Jessie wiped at her eyes furiously as she climbed to the next floor. Why was she even crying? Tina was just spewing nonsense. She should be the bigger person and ignore her. But it grated on her nerves how that extreme level of dislike had gone by completely unnoticed for months. She'd never even given Tina's feelings towards her any thought.

She reached the top floor where the spiral staircase ended spectacularly in the ceiling and stepped in the marble-paved hall. It looked identical to every other floor beneath them. The difference was the view from the narrow window which stretched across the grounds.

With a sudden desperate need for fresh air, she strode to the nearest window and wrestled it open. The hinges gave in with a worrying creak, but a gust of cold wind brushed her face and the annoyance and slight nausea were gone. That until someone grabbed her waist from behind.

"Relax, it's just me," Jimmy whispered in her ear, pulling her against him.

She instantly relaxed into his arms, putting her hands on his forearms to make sure he wouldn't let go. "You're burning up."

"The would be your fault. Entirely your fault."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm the one who engaged in a pointless snowfight without a jacket."

"Totally not what I meant." His lips brushed the corner of her jaw and sent a shiver through her.

"But I meant it. You're running a fever."

"Are you kidding? I feel great," he mumbled against her skin, trailing kisses along her jaw.

She had no idea what had gotten into him, but she'd missed being alone so much she couldn't even dream of fighting him over this. Instead, she leaned her head back, giving him better access. "You know, I really like your voice like this. Maybe you should keep the cold."

"Really? Should I whisper naughty words to you then?" he asked, finally turning her to face him.

That focus in his eyes, the way he radiated heat made her melt completely. "How do you do this, hotstuff? How do you render me so completely and utterly helpless?"

"I'm a vampire. You should fear me. I can work my magic in ways you wouldn't imagine."

"You're too hot to be a vampire," she whispered, her eyes glued to his lips, to his smile.

He bent a little lower and she couldn't believe how defenseless she felt in front of him. What he was saying was silly, meant to make her laugh, but the way he said it made her heart pound. Because she could tell something else resided behind those words, something she couldn't place but desperately wanted. Just like she wanted to kiss him now.

So she closed her eyes and lifted her chin and waited. And waited. All she could feel was him stiffening. Her eyes shot open. Jimmy hadn't moved, but his eyes had caught a different sort of focus. Because holding a gun inches from his head was one of Snitch Gravel's men. He wasn't alone either. Three more goons flanked every visible escape route.

"Isn't that cute?" the gun wielding goon said. "Sorry to interrupt, but it's time to--"

Jimmy twisted and elbowed him in the side of the head. The gun clattered to the ground as the man fell over, dazed.

The other three immediately pointed their guns at them.

"Don't move!" one of them called out.

Jessie didn't listen. She bent her knees and raised her fists, ready for a scuffle, but didn't dare step towards them because all three guns were pointing at Jimmy's head.

One of the men took out a pair of handcuffs and waved them in Jimmy's direction. "Put these on or we'll shoot the girl."

Jimmy watched him through narrowed eyes, making him take a step back. Jessie was both fascinated and worried by how scared the men seemed of him.

"I mean it," the goon said, his voice as shaky as the cuffs in his hands.

"Come over and put them on," Jimmy replied, his voice calm. "I'm not going to cuff myself."

The man took a step forward, gun still pointed. "Slowly reach out your hands. If you touch me, we'll kill your girlfriend."

Jimmy stared him down for another moment, then shrugged and reached out his hands.

Cuff Goon came over with weary steps and finally closed the handcuffs around Jimmy's outstretched wrists. "He shouldn't be that much trouble now."

His companions seemed to think so as well, because they came closer to them, their guns slightly less threatening. Jessie tensed, moving closer to Jimmy, but she couldn't see a way out of this that didn't involve shooting

"Nice job. You've immobilized me," Jimmy said, his tone light and friendly.

The three men froze, just within reach.

"Something's wrong," one of them said, searching his companions for answers. "He's up to something."

"Who, me? Not at all!" Jimmy continued on the same joyful tone, his right hand covering his watch.

Jessie tried not to show any signs of relief as she realized he was calling for backup. All they had to do was stall and the others would show up and help them out.

"We should kill him before they escape... Or do something to us."

One of the goons, the burliest one huffed and lowered his gun until it pointed at the ground. "What's he gonna do? He has no gun, his hands are tied, and we have his bitch."

Jessie had no idea how he could do it with his wrists tied, but Jimmy swung his entire body and slammed his fist into the guy's temple with enough force to knock him to the floor. 

"Who's the bitch now?"

The two standing goons pointed their guns at them again, barrels trembling. And Jessie knew at that moment there was no escape. Jimmy seemed to think the same because he pulled back and kicked one of them in the chest.

"Bend!" he called.

She immediately complied and he rolled his back on top of hers, landing in front of the other goon. In front of her. The shot rang through the hallway, amplified by the emptiness. Jimmy took a small step back when the bullet collided with his vest, but otherwise didn't falter. His eyes zeroed in on the open window.

"Out!"

She complied immediately, sneaking through the tiny opening. She froze on the windowsill. The roof was very narrow under her feet and jumping off would lead to a certain death. Jimmy bumped into her from behind and she almost toppled over. In the nick of time, she grabbed on to him and leaned her weight to the right where the roof descended in a slide two stories high.

She landed on her knees while Jimmy landed on his back and the two of them slid towards the edge.

"Tell me when we run out of roof," he called, taking both his guns out with a lot of dexterity for someone wearing handcuffs.

Jessie's gaze lingered on the window enough to see one of the men stepping out. The shot Jimmy fired almost gave her a heart attack. The bullet hit the goon in the shoulder and sent him plummeting in the abyss below.

Determined to ignore that Jimmy had just killed a man, she turned her attention towards their destination. Their advance was painful and slow but the edge was still drawing near at an alarming pace. Jimmy continued shooting and she continued pretending she couldn't hear it. A bullet hit the roof right in front of her and she felt the heat of the shot as her knee slid over the hole.

"Jessie, duck."

She couldn't focus on his words. Her jaw had locked as the edge of the roof came too near. No matter if they got shot or not, they were going to die. And he'd asked her to warn him against it.

"We're out of roof, we have to stop!" she yelled.

The words were out seconds before they were hanging in thin air. Her arms wrapped around Jimmy as he twisted and turned. The frigid air seemed to cut her face, left her breathless. And then, with a painful jolt that made her almost lose her grip, they stopped.

For a moment, she just buried her face in his back, then she dared sneak a peek down. Bile rose to her throat and she closed her eyes again. She wasn't afraid of heights, but they were dangling way too high above roof ornaments that could impale them or break their bones on the way down. Why were they dangling?

With inhuman effort, she opened her eyes again and glanced up. She felt like throwing up all over again. The chain between Jimmy's handcuffs had caught on a stone ornament at the edge of what looked like a terrace and it was the only thing holding them up. She couldn't even imagine the strain it put on his wrists.

"Jessie, climb over me." He twisted his wrists and managed to cling to the edges of the ornament.

Cold sweat covered her already clammy hands and she tightened her grip on him. She tried to inch up, but the moment she loosened her fingers, she slid further down. "I can't climb, I'm barely hanging on." Why couldn't she get out of this? The feeling of helplessness brought tears to her eyes. She had to do something, but was too terrified to move.

"I'll try to lift myself then." And somehow, even if his hands were cuffed together, he managed to lift them both a little further from the abyss. "Damn, these cuffs are really biting in--"

His hands slipped from the ornament. They fell the half an inch he'd managed to gain and stopped with a jolt that had her fingers unclenching. With a scream, she wrapped her arms around his knees and closed her eyes tight. Game over. She didn't even want to think what that fall had done to his wrists.

After a few seconds, she noticed that his body shook and he was whimpering so low it was barely audible over the wind. The tears burst down her face as she tried not to look, not to think, but she couldn't. She glanced up at him and saw it. The blood dripping from his hands, tainting the fresh snow gathered on a gutter. She couldn't do this. Couldn't keep being nothing but dead weight.

"Hold on," he said between his teeth. "Whatever happens, hold on."

The anger in his voice shouldn't be there, because this wasn't his fault. It wasn't even hers. It was just fate spitting on both of them. Unless... Unless the one of them who could be saved would be. And this time, it was him.

"I have to let go," she whispered. The words, weak as they were, strengthened her resolve. Without her hanging like a rock around his neck, he could pull himself up, save himself.

"No!"

His voice snapped her back out of her daze. The anger in his eyes as he glared at her sent shivers down her spine worse than the cold sweat covering her from head to foot.

"If you let go, I'm letting go to. We'll get out of this. Just hold on a bit longer."

Strangely enough, his voice, though slightly desperate, sounded normal, without the raspiness from the cold. And it was that more than anything that convinced her she had to hold on, even if it meant hurting him. Because she understood. She would be asking the very same thing of him had their roles been reversed. More time. Just another second together.

More blood dripped from above, staining the pristine snow. So beautiful in its morbid dance.

They lowered a fraction of an inch as the handcuffs cut deeper into his wrists. The mild slip was enough for her grip to loosen momentarily. She tightened it again, shutting her eyes, praying someone would come for them before her traitorous joints plunged her into nothingness.

The sound of a breaking window shredded the air.

Jessie raised hopeful eyes to the edge of the roof, but immediately screamed in fear.

Kyle slid down the roof towards her and practically dove into open air. At the last moment, he grabbed on to the gutter on the edge and swung towards her. His hand wrapped around her arm and he practically yanked her off Jimmy.

With much more certainty than before, she pushed her foot against his knee and wrapped her arms around his neck, securing herself in a safe position. Her mind spun so fast her vision turned hazy. She could feel Kyle moving, raising to safety, sitting on the edge of the roof, but she still felt like she was spiraling into emptiness. For a moment, she buried her face in his shoulder and took in a deep breath, letting the knowledge that she was alive sink through.

Kyle rubbed her back gently. "You're alright."

Yes, she was. Her head snapped up and she turned towards Jimmy. Sam and Tom had grabbed his arms and were pulling him to safety on the terrace which was now to her right. The cuffs of his hoodie were soaked in blood, but other than that, he seemed alright.

"Thank you so much," she whispered to Kyle, then bolted toward Jimmy.

He lifted his hands above his head to allow her to wrap her arms around him, then lowered his to encase her. The feeling of his hands against her back, pushing her against him, made her feel happier and safer than anything ever had.

"I almost had a heart attack when you let go of me," he whispered into her hair. His voice was once again raspy and weak.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily. Might as well face it, we're stuck with each other."

Jimmy squeezed her tighter for a moment then looked up. Jessie did too, at Sam and Tom who stood like statues, Tom a little off balance, Sam very tense.

"Don't mind them, they're in shock," Kyle said with a grin.

"No shit!" Sam said. "And I wasn't even the one dangling off the roof. Though it would have probably killed me. I'm afraid of heights."

Kyle quirked an eyebrow in a questioning way, but to Jessie it explained the tension in Sam's posture and how he was practically clawing the wall of the castle, as far away from the edge of the terrace as possible.

"Jimmy, let me get those things off." Tom knelt next to them with obvious difficulty and pulled his lock-picking tools out of the pocket of his multi slotted vest.

"Hey," Jimmy said. "Got here already?"

"Nice of you to finally notice us," Sam said going for snarky, but ending up squeaky.

Jessie would have laughed had she not seen the danger of the exchange. "Jimmy, they pulled you up."

"Nah, you did," he said with a goofy grin.

"Is he okay?" Kyle moved from the roof to the terrace and crouched next to them.

Jimmy didn't even acknowledge him. Jessie shook her head.

"You're soooo beautiful," Jimmy said, the goofy grin still on his face. He reached out his hands to her, but Tom pulled him back.

"Don't move. I'm not done yet," he said between his teeth.

Jimmy didn't react much, just stared at her with hazy eyes, letting Tom work. Jessie put her hand on his forehead.

"You're burning up!"

"It's your fault! You set my heart on fire, of course I'm burning to the ground now."

"Stop grating cheese, bro," Tom mumbled, finally opening the cuffs and taking them off. "Fuck."

Jessie's breath hitched in her throat. She hadn't given the bleeding much thought because handcuffs were not sharp. These were. They had tiny metal ridges on the inside that had broken through Jimmy's skin leaving behind a nasty cut that looked like he'd tried to slit his wrists.

"We have to get him inside. Now!" she called desperately.

"I'm fine, sunshine," he mumbled, but he leaned more of his weight on her with every passing second. "It's just the cold."

"Yeah, just the cold," Kyle mumbled, taking Jimmy's elbow and flinging his arm over his neck to lift him off the ground.

The moment he was completely vertical, Jimmy winced and sucked air through his teeth. "Maybe I'm not that well." His knees buckled under him.

"Can we go in now?" Sam asked, his clattering.

"Yes," Jessie said, rubbing her arms, trying to numb the panic bubbling inside her. "I'm freezing out here. And I think we've earned at least one night of proper rest." She hoped rest would do the trick and it was all Jimmy needed to get better.

❄❄❄

OMG, can you believe I actually updated? Took me freaking forever. I'm sorry, but adulting decided to be really shitty this time of year and fill me with nasty responsibilities. I do hope things will get better come July and August when I supposedly have less work.

Did you enjoy this chapter? I know it's slightly short, but I hope the content made up for it. I'm especially interested in how you feel about some of the good guys actually killing people for once, even if in self defense. What will the implications be?

Thanks for reading, hit the star, give me your thoughts and let's hope the next update isn't very far behind.