A/N – once again thanks for all the follows and favourites, they've been coming in thick and fast, glad you're enjoying the story! And thank you for all the lovely reviews, every time I receive one they really make my day. Keep 'em coming! This chapter is a little shorter, but I'm going to Italy for a wedding and I need time to work out exactly what I'm doing with the next chapter. Hang tight and I'll update soon!

Chapter Five

The tube was heaving with people. At each stop, that soft, cheerful, female voice would announce the name of the station and the place where the train would terminate. Her amiable tone felt all wrong as Eden's head swam; even more so every time the word 'Heathrow' was mentioned. Eden may have always suffered from bouts of wanderlust, but this wasn't the kind of impromptu getaway she had dreamt of. This was escaping danger. This was running away.

And it wasn't like she was travelling blissfully alone or with a close friend either. No. Here she was, jammed into a corner of a crowded tube carriage, uncomfortably close to a young man she'd only known a few hours. Sharing transport seemed to be their thing, whether it was him diving into her cab, directing her through a busy train station or dragging her onto the tube. Eden was tempted to ask him to pinch her arm, see if she were dreaming, but every time she glanced at him, at his thick eyebrows and sculpted cheekbones and slightly pouty lips that all made her a little jealous, she found herself swallowing her weak, childish attempt at humour. Lightening the situation seemed beyond her now. Adrenaline was her only mode.

The tube pulled away from Piccadilly Circus, bodies packed inside. If Jack turned a little then he'd be entirely pressed against Eden. One arm was raised above his head, holding onto a bar for support. It left Eden cocooned in the corner, gripping nothing, leaning into the walls and doors and sometimes even Jack, albeit carefully, to keep from toppling over.

Green Park was the next stop. With each station they entered, Eden's fear didn't ebb but rather intensified. The agents would have to intercept them soon. This wasn't a glossy, fool-proof escape plan, only highlighted by the fact Eden and Jack still had no idea where Daniel, Henley and Merritt were.

Jack, picking up on her restlessness, turned to her with a lopsided smirk and said, "Don't look so nervous."

Eden tried a smile, but she was pretty sure it must have looked like a grimace to him. "Sorry. I just don't know how much longer we're gonna get away with this."

Jack's smile faltered, just a little, like a flickering light bulb, but he kept it beaming. "I know what you mean, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If they're waiting for us at the next stop then we can make a break for it, take a detour to Heathrow. I have some tricks up my sleeve; we'll be fine."

Eden didn't doubt that Jack had some tricks, but she didn't see how stopping the agents to 'pick a card, any card' would get them out safely.

"Does this make me a criminal?" Eden wanted to take the words back, especially when Jack's head tipped back as he laughed.

"You're a fugitive now," he said. Eden sensed he was only half mocking her. "But it's all for a good cause, isn't it?"

Eden stopped the shrug before it began. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Once you're on that plane you'll feel better about this, I promise," he reassured her. His brown eyes were warm and sincere.

"I still don't understand how catching a plane to New York is even gonna work-"

"A magician has his secrets," Jack interrupted her with another smirk. "Just trust us."

Eden had no choice but to do just that.

The train stopped at Green Park. There were no sudden shouts, no arms flailing as people were knocked aside. They were safe for another stop at least. Hyde Park Corner was up next. Eden transferred her weight from one foot to the next. Her stomach was churning with anticipation. She felt like their luck was running out, spreading thin like too little butter for too much bread.

Eden's feeling was right.

The train dragged itself out of Hyde Park Corner without incident. Eden and Jack thought they had got away from another stop untroubled. Yet if that group of rowdy drunken men hadn't got on at Hyde Park Corner, then Eden would never have had cause to curiously peer past Jack to watch them sing a football chant, and she would never have got a clear view through the inner door into the next carriage.

And she would never have seen the three agents pushing their way through people on the other side.

"Shit." Eden snapped her head back, burrowing herself into the little corner of safety she had. Jack looked at her, brow furrowed. "Three agents in the next carriage over, heading for the inner door."

Jack's eyes widened. He was on high alert again. He peered behind him for a better look. "Okay," he said, turning back to Eden. He raised his arm a little higher, positioned his body so that his back was facing the rest of the carriage.

"What are we gonna do?" Eden asked, keeping her voice quiet, but it came out breathy and panicked.

Jack's breath was warm on her face as he leaned over her. "Just leave it to me."

The tube was pulling into Knightsbridge. There was a chance they could make a run for it, but Eden didn't know if she were up for any more running.

The train stopped completely, the doors sliding open at the same time the inner door did. A couple of people got off, but the carriage remained tightly packed. Jack seemed to be making up his mind.

Eden could only partially make out what was going on behind him. The inner door was closest to the drunken men. They were howling with laughter about something, but as soon as one of the agents roughly forced them aside, fighting to get through, their laughter died.

Eden knew that everyone in the carriage could sense it, could feel the impending fight. The drunks were big, looked to be a group of rugby lads. A part of Eden really hoped they'd try and take on the agents, because at least then her and Jack wouldn't have to, or rather Jack wouldn't. He was still leaning over her, eyes looking elsewhere as he listened in.

"Step aside," one of the agents was firmly telling the rugby lads, but they were having none of it.

Eden heard the first punch rather than saw it, a sickening crunch and a wet slap like a slab of meat hitting the counter in the butcher's.

That was Jack's cue to move. He grabbed Eden's hand again and she was shocked at how that one gesture instantly made her feel that tiny bit safer. He turned, dragging Eden behind him as he quietly muttered "excuse me", people slow to move as they dumbly watched the ensuing fight. The doors were beeping, the train ready to leave. Eden didn't think they were going to make it out.

And that feeling intensified as she heard the shout of, "There they are!"

She glanced over her shoulder. One of the agents was pointing directly at her.

Jack's grip on her hand tightened and he roughly pulled her onto the empty platform. They started walking briskly, heading for the stairs that would take them aboveground. Eden looked behind her again, expecting to see the train pulling away as the beeping stopped. Yet just as the doors closed, an arm wedged itself in the middle. The doors opened again and the agents spilled out, untangling themselves from the rugby lads who shouted abuse after them.

Luck had finally run out.

"Go, Jack!" Eden called out desperately, pushing at him. He didn't need to be told twice. He broke into a run.

The two of them clattered up the stairs, the sounds of the road up top, the bustling of normal life, just metres away.

But the agents were hot on their heels, their footsteps echoing off the tiled walls, making it sound like there were dozens of them.

Eden knew she was slowing Jack down. She was in heels, for a start. She had thought about ditching them, but then running in bare feet was just as painful. Now she had no clue what to do, and if this wild adventure of theirs failed before it had even taken off then she'd never live it down, she'd never stop reminding herself that she was the fuck up.

At the top of the stairs, Eden took great lungfuls of fresh air. They were out in the open again, a great city they could get lost in, or lose someone in. In that split second when her legs no longer had to climb, she prepared herself to run flat out again, but it didn't happen. Instead, Jack spun around to face the stairs, whirling Eden behind him. It all happened so fast, she barely registered Jack's fist connecting with an agent's face.

Eden stumbled backwards from the sheer shock of it, whilst Jack had already ducked a counter blow and whipped another agent's arms behind his back, sending the man sprawling down the stairs. The agent who had taken the first punch landed his retaliation with a fist to Jack's gut, winding him.

That's when Eden realised she couldn't stand there like a rabbit in the headlights. It was time to lose the shoes. She grabbed one of her heels and, forcing herself not to think about it, stepped forward to strike one of the agents across the face with the stiletto heel. The force of the blow made pain shoot up her arm, and the shoe slipped from her grasp, but it did its job. It allowed Jack just enough time to regain his breath and pound his fist against the gouge in the agent's cheek. He fell backwards, following his friend down the stairs, while Jack finished off the broken nosed agent with a vicious swipe to the side of his head and a knee in the abdomen.

Jack didn't wait around for them to get back up. He reached for Eden's trembling hand as she kicked off her other shoe.

They had just started running again, Eden desperately trying to stop herself from shaking, when an SUV screeched to a stop beside them, bouncing onto the curb. Horns blared angrily, and Eden felt her stomach twist at the thought of more agents, another fight.

But as the passenger door opened, a feeling of relief flooded through her. Merritt grinned at them. "We stole a ride," he said. "Now get in the back, we have a plane to catch."