#18

Eli had to admit, this plan sucked.

Which, to be fair, was true for most of his plans. Plotting just wasn't his forte. Not that he would ever admit that, especially not to Matthew and especially not when he was already looking at Eli like he was disappointed and concerned. A weird combination, but Eli had seen worse.

So yeah, Eli's plans weren't the best, but neither were Matthew's. Probably why they took all of four steps before they were being shot at. Eli was just glad the guys after them had such shitty aim. He was also glad at the haphazard stacking of the shipping containers that provided them with enough cover to make it a good distance without dying a horrible—and frankly, stupid—death.

It was still hell trying to make it out alive, especially with bullets whizzing by and striking the containers around them. That was honestly enough to throw anyone off and Eli wasn't sure how Matthew did that kind of crap on a regular basis. Still, Eli liked to think he was doing pretty well, all things considered. After all, it wasn't like he regularly ran around beating up random criminals with no regards to his safety. With that in mind, Eli couldn't help but feel proud of himself for managing to not die so far.

Now, if only his leg could have cooperated, Eli might have been happier. Already there were small stabs of pain that, fortunately, did little to slow Eli down. There was something to be said for being shot at being the perfect motivation to run like hell, despite all the discomfort it could cause. Still, all of the jumping from one stack of containers to the next wasn't doing him any favors.

Apparently, it was bad enough that Matthew noticed. Eli didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. He still allowed himself to be pulled aside.

"We need to get down," Matthew said as they paused behind a container to catch their breath and gather their bearings. Eli could hear men shouting, but no more bullets came near them so he assumed they'd managed to lose their pursuers.

"Great plan, know how to do it without getting shot and dying a horrible, sorta embarrassing death?" He did the best he could to not be too snarky, but his aching leg wasn't helping his mood. Matthew didn't seem to mind. Probably because he could tell Eli was in pain.

"I can draw them away while you head down." There was a hopeful tone to his voice that suggested he knew what Eli would think of that particular suggestion.

"Ha, how about no?" Eli was almost amused by Matthew's attempt to be a heroic, self-sacrificing idiot. Almost.

"Then we just do the best we can to not get shot and you get ready to use my brand new smoke bombs." Eli snickered at how sulky Matthew still was about the whole smoke bomb thing. Not the most appropriate thing to do when they could die, but still.

"Sounds like a terrible plan. Let's go for it," Matthew let out a sigh at Eli's lack of faith.

"Your mother's going to skin me alive," Matthew muttered. Eli actually felt a bit sorry for him. He still grinned. "Let's go."

Matthew led the way, moving carefully and doing his best to stick to whatever cover they could get as they approached the edge of the row of containers they were on. They were standing on a fairly high stack. High enough that Eli just knew that he would absolutely die if he tried to drop from that height. Matthew seemed to think the same if the uncertain way he looked at the drop, then at Eli, was anything to go by. Eli almost felt insulted by his lack of faith until he remembered his own lack of faith in himself.

Fortunately, Matthew found a better spot. One where there were more containers stacked in differing levels, making the drop—or several drops, now—considerably more doable for Eli. Matthew dropped down first, barely making a sound like the freaking ninja he was, and helped Eli down until they just had one more drop to get to the ground. Honestly, Eli was feeling pretty proud of how far they'd gotten without dying.

Which is, of course, the precise point at which they were shot at.

Before Eli could process what was going on, Matthew was already pushing him down. He heard the sound of bullets hitting the metal around them and was very grateful they were in a position that made shooting at them all the more difficult. Granted, Eli would have been a lot more grateful to not be in their current position in the first place.

"Perfect time for a smoke bomb," Matthew said, his warm breath ghosting over Eli's neck and arms shielding Eli's head as he did his best to cover Eli. Which really wasn't that difficult, all things considered. For once in his life, Eli was actually kind of glad he was short.

But only kind of.

Eli dug into his pocket and pulled out a canister, handing it over to Matthew. He took a second to think of how Matthew had ended up using the damn things first after all. Honestly, if it weren't for the mess they were caught in, Matthew would probably be positively gleeful as he watched the smoke spread around them. Apparently, he'd gotten the good stuff too because Eli couldn't see shit even though they were higher up than the goons after them.

"Stay here," Matthew said, and all of a sudden, he was gone. Eli strained his ears to listen to what was going on and was able to catch a few telltale signs of Matthew beating the crap out of the men after them.

He heard someone yell, a couple shots he hoped had missed, and someone getting slammed—or thrown—against the metal container he was still on with enough force for him to actually feel the damn thing shake. Eli would have felt sorry for the guys getting beat up if it weren't for them having tried to kill them just a minute ago.

He figured that was fair.

He also figured it was fair for him to glare at Matthew when he popped up out of the freaking cloud of smoke around them, right in front of Eli, nearly giving the redhead a heart attack.

"Come on," he said, motioning for Eli to get down.

With some help from Matthew, Eli was able to scramble down fairly quickly and the two hurriedly made their way towards the exit as the smoke around them dispersed. Once again, Eli felt the all too familiar twinge of pain in his leg even as he did his best to keep up with Matthew. Of course, it didn't take Matthew long to notice.

It also didn't take long for even more goons to find them.

A bullet hit one of the containers ahead of them and Eli was, once again, extremely grateful for their enemies' shitty aim. Matthew instantly turned and—before Eli could tell him not to do anything stupid—he grabbed Eli and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before taking off once again.

For a moment, Eli didn't really know how to respond. Especially since the world had turned so suddenly and he was still acclimating to having to stare at the ground. And Matthew's ass. Which was kinda nice, to be honest.

"What the fuck?!" Eli finally expressed his surprise as eloquently as possible.

"Smoke bomb! Smoke bomb!" Matthew called instead of answering, doing what he could to keep them from getting shot.

"I can't reach them!" With some effort, Eli managed to finally use the hand not tightly gripping Matthew to draw one canister from his coat's pocket without dropping it or getting dropped. He had to commend Matthew on managing to keep a good grip on him while running away from certain death.

Trusting that Matthew would maintain said grip and not let him fall on his face to be stomped to death by the assholes chasing them, Eli let go of Matthew. He did the best he could to aim and then pulled the wire and tossed it. There was a yelp that clearly meant Eli had managed to hit someone with the smoke bomb, something that had him cackling despite the very clear danger they were in.

He almost wanted to ask Matthew if that got him bonus points.

He didn't. Mostly because Matthew wasn't usually too keen on Eli's brand of humor when they were in danger of getting killed. Eli supposed he could see why Matthew wasn't overly fond of his particular way of coping. Instead, the redhead focused on tossing the last of the smoke bombs—which, regrettably, didn't hit anyone—giving them enough cover to make it out of that section of the docks and across the train tracks.

Apparently, that was still not good enough for Matthew to stop running. Honestly, Eli was impressed at how long he could keep going. Then again, he was only impressed because he was in terrible shape and knew full well he could never manage to do the kind of shit Matthew could pull off with irritating ease. They were well into the parking lot, and a good distance ahead of anyone following them, when Eli demanded to be put down.

"We're still far from anywhere safe," Matthew said, sounding only mildly out of breath. He still complied and carefully set Eli back on his feet behind a truck that gave them enough cover just in case.

They were close enough to a road that split the large parking area to see anyone approaching. Eli couldn't help but wonder how nice and convenient it would be for a bus to choose that moment to drive by. Granted, he didn't think it was a good idea for Matthew to try to ride the bus in his current state.

"So, is there any chance you have more brilliant ideas on how to get out of here?" Eli couldn't say he appreciated the sarcasm in Matthew's tone.

Which was why Eli just ignored Matthew for the time being, instead looking around. It didn't take long for him to spot a car speeding closer down the road ahead, and stepped out to get a better look, squinting his eyes.

"I think our ride's here," he told Matthew. A moment later, he was proven right as the car stopped and a window rolled down. Eli almost couldn't believe he was genuinely grateful to see Adria glaring at them, especially when she looked like she wanted to run them over.

Though, to be fair, Eli couldn't believe a good deal of the things that happened to him in general.

"Adria?" Matthew sounded surprised. Which, fair enough.

Eli almost felt bad for him, if only because he'd had to deal with way too many surprises in a very short amount of time. Then, he remembered Matthew was being an ungrateful jerk and any sympathy he might have felt quickly vanished.

"Get in assholes!" Adria called and Eli could feel himself grinning as he hurried over, Matthew following closely while looking like he couldn't believe what was happening and was just going on autopilot. Which was probably true.

They climbed into the backseat, with Adria taking off before Matthew could even close the door.

# # #

Hey everyone! I maintain that Eli and Matthew almost getting killed is super fun to write. They just get so snarky, lol. And hurray for Adria showing up to save their butts! I love Adria if you couldn't tell.

Anyways, hope you've all liked this chapter and I promise the next one will also be fun. And not in the, it's-fun-for-me-because-it's-painful-for-you way even though I know you all love it. :D

As always, thanks so much for reading and commenting! I love reading your thoughts, it makes my day. Next chapter will be up on Friday, April 16th. In the meantime, stay safe everyone!

Also, Adria at the end: