A/N: Welcome to the penultimate chapter of this fan fiction! Massive thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed it. You guys have kept this going!

Please read and review again!

Love to you all X

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I abandoned the car in an alleyway soon after I'd left Downtown. I knew that it would be far too dangerous to drive one of Vex's cars, yet I also knew that no matter what I did they would still find me, this would just buy me enough time.

I didn't need to live for much longer.

I shut the door and threw the keys into the deserted streets behind me. Something made me wait to hear the sound of them hitting the pavement before I could move onward. When I heard it, I checked around me once more and turned back onto the main road. Every step I took I could feel eyes burning holes all over my body. As I flinched at every loud noise, I willed my weak blood-covered feet to keep on crawling. The night seemed to slump over my cracked shoulders, making every step feel as if it were up a mountain. To any passers-by I must have appeared like a tramp, drunk or stoned out of consciousness.

A good thing, less likely to consider you.

The potency of crime was seeping through my veins, and I realised that I had to work faster. I didn't know if Gretchen had left the school already or if Vex's gang were already tracking me, and I didn't want to leave anything to speculation. I glanced over at the suburban houses on the other side of the streets. All of the main lights were out and the only life that dwelled within them was the hazy glow of a child's nightlight, flickering behind a net curtain. I risked proceeding towards this house, so I could get a closer view of the car that slept in the driveway.

"Sturdy," I thought, "not as fast. But it won't stand out…"

Inhaling the morally toxic air that waited near my lips, I prised open the bonnet.

Spinelli had once taught me how to hot-wire a car. I remember saying to her, "when will I ever need to know this?'" and giggling with a nonchalant flick of her ponytail, she sung, "you never know!"

It's true, I could never have said that this was going to happen, and somewhere amongst the car's battery I still didn't quite believe it. Even when the sound of the ignition purred did my mind not realise it. I had to work fast; it was almost a certainty that the owners had heard it. With a rush of energy, I crashed my elbow into the driver's window.

Too strong, it won't break.

Almost panicking now I looked around, for anything strong enough to break the pane. Salvation was thrown to me in the form of a bronze garden gnome. I turned it over in my hands innocently before I brandished it as a weapon. The chubby face seemed to still laugh at me as it fell to the floor when it had done its job. I cracked open the dashboard and finished the job – the lights were on in the house now, and I could see shadows running about within it. I felt remorse creeping over me, and I bit the inside of my mouth to prevent myself screaming out apologies.

No speaking, nothing that could make anyone recognise you.

The people in the house could have been part of Vex's gang. His connections were absolutely everywhere. I held this thought as my one shred of comfort as I sped the car from the driveway. I had made myself promise not to look in the rear-view mirror but curiousity and fear of being followed prevailed – the figures of a mother, father and a little girl faded as I sped the car away. They shouted confused words after me, and turned the garden gnome over in their hands.

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She watched him across the other side of the corridor – a mixture of pity and loathing blending in her eyes. She didn't want to hate him, but the red liquid staining the front of her clothes loomed as promises of further pain to come. He paced, and occasionally stole a glance in her direction. He let guilt creep over his features for a fraction of a second, and then shook them away in anguish.

"Gus," Spinelli managed to gasp. He stopped and turned to her again, yet not being able to meet her eyes.

"Gus, look at me".

He did, with the mournful eyes of an onlooker to a funeral.

"Tell me. Tell me what is happening. Tell me…' she paused as she pressed her wound in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding, "…everything."

Gus let out a sigh drenched in melancholy and drifted to the wall that she was leaning against. With a sudden movement, he collapsed onto the floor next to her – as if the thing that was previously holding him up had dissolved. The puppeteer had died.

"I'll tell you," he whispered, entwining his fingers through hers. Spinelli was in such an utter state of calm that the moment they shared was a beautiful finale of their friendship – both of them had their armour stripped from them. The pain she felt teased her, but she refused to panic. Everything that had occurred was forgotten in this moment of clarity and they talked, as if they were trying to expel all breath from their bodies.

"HK and Gretchen are hustlers, Spinelli," he began. He paused for a reaction – he got none.

"They have been for a long time. HK worked what they call 'small-game', the type of trade he dealt with was report cards, toys, food – that sort of thing. Gretchen started as this back a few years ago, but over time – the taste of money got too strong for her. HK had connections, rankings way above him that could get you anything you wanted. Gretchen wanted bigger and stronger merchandise – she got it."

Gus paused to wipe his glasses on his shirt. Spinelli sat in silence, her fingers still entwined in his.

"She got involved in the drugs trade. All of the hustlers had told her that it was the worst possible business she could get involved in – drugs money is dirty money, and with it comes consequences that were far too dangerous for her – for all of them. But she didn't listen to them, she was naïve, and thought she knew best. Like any industry, the money situation changes, and kids get older – they don't want the same things as they used to. HK and Fingers were going to go out of business, and so made a deal with Gretchen to get in on it, and join her trade. They called themselves 'The League'".

Spinelli flinched.

"They attracted attention, the wrong sort. Drug suppliers are dangerous, and they have no mercy. Gretchen didn't heed any warnings, and lead the others wherever she could get money for her stock, no matter what the circumstances. It was out of control. They all knew they were being watched – they were careless, and had way too many connections that were unreliable. HK and Fingers started to think about backing out – Gretchen was…she was addicted."

They heard a noise, and waited a few minutes in the silence of their heavy anxious breathing. Spinelli squeezed his hand and he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"One day, Gretchen had hold them that she had a massive deal, and that the trade that she was going to get on it would mean that they could all pack up for good. HK and Fingers had never heard better news…what they didn't know is who the deal was…and how Gretchen had handled it."

Gus stopped; it was like he wanted to say the name but the syllables physically couldn't leave his mouth. Spinelli shrunk her body towards him, and he did the same. To an onlooker, they looked like two children huddled in amused conversation in their school corridor – it was only when you approached did you see the true horror – the blood, the knife…

"Clint Thwaites. She made a deal…with Clint Thwaites – one of the most dangerous men in the entire world. He has control over the government, army, assassins – he grew to his position from intimidating, buying and killing his way to the top. To the outside world, he was a property tycoon. Sure, if property was countries, with gardens as dead women, men and children. She was such an idiot!"

He screamed the last word and threw his fists to the floor, so the slapping sound bounced with it down the dim hallway, fragmenting the hushed silence.

"She was playing with her life, and everyone else's. Dealing with him in any aspect was dangerous enough, with a guarantee of her death. But then she signed all of their lives away…she took the money, and kept the drugs, and tried to cheat him out of the deal."

He buried his face in his hands and tried to rub his features back together, silent tears pushed through the gaps in his fingers. Spinelli took as deep as a breath as she could, and allowed her hand to travel out of his.

"How do you know this?" she managed to whisper breathlessly. Gus winced, not wanting to utter the words.

"I work for the army, I've been working under cover to bring the League down. Gretchen and Fingers told me everything."

Gus couldn't hold back any more, his sobs violently shook his small frame and he buried his head into his lap. In the moment of closeness they had both shared, Spinelli would have normally folded their bodies together in the only weak expression that they had ever both allowed each other to see. Yet the words that Gus had said had sent a bitter liquid into her veins, and her pity turned to hatred. Gus and Gretchen had put me in danger, and she ached for revenge. Gus was unaware, and cried further into his lap – with no avail of Spinelli's sympathy. As his elbows slid down his thighs, the knife that was previously resting in his lap fell to the floor, the clatter seemed to resound in the darkest desires of her mind, and she seized it before he could react.

"Gus," she seethed between gritted teeth, "were you sent here to kill HK?"

"No! I wasn't sent here, Spinelli," he replied, panicking now, "after I had confirmed Gretchen's name to the army I knew I had to protect her, I knew they would be looking for her everywhere. I had to start somewhere, I wasn't going to let her hurt her!"

"Yes you were!" Spinelli screamed. The last word finished in a coughing fit. When she drew her hand away, she saw it was speckled with blood, "you ruined everyone! You have killed everyone! What is going to happen now, Gus?! It doesn't matter what you try and do now, you have been lying to us all! How can you live with yourself?!"

"They're coming, Spinelli!" Gus screamed back at her, "they know where she is, they know everything! They are coming here, and they will kill everyone in this building if necessary! They will kill you, Gretchen and HK, they already killed Fingers, and they will kill me when I try and kill them. They will stop at nothing."

Spinelli let her head fall back onto the wall behind her. The pain was getting unbearable now, and she knew from the loss of consciousness that kept tempting her, she did not have much longer. She clenched her eyes shut, and with every ounce of the energy that she had left dwelling within her, she wished to see me one last time before the end.

United in death, if not in life.

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A/N: Please join me for the final chapter, posted soon! Review this one please!