault. Would running away really do anything to stop it? He didn't answer that question, only took a deep breath and ran faster. "Where are you going?" Tyler was coming after him. He didn't stop, his red jacket flaring out behind him. His lungs burned, every inhale bringing more tears to his eyes. "Evan!" A hand suddenly grabbed his arm. Evan pulled away from Tyler, stumbling forward. Tyler caught him. "Stop it!"

"Let go of me! Let go! Let me go!" Evan wailed, fighting against Tyler who held him tightly. "It's all my fault! All of it!"

"Evan!"

"I don't want to get them killed! I just want to go home!" Evan managed to get away from Tyler. "Lui's right! You shouldn't pick me over them." Evan cried as he turned around to face Tyler, his hands curling tightly into fists.

"I'm not picking anyone!"

"Just let me go home!"

"You can't go home!" Tyler suddenly yelled. Evan's chest tightened. "Those numbers... you're the only one who knows them. If you go home, both you and your mom will be hunted. You will never be left alone, even after Brian is gone!" Panic and anger seized Evan, knocking the air from the lungs. He wanted to scream, his hands starting to shake.

"You lied to me!" Evan screamed, suddenly lunging forward to hit Tyler who didn't stop him. He hit Tyler's chest repeatedly, shoving him away. "You lied! You said I could go home when all this was done!"

"Evan, listen to me!"

"Fuck you!"

"You can only go home when your bounty is gone, when people have forgotten about it! When Brian isn't around to enforce it, when his people aren't coming after us when we've finally found…" Tyler trailed off, his gaze turning down to the pavement. "I'm sorry. I'll get you home eventually. I'm not letting anyone else get trapped in this."

"You told everyone else that I was going home…" Evan said quietly. Tyler sighed.

"They understand."

"What is the code for?" Evan asked. Tyler's jaw clenched. Anger crashed over Evan. He couldn't stop the words that spilt out of his mouth. "Does your damn family understand what you meant or are you lying to them? Do you even understand them? Lui said that-" Evan was cut off by Tyler who grabbed his collar tightly, choking him.

"Go on, finish that sentence." Tyler snarled. Evan struggled, gasping for air. "Were you going to use Lui's words against me? I've known them for years, don't you dare think you do! You are alive because of me, Evan. Don't forget that. If you want to use my family against me, then I will start picking favourites. I am not better than Brian... I can be a lot worse." Tyler shoved Evan away, sending him sprawling to the hot pavement. Evan winced as his head hit the pavement. Opening his eyes, he saw the regret on Tyler's face. He didn't say anything to Evan though, only turned and walked back to the helicopter and Lui. He had watched the whole thing.

Evan stared up at the blue sky overhead. He didn't blame Tyler for his anger, he shouldn't have said that. Wincing as he sat up, he watched Tyler as he walked away. He didn't want to find out what he meant when he said that he could be worse than Brian.

"Are you okay?" The warm breeze played with Evan's hair. He sat on the balcony of Tyler's apartment, looking out over the city. He sat by the flower pots, the flowers above him bright and dancing in the breeze.

Tyler had told them about Evan's bounty and that Lui had been attacked the night before. He didn't say anything about the time limit Brian gave them. Shortly after, Tyler had disappeared in a room that Evan hadn't noticed before, just off from the entrance. It's door looked heavy and inside, he had just gotten a glimpse of weapons on the wall before the door closed. Tyler wasn't speaking to Evan, the drive back had been in uncomfortable silence. Evan had gone out onto the balcony after that and hadn't left it as the sun moved closer towards the horizon. "You've been out here awhile." He looked up at Jonathan who stood in the open doorway and shrugged. "What happened today?" Jonathan closed the sliding door and sat down beside Evan. He wanted Jonathan to listen, but he couldn't tell them what Tyler wouldn't. "You can talk to me, Evan."

"It's just…" Evan took a deep breath. "Tyler said that I can't go home as soon I thought I could...That with the bounty and everything, it'll take a long time before it's safe for me to go home." Tears welled up in his eyes. "I just wanna go home...I don't feel like anyone wants me here. It'd just be easier for everyone if I wasn't here...If you had just left me out there."

"That's not true." Jonathan shook his head. "I want you here."

"Sure you do." Evan scoffed, looking back over the city. "Even Tyler hates me." Evan didn't want to think about the anger that had been in Tyler's eyes when he shoved him down to the pavement and the threat that had been in his words. He pressed his left thumb over his right hand, putting pressure on it. Did that pain make him violent?

"Why would he give you this jacket then?" Jonathan playfully tugged on Evan's red and white sleeve, snapping him out of his thoughts. Evan turned his head, pulling his arm away as he met Jonathan's gaze.

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't tell you the story about it?"

"No." Evan shook his head. "He only said that it's important to him."

"Then let me tell you. It's a fun story." Jonathan leant back against the heavy stone planter, the flowers above him swaying in the breeze. "It was a year ago. It was one of our biggest jobs in awhile. You might have seen it on the news." Jonathan smiled at the memory. "It required a lot of setting up, but it was totally worth it. I think it was one of Tyler's shining moments." For a moment, Jonathan sounded bitter.

The large wooden doors of the bank swung open, the golden handles turning red as the four men entered the bank. They would do this just how they planned. Moving like clockwork, the four spread out. Lui zip tied the doors closed. Tyler fired a shot into the air. Ceiling plaster fell to the marble floor. On the counter were vases of plastic flowers. "Nobody move!"

Jonathan paid no attention to the people that cowered on the floor as he pulled out a small explosive from his duffel bag, tapping it to the locked gate that would take them downstairs to the vault. Orange smoke flew around him, nearly blocking his vision that was already narrow due to the mask over his face. Other than their masks, they chose to wear the same clothing to make them seem even more indistinguishable. They moved as one and looked like one save for the masks.

The gate swung open in a burst of sparks. Jonathan and Tyler hurried down the stairs, Daithi and Lui staying to watch over the people in the bank. There was another gate at the bottom of the stairs. "Hurry!" Tyler said.

"I got it, I got it." Jonathan smiled, as the small explosive went off in a burst of orange smoke and sparks. They hurried down the hall to the vault. Inside was a table covered with wads of bills. "Holy shit…" Jonathan breathed. He'd never seen so much money before. Glancing at Tyler with a look of excitement, they pulled open their bags and started filling them. There was yelling on the staircase and gunshots.

"Come on!" Tyler cried. Jonathan grabbed as many as he could at a time. There were footsteps on the marble floor outside the vault.

"Get him!" Lui's voice echoed down the hallway. Tyler nodded to Jonathan who pulled his handgun out from inside his jacket, stepping out of the vault to shoot at the man running towards them. He dropped to the floor, blood bursting from his shoulder where the bullet hit him. As if nothing happened, Jonathan hurried back into the vault.

When the table was empty, they pulled the bags over their shoulders, running back upstairs as the alarm went off. Lui tossed a large gun to Jonathan, Daithi handing Tyler's gun to him as they hurried towards the doors. They could hear sirens on the other side.

"We all remember the way to the bikes?" Tyler asked. They nodded. "Okay. Move fast." Lui pulled a knife from his belt and cut the zip tie off. The doors flew open. Gunshots echoed in Jonathan's ears almost deafening him. They didn't take the time to aim properly as they took off running down a back ally. Jonathan looked back at Lui, watching him stop and take aim. The officer went down seconds later.

Jonathan stopped talking but Evan hardly noticed. He was imagining himself there, wearing the same jacket as them. He saw himself with a heavy bag of cash and a gun in his hand. He saw a proud smile on Tyler's face when he looked at him.

"It's just…" Jonathan's sigh pulled Evan back to reality. He looked up at Jonathan who had a distant look on his face. "I've killed a lot of people. Lui has too. We did it for money and we thought we left that behind to join Tyler but the more I think about it, the less I feel like I left it behind." He shrugged. "That's not fun to talk about though. So anyways…"

Heaving for air, Jonathan ran after Tyler and Daithi towards the motorcycles they had stolen to be their get away.

"Stop!" There was a police officer that had suddenly stepped out front of them, gun raised. There was a loud gunshot, the officer falling. Jonathan looked up at the rooftops, seeing Smitty reload his gun. He wore the same red jacket as them. He had insisted on it even though he was just there as backup.

"Nice." Lui giggled as he ran past. Jonathan smiled, the bag full of money hitting his side with every step. Hidden at the end of an alley a few blocks over, they found their bikes. Jonathan tossed his mask to Lui who put it into his bag, pulling on the helmet that had been left on the bike. Tyler switched bags with Lui who had the faster motorcycle. They reminded each other of the rendezvous point as they got on the bikes, the engines roaring as they took off down the street.

Splitting up, Jonathan headed towards the freeway. He sped up, glancing behind him to see two police cars close behind, their sirens deafening him. A gunshot made him jump, his back tyre popping.

"Fuck!" The bike wobbled violently under him before tipping to the side. Jonathan slid down the pavement, bills flying around him as the bag ripped. He came to a stop a few meters away from the motorcycle, a police car shooting past him. His red jacket had ripped down the back and his left side, his skin feeling like it had just gotten the worst carpet burn. "Fuck….Fuck." He winced, managing to get to his knees, cars speeding past him. The police officers had him cornered. The sound of a motorcycle coming in the opposite direction caught his attention. Tyler's bike came to a sudden halt on the other side of the cement barrier, extending his gloved hand towards him.

"Come on!"

"What about the money that fell out?" Jonathan cried, trying to pull the hole in the bag closed. There were gunshots, both of them ducking as the police closed in on Jonathan. "Fuck!" He reached for his handgun, firing back at the police.

"Just get on the bike! We got enough!" Tyler yelled. Jonathan didn't have to be told a second time. He jumped over the barrier, getting on the back of Tyler's bike. They took off in the way Jonathan had come, the bike going as fast as it could. Clinging to Tyler, Jonathan took a breath, a smile spreading on his lips under his mask.

"It gets boring after that. Adult stuff. Like buying a car." Jonathan laughed. "That crash scared the hell out of me. I've never ridden a bike since." Evan looked up at him with wide, bright eyes. He knew it was silly, but he felt like he knew Jonathan now. "That job meant a lot to us. It was Smitty's first job with us. It was one of our biggest. So don't worry, okay? Sure, Tyler can get mad sometimes but he never means most of what he says. Except when he's threatening someone, but he'd never do that to you. He gave you that jacket for a reason. He'll get you home as soon as he can." Jonathan smiled. Evan believed him.

Sparkling blue water splashed around Evan as he dove into the roof top pool. After the heat and stress of the day, it was a relief. Jonathan had told him about the pool, lending him a pair of shorts and a towel. Air bubbles floating up from his nose, he swam to the other end of the pool, resurfacing halfway before diving back under. Reaching the shallow end, he stood, looking back at Jonathan who stood near the railing of the roof, his phone in hand. Evan remembered seeing him on the balcony the night before, how frustrated he had sounded. That didn't mean anything though did it?

Evan rolled onto his back, looking up at the blue sky. Golden rays of sunlight reflected off the bottom of the pool. The bruises on his side were still dark, every breath reminding him of the kicks and punches. He ran his hand over the bruises, feeling the ache over his ribs. He wondered how long the bruises would last, how long every breath would remind him of Brian and the group that had surrounded and beaten him. Evan forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to expand his wounded ribs to take in as much air as he could. It burned but a part of him felt alive. It felt good.

"Hey! Are you alive over there?" Jonathan called out. Evan rolled, splashing water around him.

"Yeah!" Evan spluttered.

"Sorry I surprised you." Jonathan laughed, turning back to his phone. Evan went back to floating on his back, looking up at the sky above him. Flowers in the garden danced in the warm early summer wind.