Chapter Six

Author's Note: 'Nico' and 'Jackie' in this story are OCs and have no association to the Fire Emblem series.

"After that, they—are you even listening?"

"Huh?" Cain turned his head towards Abel as he heard the other's tone change. He had been staring out the window of the small restaurant where they were seated; it was hard to see out of it past the reflection of the inside, and he was squinting, focusing his attention on that instead of on his partner. "Yeah, I'm listening. What happened then?"

Abel frowned. There had been no further incidents for the past two weeks, and the tension had slowly faded as they settled back into their usual routine. Tonight, however, Cain was acting up again, constantly casting distracted glances out the window. Abel dropped what he was saying; it hadn't been all that important in the first place. "Is everything okay? You've barely touched your food."

"Not really hungry, I had a big lunch." Cain answered too quickly. An awkward silence came again, hanging over them like a smothering curtain. Abel shifted in his seat uncomfortably; it was so odd for there to be so much tension, and it drove him nuts to not know what the source of it was. It shocked him how he could feel lonely when his best friend and partner was sitting right in front of him, but Cain wasn't exactly there; his mind was somewhere else entirely.

"Maybe we should go," Abel suggested. He had noticed how Cain's uneasiness always seemed to rise the later it got, and the daylight was fading quickly.

"No!" Cain's voice came out a bit too loud, and he quickly cleared his throat and quieted himself. "I mean, don't you want to order something else?" He grabbed the menu from where it was sitting on the end the table and thumbed through it.

"I thought you weren't hungry?" Abel raised an eyebrow at the contradiction.

Cain's face went a shade lighter as he paled, knowing that Abel was on to him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. They couldn't stay in the restaurant forever; they'd already been there for quite a long time. He would have to face what was waiting outside sooner or later. "You're right. Let's go."

After paying and standing to leave, Cain took Abel's hand in a tight grip, walking closely next to him. They stepped outside into the chilled air; it was the middle of winter, and it was freezing, but it hadn't rained since the night of the power outage, so ice wasn't a worry. Even so, Cain hadn't wanted to drive again, and Abel couldn't help but assume it had something to do with their harasser who had stalked them last time.

Standing just outside the door, Cain turned to face his partner, unable to hide the worried look that glinted in his eye. "Look, Abel," the redhead murmured in a low voice. "Get home as fast as you can, but don't run and don't panic. As soon as you turn around to go, don't look back, no matter what, okay?"

Abel bit down on his lip; Cain was doing it again, being vague and giving him strange instructions. "Okay… I'll call you when I get there."

Cain shook his head. "Don't, not this time. Just get home and lock your door. I'll call you when I can."

The green-haired man didn't like the sound of that, but what choice did he have? "Cain… please be careful." Abel waited until the other gave a small nod before turning around; following the redhead's instructions, he walked quickly down the street, not hesitating and turning the corner without looking behind him.

Cain watched him go, letting out a long sigh; a cloud of steam came from his lips as his hot breath hit the cold air. Not a moment after his partner disappeared, he felt a meaty hand settling on his shoulder, and he pulled away immediately, whirling around to see a heavyset man with a hard face; his greasy, long black hair was pulled into low ponytail.

"Nico…" Cain heard himself whispering the strange man's name, but he didn't realize he had even spoken. His heart felt as if it had dropped into his stomach, but he controlled himself, not letting any emotion show on his face.

"It's been awhile, Cain," the raven-haired man spoke normal words, but there wasn't even a trace of friendliness in his gravelly voice. "Me'n the guys don't usually come this far up this way, but we decided to make a special trip, just for you."

"How kind of you," Cain responded dryly, his auburn eyes narrowing as he subtly took a step backwards, getting prepared to run. "What the fuck do you want, Nicky?"

"Haha, funny guy. Don't call me that." Nico's fake laugh was followed by a harsh punch to Cain's shoulder; the latter had to take another step back from the force of it. As he did so, his back hit the chest of someone who had moved behind him while he was focused on the Nico, blocking off his planned escape route.

Cain darted to the side, prepared for flight rather than fight, but he had been too close to the person behind him, and they reached out to seize his arm, yanking him back.

"Where are you off to so quickly? Don't you miss your old friend?" Nico leaned down to sneer in Cain's face. The raven-haired man stood about 6'5", four inches taller than Cain; he was wider in girth as well, but not necessarily stronger.

The redhead's face finally showed signs of emotion, but it was only anger as he tried to wrench away from the one grabbing his arm; he was unsuccessful, and ended up with both of his arms immobilized.

Cain was strong, but they had pinned his arms behind his back, and although he struggled mightily as they dragged him down the long alley behind the building, he couldn't free himself. Reaching the end of it, the man holding him pushed forward harshly, and he barely got his arms up in time to stop himself from smashing his face into the wall of the dead end. Turning around, a scowl decorated his face; there was only one way out of the dark alley, and it was blocked. His auburn eyes glanced around the alley, looking for anything he could use, but he seemed to be out of options.

Abel opened the door to his flat, heaving a sigh as he closed the door behind him and slid the deadbolt into a place; it had become a habit now, ever since the first strange incident with Cain so long ago. He'd made it home without incident, and he flopped on the couch, pulling his mobile out of his pocket. He almost began to dial his partner's number, and then remembered that Cain had told him not to this time. Frowning, he set the phone down on the coffee table, staring at it for a moment, almost expecting it to start ringing.

It didn't, and an uncomfortable silence washed over the apartment; he jumped at the sudden sound of the heater kicking on. When had he started feeling so unsafe in his own home? He didn't know. Most of his worry stemmed from how Cain had acted; he'd been strange before, but never so worrisome, and Abel couldn't stop the sinking feeling in his stomach. There was nothing he could do, but he doubted he would get any sleep if he tried.

He just sat on the couch, drawing his legs up towards his chest and reaching over to flick the television on. He didn't really want to watch it, but the monotonous noise of the boring news anchor held some comfort; it was better than sitting in silence. Sighing again, he kept his gaze locked on the phone, but didn't pick it up, fighting the urge to call Cain; instead, he just prayed for the other's safety.

"We've got you cornered like a rat." Nico's triumphant voice came from middle of the group as the bulky man stepped forward from the shadows, into the light once more.

"That's odd, because you're the vermin of the city," Cain spat back, anger shining in his auburn eyes. He had wanted to avoid this, but there was no getting out of it now.

"Still trying to make jokes, Cain?" Nico's low voice came out without humor as he took long strides over towards the redhead; without warning, he threw out his meaty fist, connecting it with Cain's jaw before the other could react. Cain staggered back with a grunt, raising a hand to rub his sore jaw where a bruise was already forming. "See, now that's funny. Don't you agree?" A wide smile suddenly appeared on the bulky man's face, and he lashed out again, laughing obnoxiously as he slammed his fist into Cain's stomach. The latter doubled over, gasping as the air was knocked out of him.

Moving away from Nico, Cain quickly caught his breath, glaring at the black-haired man. Even in the dim light, he could see that the bulky man's eyes were red and bloodshot. "What drugs are you taking now? Do you even know, or are you just snorting everything you can get your grimy hands on?"

Nico grinned at this, showing off rotten and yellowed teeth. "You've got quite the mouth tonight, Cain," he sneered, quickly approaching the redhead. "Time to put it to good use." Not wasting any more time, Nico seized Cain by the throat, throwing his back against the wall, keeping just a tight enough grip on the other's windpipe to make it increasingly uncomfortable. Cain could still breathe, but barely, and the longer he waited to talk the harder it would be. "You know what I want," Nico growled, his unforgiving dark brown eyes started into Cain's bright auburn gaze. "Where is it?" Cain was silent, making no noise except for slight gasps for air, and anger sparked in Nico's eyes. "Where is it!?" His voice had raised to a yell as spit flew from his mouth.

Cain dug his nails into the hand that was around his throat, trying to pry it off, but he was quickly losing strength from lack of air. He lashed out with his leg instead, throwing his knee up and slamming the point of it into Nico's abdomen. The other grunted, his grip loosening for just a second, and Cain wrenched away, staggering for a few steps and almost falling as he gasped to regain the breath he had lost; the cold, dry air burned his throat.

"Don't want to talk anymore?" Nico's voice was suddenly much too calm, and Cain straightened up, narrowing his eyes at the sudden change in tone. "Whatever… I bet that green-haired bitch you're always hanging around knows something." He smirked as he saw Cain's expression change. "If you won't tell me… perhaps I'll pay him a visit."

"Stay away from him," Cain snarled, feeling anger brewing in his chest at the way Nico talked about Abel. "He's got nothing to do with this."

Nico's disturbing grin only grew wider as he saw how his words had gotten Cain riled up. "Maybe not. That won't make killing him any less enjoyable."

"You're a fucking monster!" Cain couldn't control his anger at the threat, and he charged forward, lashing out with incredible force. He had expected Nico to duck from the punch, and when he did, Cain used his strong thighs to throw his leg out, connected his heel with the black-haired man's cheek.

Nico grunted in surprise, falling to the ground; he had ducked low, and was off balance when Cain kicked him. The redhead lifted his leg once more, about to shove his foot into Nico's face, when the larger man grabbed his ankle. Cain struggled to keep his balance on one foot, trying to withdraw his leg; just before he pulled back mightily, Nico let go. Cain couldn't stop his backwards force in time; he staggered and fell, but climbed back to his feet before his opponent gained any advantage.

Cain dashed forward again, hurling his fists towards Nico in quick, solid punches. The raven-haired man threw his arms up to block the attacks, stopping them short each time, but Cain was coming at him with such force that he had to take a couple steps backward. He quickly realized that the redhead was trying to beat his way out of the alley; Nico growled in anger, planting his feet firmly on the ground and not lowering his arms, but the drugs in his system, on top of years of prior use, were slowing him down. For a long time, he matched Cain's pace, but he missed one chance to block, and the redhead's hard punch landed right on his cheekbone. As Nico grunted in pain and surprise, Cain didn't waste a single moment, breaking through his enemy's defenses and connecting his fist with Nico's face as hard as he could, not holding back. He would kill the other, if he had to, to protect Abel.

Cain went on for just a bit too long, and Nico dodged the last punch; he grabbed Cain's outstretched arm, pulling the surprised redhead forward and wrenched his arm around to be pinned behind his back, shoving Cain against the wall of the alley.

Adrenaline was pumping through Cain's body. He stomped on Nico's foot, grinding his heel into the other's toes, and then used his free arm to shove the point of his elbow into his enemy's stomach. Once freed, he whirled around, quickly stretching the arm that had been pinned, testing it; it was fine.

Nico paused, a few steps away from Cain. He wiped away a bit of blood that trickled from his mouth; the result of one of many punches. "You always were the only one who could give me a challenge, Cain."

"You say that as if Jackie wasn't always kicking your ass into next week." Cain had picked his words carefully, his auburn eyes narrowing to judge the raven-haired man's reaction.

Nico twitched obviously at the name; his smirk morphed into an angry scowl. "I'll be twice the man Jackie was," he snarled angrily. "Twice the monster, if that's what you call it!" He lunged forward, arms outstretched to grab Cain again.

This was exactly what the redhead had been expecting, and he darted out of the way. Whipping around, Cain kicked his leg into the bulky man's back, sending him slamming face-first forcefully into the wall of the alley. He doubted Nico would ever be quite as terrible as Jackie had been, but he was certainly pulling a close second.

Cain was surprised; he hadn't expected Nico to recover so quickly, and he certainly hadn't expected him to turn around and lunge forward, knocking into Cain's chest to shove him to the ground. They rolled around on the hard floor in a flurry of limbs, punching, biting, kicking, and shouting obscenities. Cain finally got the upper hand, using his knee to pin Nico to the ground; he pummeled into the other mercilessly with his fists. All he could think of was the way Nico had threatened Abel, and that imagine just sent rage boiling throughout him; there was no way he would ever let that happen.

After a few more moments of shoving his fists into Nico's face, beating the other black and blue, Cain felt hands gripping on to his arms, dragging him away; he struggled, but the two people grabbing either side of him had caught him off guard. He managed to land one last kick to Nico's side before being yanked out range. Cain hadn't gotten off easy either; cuts and bruises littered his body, stinging in the cold night air.

He tried to escape the grasp of the people holding him, but couldn't, and they shoved him away from Nico. Breathing hard, puffs of steam came from his mouth as his hot breath hit the cold air, and he finally freed himself from the grip of Nico's cronies.

The latter was already standing, wiping away a bit of blood that had gotten in his eye from a deep scratch in his forehead. "I'm tired of this," he spat, turning around. For a short moment, Cain thought he was turning to leave, and he debated jumping on the other from behind while he was distracted, but didn't have time to think more about it. He heard Nico's weapon before he saw it; the familiar sound of metal clicking with metal, and he felt his heart drop when the other turned around, holding in his hand the source of the noise. He gripped tightly to a small gun, no bigger than a pistol, but much more deadly. "I'll ask you one more time," Nico said calmly, raising the gun and pointing it straight towards Cain. "Where is it?"

Cain was stunned silent for a moment, and he took a step back, but there was nowhere to escape in the dead end of the alley. "Nico, wait…"

"Wrong answer." Bang! A thunderous roar echoed through the alley as Nico fired. Cain hurled his body to the side; he had started moving before the trigger had been pulled, and he felt the bullet rocketing by, narrowly missing him; it ricocheted off the concrete wall and bounced somewhere unseen.

Bang! This one went over his head as Cain dropped to the floor; he quickly hopped to his feet, diving to the side to avoid the next shot. Bang!

He didn't know how he had possibly avoided Nico's firing; the adrenaline in Cain's system was speeding up his movements, while the drugs in Nico's were slowing his. Bang! The next bullet nearly grazed him, and he could feel the disturbance in the air where it had whizzed by much too close. Cain didn't know how long he could keep this up. Nico had started tracking his movements with the gun instead of firing blindly, and there was nowhere for him to hide or rest.

Bang!

A choked noise came from Cain as the fifth bullet finally found its mark, burying itself deep in the flesh of his lower stomach. Intense heat flared throughout his body, and he pressed his hand against his abdomen, feeling wetness soaking through his shirt and spilling out over his fingers; it was thick and sticky on his hand. He stood on wobbly feet, staring down towards his blood-soaked waist in disbelief.

Nico approached him quickly. Without warning, he raised the gun and bashed it against Cain's head, knocking the other to the ground where he fell with a loud thud and a pained grunt. His shoulders were shaking violently as he writhed, clutching at his waist, but he soon stopped, the movements only intensifying the pain. He lay as still as he could, but with each gasping breath terrible pain coursed through his body in waves.

"Never mind… I'll find it on my own." Nico knelt down beside the gasping Cain; that bitterly disgusting smile had formed on his face again. "What a waste. You could have had so much, you know... But you were stubborn until the end."

Tears of pain flowed out of Cain's eyes, blurring his vision, and he could taste blood as it trickled from his mouth. His shirt was soaked with the sticky red liquid, and it puddled around him as it leaked from his abdomen in a continuous stream. He didn't dare move, for fear of worsening the agony, and there was nothing he could do to escape the raven-haired man that hovered over him. I'm sorry, Abel… He wasn't even surprised that his last thoughts were of his partner; he just wished they could have been less pathetic.

He could feel the cold barrel of the gun on his skin as Nico shoved the muzzle of it to the side of his head. Cain squeezed his eyes shut; he was barely holding on to consciousness, but he was still coherent enough to feel tremendous fear. He didn't want to die, not like this, at the mercy of a madman, he had to get up, he didn't want to die, he had to fight back and he didn't want to die but there was only the heat of his abdomen and the iciness of the gun as it pressed into his temple and he was scared and he didn't want to die and he couldn't leave Abel and oh Gods he didn't want to die—

Click.

…

Click, click.

Cain was still letting out shaky breaths, and he didn't know why. The pain hadn't lessened, but the feeling of the icy barrel of the gun was no longer on his skin. There was a moment of silent tension, and then he made a loud noise of pain; he felt the side of the gun connecting with his cheekbone as Nico smashed it into his face, consolation for the lack of bullets.

"Just leave him. He'll die on his own."

The gravelly voice was hard to hear over the sound of his own breathing as he gasped for air on the ground. Cain was in too much agony to think, but he vaguely processed the words, along with the sound of cursing; it sounded muffled and distant. The footsteps of the retreating men were like thunder as Cain's ear pressed to the ground.

Soon he was left by himself in the dark alley, his tortured body burning with heat that even the freezing night air couldn't help. He was hurt and alone… but he was alive, and he needed to stay that way.

After a few more moments, he risked movement, and immediately regretted it. The pain in his body had become a dull throb, but once he moved it was refreshed and the searing heat spread throughout him again; he let out a small cry, frustrated in his inability to move. He couldn't get up; that much was obvious. What could he do? He was growing lightheaded from the blood loss, and it didn't feel as if it would stop any time soon.

Suddenly, his tear-blurred eyes opened wider as he remembered the small device that he had in his pocket. A mobile phone; such an ordinary object, but now seemed like a miraculous gift. He had to stretch to reach it, sending more waves of the burning heat through his abdomen; he clenched his teeth together, biting back screams of pain as he struggled to yank the phone from his pocket.

His thoughts were swimming in his head, and he knew he didn't have much longer before his consciousness faded; if that happened, it was all over. With shaky hands, he tried to work the phone, but the sticky redness on his fingers made it hard to do what he wanted. He tapped numbers, praying that he had hit the right ones, and heard the phone began to dial; he doubted he'd have enough energy to do it again, so this had to be it.

Marth had been sitting on a comfortable couch with his knees drawn up to his chest, engrossed in one of his favorite novels, when his phone rang. His face showed signs of annoyance, and he rolled his ocean blue eyes as he pulled the device out of his pocket, not even checking to see who was calling. He wasn't sure why he was bothering to answer it, but it was probably something he would have to deal with sooner or later; he'd rather it be sooner. "Hello?"

"Hey, Marth, it's Abel."

Marth blinked in surprise, the annoyance on his face fading; of all the people he had been expecting a call from, Abel was not one of them. "Oh, hey." He noted the undertone of worry in the other's casual greeting, and decided to get straight to the point. "Is something wrong?"

"No—well, maybe." Even over the phone, Marth could hear the confliction in the other's voice. "Listen, Marth, have you noticed Cain acting weird lately?"

"Weird how?" Marth's eyes narrowed, and a bit of suspicion crept into his voice.

"Just… Always on edge. It's been like this for a while… We went out tonight and he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from the window, like he was looking for something."

Marth scowled to himself. He'd slightly noticed Cain's odd behavior, but hadn't thought anything of it. Now, though, with Abel sounding so concerned, he began to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach; it sounded like Cain was getting himself into trouble again. "Not something… someone." Marth mumbled the words, barely loud enough to be heard. "Where were you tonight?" As Abel told him, Marth stood, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he slipped on his shoes. "Okay. Stay inside, Abel, don't go looking for him. I'll handle it."

"Dammit Marth, what's—" Marth clicked the phone off before Abel finished his frustrated question. He slipped his jacket on over his shoulders and was halfway out the door when his phone rang again. He expected it to be Abel again, but when he glanced at the ID, he saw a different name, and he answered it immediately.

"Cain?" He didn't even bother with a hello, just wanting to confirm that it was in fact the redhead on the other end of the line.

"Marth…" The navy-haired male could hear Cain's voice weakly saying his name, followed by heavy breathing; the connection was full of static, and he could barely hear the other. "Marth, they got me bad…"

"I'm on my way." Marth was running, out of his building and into the cold night air. "Stay on the phone with me. Where are you?"

"I'm… behind…" The static wasn't as heavy, but Cain's faded voice stopped coming after a couple more words, before he could describe his location. Still, Marth could hear raspy breathing coming from the other end, confirming that the redhead was still alive.

"Hang on, Cain, I'm almost there." He didn't have long, and Marth picked up his pace, sprinting with long strides; the place Abel had told him was his only clue to Cain's location, and he prayed that he would find his friend in time. The other's life depended on it.