A/N: I'm deeeeeply ashamed. I'm so sorry it took me so damn long. I hate myself and I hope you'll forgive maybe? Well I finally finished this. It was a struggle, it put up a fight. But I won. Yay!

Dark nights, darker days.

Kim's POV

Does he really expect me to sit in the middle of the forest with five boys I barely know and a sixth who a couple of hours ago had a knife against my throat? He's kidding right? I look at the last two boys who appear from the trees. The one is slightly chubby and has a darker skin colour. The other I remember from breaking out Jack. They sit down and look at me. I'm the only one still standing. 'Guys, this is Kimberly. She's sort of the daughter of the king.'

Jerry laughs. 'Before I sit down in the middle of a forest with some boys I barely know, can I ask what exactly we're discussing here?' I ask, slightly annoyed. Jack smiles at me. 'We're discussing what to do know. And I'd like to know who I can trust.' He adds, looking around the circle. His eyes are slightly narrowed. I can see Chris swallow. Milan looks away from Jack's piercing eyes. I let out a deep breath and drop myself on the floor. I lean back against a tree. I don't think I have much of a role in this conversation.

'Well, there's no use in trying to hide stuff anymore.' Jack starts. 'As you may have guessed I've been hanging out with Kim over here. And last night I went to the princess' birthday ball. I borrowed some clothes of a Lord and ended up actually getting in. I ended up getting shot, Kim helped me get away. This morning I contacted Jason, he came to have a look at my shoulder and then Kim almost killed Chris.' Jack smirks at the blond boy. Some of the others smirk. He narrows his eyes at Jack. Then he smiles, but it's not a genuine smile. I wonder if Jack notices.

'I need to know if I can trust you guys, because, you see, Cray wants me to deliver the princess to him, best with a bow around her, so he can do who knows what to her. Honestly, I don't want to.' He says, his brown eyes drilling into mine with such honesty. I'm shocked, I figured after last night's debacle he would be a bit more willing to hand me over to his boss. I can see Eddie and Jerry share a look. Milan frowns. 'You want to ignore a direct order from Cray? Do you have a death wish?' he asks Jack. 'No, I am just getting slightly tired of doing everything Cray says, just because it's Cray saying it.'

There is a deep silence. 'Well, well, well Jack, and you had us all thinking you were so loyal to Cray.' A cold low voice says. My eyes shoot to the source of the voice. It's a fairly small boy. He has dark hair and eyes. He doesn't look very impressive so I don't really understand why the reaction of the guys is so strong. Milan, Chris and Jason freeze. Jerry lets out a surprised yelp. Eddie snatches a knife from his belt. Jack narrows his eyes and softly murmurs. 'Malcolm, little rat.' I have the faint feeling he knows the guy. Jack's eyes find me. They seem to say: 'Stay calm.'

He got up. 'Malcolm, I would say it's good to see you, but I'm trying to keep the lies to a minimum.' Jack said to the younger boy. Yep, they defiantly knew each other. Malcolm didn't seem happy with Jacks comment. 'Always such a big mouth Jack.' The younger boy sneers. 'But I'm the one holding your faith in my hands right now.' Milan snorts. 'O really, did you think you could get out of here now?' He laughs. 'You're facing six boys all about a head bigger than you.' Chris adds. 'Yeah Malcolm, if we don't want you to leave, you aren't going anywhere.' Eddie smirks.

Malcolm looks at me. 'Well well, the princess, nice to meet you your highness.' His eyes shine dangerously. The others get up. They all sort of step in front of me. I'm touched, they don't even know me but they're willing to protect me anyway. Jack wonders to me. 'Kim, this is Malcolm, little rat, thief and I'm sure many other bad things.' He doesn't seem very impressed by the kid now that he has figured out who he is. Okay scrap that, something just changed. I'm sure I'm not paying enough attention to see what but Jason and Jack share a look.

They look at the kid. 'Malcolm.' Jack starts. 'How did you find us?' Jason finishes. For a second there's a look of panic in his eyes. 'Uhm. I- well- I.' He looks at Chris. Jack turns to the blond slowly. 'Chris, what exactly is your part in this?' Chris' eyes widen. 'You think I would betray you?' Jack says absolutely nothing. After a good 30 seconds the blond starts to squirm under Jacks cold eyes. 'I had to!' He shouts. 'Cray gave me no choice.' He pleads. Jack's jaw tightens. 'There's always a choice.' He says coldly. Jerry who had been standing next to Chris moves away from him. 'Yeah maybe for you. The amazing Jack, but some of us actually need Crays protection. Some of us can't go running of on their own being the hero!' Chris says angrily.

Then just when Jason opens his mouth to respond. Chris jumps into action. He shoves Jerry out of the way, grabs Malcolm's arm and shoots into the trees. Jerry trips over his own feet and lands with his head against a tree. Milan and Eddie are already making a move to chase him but Jack stops them. 'Don't, leave them.' he says. 'Are you crazy they're going to rat us out!' Jack ignores them as he approaches Jerry. He's holding his head, his eyes look kind of foggy. 'Jerry? Are you okay?' he looks at Jack. After a long pause Jack sighs and holds up two fingers for Jerry. 'How many?' Jerry narrows his eyes, concentrating. 'Three and a half?' He says. The guys laugh and even Jack can't supress a smile. 'Just sit here man, you're going to be fine.'

I have consciously kept out of all this. Because one, it's none of my business, two, I wouldn't have anything useful to say. As Jack turns back to the others I move to Jerry. I softly touch his skull, there's no blood, just a big bump. He'll be fine. 'All right guys. As Milan already pointed out Chris and his little lap dog are probably already telling Cray where we are. Who's got an idea how to get out of this mess?' Milan looks at Eddie. 'Well, you're normally the one with the brilliant plans Jack.' He says hopeful. He rubs his temples. 'I know.' He starts pacing. He mumbles softly to himself. 'We need more people.' He concludes after half a minute. 'More people? Where were you going to get them? from the trees?' Eddie asks sarcastic. Jack ignores him. 'We need to recruit people in camp.' He says slowly.

Milan turns to him. 'Are you crazy, going to camp now would be suicide.' Jack smiles. 'Don't you see it. Now is the perfect time.' The boys stare at him. 'Chris and Malcolm will tell Cray where they saw us and with how many we were, he'll send them back here with about 8 others to go get us. While they're gone, the camps defences are weak. We can sneak in, ask some others if they want to join the rebellion and if they don't we tie them up. Problem solved.' Slowly a smile appears on Jasons face. 'Brilliant. Hiding in plain sight.' The others smile too. 'What about Jerry?' it's the first thing I've said since the trouble started. They all turn back to me. I'm pretty sure some forgot I was there.

Jack frowns. He walks to his friend. 'Hey buddy, how is your head?' Jerry looks up. 'Not worse than normal.' We all laugh. Jack holds out his hand and Jack pulls him up. For a second he wobbles on his feet, but he steadies himself quickly. 'I'm great, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Woooh.' His "wooh" sounds slightly pathetic. 'And what about Kim?' Jason says. I look up. 'I'm going with you.' I tell them. 'That's not a good idea Kim.' Eddie says. I narrow my eyes at him. 'I'm coming with you. No discussion.' Jack looks at the others. 'She can fight, she'll be fine.' I smile sarcastically. 'I can fight, I'll be fine.'

We move into the forest. I have observed how they walk and in my opinion I'm getting more quiet. We fan out around the camp I stay with Jack and Jerry stays with Eddie. His head is still a bit off. Jack glances at camp. It's clearly more crowded than expected because his face is a lot whiter when he turns back. 'What?' I hiss. He doesn't answer so I look for myself, first I don't see what upsets him so much, then I hear shouts and I see it. Jerry, Eddie and Milan have somehow been caught and they're dragged into camp by about six boys. Jason appears next to us. I'm not even startled anymore. 'Who's idea was this again?' Jack asks. 'Yours.' I tell him. 'Right, well I have stupid ideas more often.'

A/N: I hope that was worth waiting. If not, I'm sorry. I'm working towards the end now, stay tuned! O and review please!