Akira's heart dropped as her brain registered that the person standing before her could only be a Watcher. His black and blue uniform said so. That meant that Dominique must have been stunned with a shocker. Once again it looked like they were right back where they had started, caught. 

Swallowing Akira slowly lifted her gaze to meet that of the Watcher standing before her. When she met his eyes she felt shock fill her and she sat, frozen. One question flashed through her mind over and over again, what on earth was going on here? 

The source of her confusion was the Watcher that stood before her, only it wasn't a Watcher, not as far as she knew anyways. It was Ray, dressed in the full attire of a Watcher, a grim look on his face. Beside him stood a grinning Liam, the smoking shocker he was twirling in his fingers confirming that he had been the one to shoot Dominique. Yet wasn't Liam supposed to be somewhere back in the alleys, running away from Watchers? 

That was when Akira became aware of the curious crowd that was beginning to gather around them. Ray noticed them to. "Back off!" he boomed, "We have the situation under control, but just in case, these are dangerous criminals!" 

His warning worked and the crowd stayed a safe distance away. Beside Akira Dominique groaned, a sign that he was coming around. 

"Should I give him another blast?" Liam asked almost too eagerly. 

Ray shot him a look, seeming somewhat confused. "Ah...no, I think one was quite enough," he crouched down and lifted Dominique's head slightly, as though checking to see if he was really out. 

"Stay down," he whispered to Dominique. He turned to look at Akira and winked. "Play along," he told her softly. 

Relief and understanding washed through Akira as she realized that it was okay. This was all part of the plan, it had to be, and although she had no idea what was going to happen next, it seemed that Ray had it all under control. 

Hearing the pounding of feet she turned her head to see the Watchers that had been chasing them before, burst out of an ally. Upon seeing Dominique on the ground with Akira beside him and Ray kneeling, holding Dominique's head up, they paused. Akira felt her heart pound as she wondered what Ray was going to do. He answered her question by dropping Dominique's head and calmly stood up, facing the Watchers that were now slowly making their way towards him. 

"We got them," Ray grinned at the approaching Watchers. They paused before they nodded and some returned the grin 

"We should be taking them in straight away then, the council demanded it," one of the Watchers spoke as he came up behind Akira and roughly hauled her to her feet, forcing both her arms behind her back. 

Ray nodded, agreeing, though suddenly he paused, as though considering something. "Say, why don't the three of you go ahead and alert the council that we have the criminals? That way the search can be called off and we can all get back to our posts," he suggested. 

The Watcher holding Akira narrowed his eyes while Akira held her breath, recognizing Ray's tactics of getting rid of the unwanted guests. 

"What about these two?" the Watcher grunted. 

"I heard that some of the others had caught some of the Resistance scum," Ray replied smoothly, even adding a note of distaste to the word 'scum'. "We'll put these two with them. That way we'll have all of them in one spot and it'll be easier to keep an eye on them when transporting them to the academy, just in case some of their friends decided something funny, you know what I mean?" 

The Watcher grunted in agreement. He spat to the side before shoving Akira forward, right into Ray's arms. 

"We'll notify the council that you'll be right there," he said nodding. 

Ray returned the nod, turning Akira around to face the retreating Watchers and forcing her hands behind her back just like the other had done. He pulled a rope from his pocket and began to bind her hands, yet Akira could feel that the binding was purposely kept lose, and for that she was grateful. 

"Let's go," Ray spoke in a voice full of authority, "The sooner we get these scum off our hands the better." He whirled Akira round and began to march her in the opposite direction of where the other Watchers were going. 

Facing the other way Akira caught sight of three more Watchers, standing and watching Ray without expression. One she recognized as Caleb and the other as another member of the Resistance. The third, as with Liam, she was sure she should know yet couldn't remember from where. Their expressions stayed blank as Ray and Akira approached them. 

"Go grab Dominique, I think his temper will get in the way if Liam takes him," Ray told Caleb softly as they passed him. As Caleb did as he was told Ray came to a stop by the other two. He turned his head to the sky and there was a moment's pause before suddenly the shapes of five dragons appeared, circling above before they made their way down into the street, landing one beside the other. 

Each of them was wearing the black and blue armor of a Watcher's dragon and for a moment Akira wondered who they were. Yet then she caught sight of the purple scales of the dragon nearest to her and realized that these were none other than some of the Resistance's dragons. How they had gotten a hold of the armor had her stumped. 

"A lot of things are easy to do when the council is concentrating on something else," Ray murmured, seeming to know what Akira was thinking. 

As Ray lead her over to his dragon Akira went over what he had said in her mind. It didn't quite make sense to her, but she was sure that if she thought about it for a while she would figure it out. Ray lifted her onto his dragon's back before following behind her, putting a firm grip on her arms as though to hold her still as any other Watcher would. 

Akira shot a glanced over at Dominique to see that Caleb had slung him over his shoulders and was currently walking to another dragon, the only free one as all the others had already mounted and were patiently waiting. As soon as Caleb had swung the 'unconscious' Dominique onto his dragon they took off, all the dragons rising one after the other, with Ray in the lead. 

They flew up, above the houses and tall buildings, not bothering with the normal fly zones as Watchers had the privilege of flying anywhere and everywhere to make their patrolling easier. As they turned away from the Academy Akira could not help but sit tensely, waiting for someone to come and stop them any second. And yet surprisingly they flew unchallenged, further and further away from the academy and the city around it. The few Watchers they did pass didn't even spare them a second glance. 

Upon reaching the edge of the city the dragons turned to the right, heading straight towards the quarries, making Akira wonder what Ray was up to. Yet before they could reach them they suddenly turned right again, correcting their course so that they would pass by the quarries at a good distance. 

Even though they were too far away to see anything Akira still heard the angry shouts of the overseers and the cries of agony from the dragons and humans that were forced to work in the quarries day by day, as they flew past. She closed her eyes, telling herself that they would all be free soon, as soon as she got Redemption here she would set it right. Yet still as the screams sounded she couldn't help but shudder. She could only imagine what things were done to both dragon and humans in the quarries to make them suffer this much. 

As the shouts grew further and further away the dragons suddenly dipped downwards, heading straight for the ground. Looking down Akira saw that below them, in the dry bare land, were what looked like canyons. It was into one of these that the dragons were heading. 

Upon getting closer to the floor Akira spotted two dragons, one of them Breeze, waiting below. Before them stood four riders, one dressed as a Watcher and the other three in black cloaks. It was before these riders that Ray's dragon settled on the ground, the other four dragons, who had flown with him, doing the same. 

Ray untied Akira's hands at once before slipping off, offering his hand up to her. Akira took it without hesitating, not wanting to be rude to her rescuer, and slid to the ground. She stood shakily swaying somewhat but Ray caught her, supporting her so that she could stand. 

"You okay?" he asked sounding concerned. 

"Hmm," Akira replied, pressing a hand to her forehead to try and suppress the headache that was coming on. "Just the aftermath," she assured. 

"I'm going to kill you!" at the sound of the angry voice both Akira and Ray turned to see that Dominique had slipped off the dragon he had been on and was currently making his way over to Liam, a look of rage on his face. 

"Oh boy," Akira heard one of the guys, that had been waiting with the dragons, mutter. 

"What's wrong?" Liam asked, the smirk on his face, as he stood beside the dragon he had rider, showing that he knew the answer. 

"You blasted me with a schocker!" Dominique yelled. 

"Really?" Liam asked. "You mean with this thing?" he pulled out the shocker and twirled it before pointing it at Dominique who froze. 

"Don't you dare," Dominique growled. 

"What's wrong?" Liam asked, "Can't handle it?" 

"How about I shock you and we'll see who can't handle it!" Dominique growled in reply. 

"What?" Liam asked innocently, "We had an audience back there. I had to convince them, didn't I?" 

"Yeah, well how about I convince this audience here that you're a spineless leach!" Dominique asked as he closed the distance between himself and Liam and hit Liam on the shoulder, forcing him to take a step back to keep his balance. 

"Oh that's it," Liam dropped the shocker as he glared at Dominique. "Bring all you've got!" he raised his fists and Dominique did the same. 

Akira watched, her mouth slightly open in disbelief. "What's wrong with them?" she asked as the boys glared at each other, each waiting for the other to throw the first punch. Everyone else just seemed to watch in amusement. 

"Let's just say they don't get along," Akira turned to see that a tall guy with black hair and brown eyes had spoken as he had come to stand beside her. He was dressed like a Watcher and somehow, just like Liam, she was sure she had seen him before. 

"I can see that," Akira told him, "Why?" 

"I'm not sure," the guy shrugged. "I've only heard rumors and neither guy has really told anyone what their problem is with each other. If you want to find out, you ask one of them, though good luck trying."  

As the guy talked Liam threw a punch. Dominique dodged it by ducking and pushed forward, catching Liam's midriff and throwing him towards the ground. 

"Okay, that's it!" Ray looked at the guy beside Akira and he nodded. The two of them began to walk forward just as Dominique landed a punch on Liam's face. Before Liam could retaliate Ray had caught a hold of Dominique and dragged him off while the other guy caught Liam just as he stood, holding him back as he tried to make a rush at Dominique. 

"Just one second longer and I would have had him!" Liam yelled, struggling against the guy who held him. His lip was split but otherwise he looked fine, his pride seeming to be wounded more than anything. 

"Like you would have even come close!" Dominique scoffed, not struggling against Ray's grip as he looked more than pleased with himself for hitting Liam. 

"Children," Akira muttered as she approached Dominique with a glare. 

Seeing her look he shut up and stared at her, obviously wondering what she wanted. "That was a nice punch, wasn't it?" he asked her suddenly grinning as Akira came to a standstill before him. 

Akira raised an eyebrow. "Hold him a moment longer, would you Ray?" she asked sweetly. 

Before Dominique could react she raised her fist and punched him in the side of his face. As Dominique's head snapped around there were a few surprised gasps from around, even Ray looked shocked as he released his brother. 

"What the..." Dominique turned his head around to face Akira, a look of shock on his face. "What was that for?" he protested sounding hurt. 

"That," Akira growled, "Was for not letting me know the plan. You let me think we had actually gotten caught again back there!" 

Dominique just stared at her in shock while from somewhere behind them Caleb and another guy chuckled. 

Liam burst out laughing. "Dude! You got hit by a girl!" he told Dominique gleefully. 

For once Dominique didn't retort but just stood where he was, staring at Akira in disbelief. 

"Now could someone please, clue me in on what exactly happened back there?" Akira turned a helpless look onto Ray who raised an eyebrow. 

"Why are you looking at me?" he asked. 

"This plan was done by someone who knew what he was doing. Do you expect me to believe that Dominique planned all this?" Akira rolled her eyes. 

"Hey!" Dominique protested. 

"No, he didn't," Ray smiled, "My brothers last plan didn't go so well after all, so it was my turn to assure things went right." 

"So how exactly did you do it?" Akira asked. "I mean, we got out so easy!" 

Ray smiled knowingly, "Oh, it's not that complicated." 

"Are you kidding?" the guy who had been holding Liam spoke. "This guys a genius! He outsmarted the Council with his plan!" 

"Thank you Tresus, but I'm sure anyone could have thought of it had they considered the situation," Ray told the guy. 

"A lot of things are easy to do when the council is concentrating on something else," Ray's earlier words echoed in Akira's mind and her eyes widened somewhat in realization. "While the council was distracted with trying to solve the chaos at the hanging and catch us, you stole the Watcher armor for your dragons!" she exclaimed. "The incident at the hanging served as not only a rescue but also a distraction! With most Watchers distracted you could easily steal something from right under their noses," Ray didn't bother to interrupt her but let her go on, "The black cloaks you all wore were there to help us all get out of there, to confuse the Watchers from knowing which ones we were and which ones were civilians!" 

"Go on," Ray told her, seeming both amused and intrigued by the fact that she was figuring out what had happened on her own. 

"When we got away you got Savannah and Anita to help us ditch the Watchers following us by posing as street vendors and turning over their cart," as she spoke the rest came to her. "Meanwhile you must have gotten Liam to lead the Watchers following him right to you, after he had split up with us. Yet you were waiting for them and overpowered them, thus gaining the uniform. From there you came to 'arrest' us, easily recognizing us without our cloaks. You then posed as Watcher's so that you could get us out of here safely. Those not dressed as Watcher's just went along as prisoners." 

"Clever girl," Ray beamed, looking like a happy child. "But you forgot one part, the part that we got out so easily, surely you don't just believe it was because we looked like Watchers?" 

"Of course," Akira smiled in realization, "It was because the search was called off. You made sure of it by telling the real Watcher's that you had apprehended the criminals. They reported back to Nemis just as you planned and so he called everyone off, waiting in the mean time for us to be brought to him." 

"I must say, you've pretty much got it," Ray chuckled. "Impressive, I didn't even have to tell you." 

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt or anything," the guy named Tresus spoke up, "But we need to get going back to the city or questions concerning us will be raised." Liam and another guy, with dark brown hair and eyes, stood behind him, being the 'we' Tresus had referred to. 

Ray nodded. "Thank you for your help, we couldn't have done it without you." 

Dominique snorted at that, receiving a glare from Liam. 

"You know what to do to get back in unnoticed?" Ray asked. 

Tresus nodded. "It won't be a problem," as he spoke a almond colored dragon descended from the sky, followed by a smoky grey one. As Liam and the other guy got on one dragon each Tresus turned to Akira, "Savannah and Anita send their regards." 

"Tell them thanks," Akira smiled, grateful that the two girls had risked their necks to help her escape. 

Tresus nodded before he walked over to the brown haired guy and doubled up with him on the almond dragon. The other guys around Akira all shouted their thanks as the two dragons lifted off and that was when Akira suddenly remembered where she had seen Liam and the other two before. It had been at the 'Red Dragon', seated with Savannah and Anita. Silently she wondered why three guys, whom she had never talked to, had risked their own lives to rescue her. 

"Well, I'd say we're pretty much done here," Ray spoke. "I'm guessing some of the others already headed straight home, we should be doing the same." He turned and walked towards his dragon and mounted, while everyone followed his lead Akira stay standing where she was, not sure with who she was supposed to go. 

"Well?" she turned around to find Dominique on Breeze behind her, "You coming?" 

Akira raised an eyebrow. "You still want to take me even though I punched you?" she asked. 

"The way I see it, I think I may have deserved it," Dominique grinned. 

With a smile Akira took the hand he offered her and let him pull her up to sit in front of him in the saddle. 

"Besides," Dominique smirked behind her, "You punch like a girl." 

Akira jabbed her elbow back, hitting him in the midriff and knocking all the air from his lungs. Dominique gasped, trying to unsuccessfully draw in air. 

"Any other problems you got with me?" Akira asked as Breeze rose into the air to follow the other dragons. 

"Nope," Dominique gasped painfully. 

Akira smiled. As Breeze flew right behind the other dragons, heading back towards the third hideout, she allowed herself to relax. The Resistance had come for her, some of them had risks their lives to rescue her. A smile appeared on Akira's face at the thought. Yet her smile grew even bigger as she remembered something else. Redemption, they had the piece of armor, things would be simple from now on. All she had to do was go back to the field with Dominique and they could get Redemption. Things would be a whole lot simpler from here on out, right?