Alex and John sprinted through King's hand in hand, every step they took bringing them closer into the light until they burst through the front doors, snapping the police tape strapped over them with a mighty whip. Right ahead Hercules was tying George and Conway to a light pole using the police tape, as it was all they had.

Thomas' frantic shouts could still be heard from the back of the van, barking at everyone to hurry up with strained vocals as he cradled James in his arms.

James was dipping in and out of consciousness as if it were water, his eyes fluttering open every now and then before rolling back in his head in a cycle that drove Thomas to the brink of insanity. Maria knelt beside them in the back, tending to the blood gushing from James' head, a puddle of the slick ruby red liquid already pooling at her knees and congealing on her fingers.

"Where are we going?" Eliza shouted, bounding into the driver's seat and immediately revving up the engine.
"Hospital!" Thomas snapped, his voice cracking.
"We can't!" Hercules shot back, returning to the car.
"Find a pharmacy Liz," Alex ordered as he jumped into the back too with John hot on his heels, still holding hands and not planning to let go. Lafayette threw Sam into the van behind them roughly, causing him to yelp in pain and cradle his arm.
"I'm calling Nathaniel, and then Washington." He spoke monotonously.

"Stop trying to save me!" Sam cried out, trying to jump out of the van when Lafayette slammed the doors shut. He choked back a sob and curled up in the corner, digging his nails into his palms and squeezing his eyes shut to keep more tears from falling.

Alex frowned, his attention snapped back to James when he let out a choked gurgle, his body shaking and shivering in Thomas' arms.

Maria desperately tried to keep the flannel over James' wound, but it wasn't doing anything to help now as the thin fabric was now heavy with blood. Alex crawled to Maria's side, dragging John with him, and stripped off his jumper, tying the sleeves around James' head like a bandana. Thomas watched his every movement with caution, clutching James close when Alex was finished.

"Thanks," he murmured hoarsely under his breath. Alex nodded solemnly, sitting back and wrapping his arms around John.

John crawled up and sat in Alex's lap, burying his face in his thin cotton T-shirt. Alex didn't say anything, simply pulling John closer and stroking a hand through his mattered curls. Underneath them they felt the van begin to rumble as the engine hummed to life, Lafayette and Hercules' motorbikes being unhooked from the van and revved up too. Artemis barked from the front seat as the van began to reverse, her paws tapping against the dashboard as she saw Hercules and Lafayette speed ahead.
With a jolt the van began to drive and soon they were on their way back into New York.

---

Soon the van came to a stop in a musky alleyway, the bustling New York traffic now a distant echo as they had managed to find a relatively abandoned street in the slums.

Lafayette tugged the van doors open, light streaming in on the bloody scene ahead.
Blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in James' veins was clasped in Thomas' callused fingers, drizzling down James' face like rain on a window pane as he was fast asleep. Alex had a steely frown chiseled into his features as he focused on keeping James' head stationary, John by his side curled up in Alex's denim jacket shivering slightly. Maria was propped up against the side of the van like a rag doll, her skeleton practically jello with her limbs hanging loose as she didn't have the energy to hold herself. Finally Sam was curled and contorted as tight as was physically possible in the corner of the van, his face painted with dark shadows cast over his grim features.

"Maria, Eliza wants you to go in with her." Lafayette murmured, followed by the firm thud of the driver's door being closed. Eliza emerged from around the side of the van, ushering Maria over with a small flick of her wrist and a curt nod.

Maria forced a smile, every muscle strained as she pulled herself to her feet with shaking limbs. She stumbled a little as she made her way to the end of the van, practically falling out but thankfully being caught by Lafayette, who propped her on her feet for Eliza to take over.

The two girls wandered into the gloomy ghost of a pharmacy casually, aside from the countless cuts, scrapes and blood stains littering their skin they could've passed as normal. Immediately Maria began silently leading Eliza through the aisles, skillfully swiping medications, bandages and operational tools into her pockets, bra, boots and hair. Eliza frowned as Maria became warier, she looked as dead as Levi was.

"We can't come in and not buy anything," Eliza whispered, glancing at the elderly woman at the counter skeptically.
"Yes we can," Maria murmured, leaning on one of the shelves as she turned around.
"No, there's something else I think we need." Eliza sighed, guiding Maria back deeper into the Pharmacy.

"Eliza we have everythi-" Maria began to groan until they reached the maternity section. Eliza grabbed a thin box without any hesitation, flashing it to Maria.
"Do you need this?" She murmured, the pain in her expression contrasting against the formality of her voice. Maria gulped and her pupils dilated in fear.
"N-no- no I-" She stammered, shaking her head as her breathing became heavier.

"Maria. Do you need this?" Eliza repeated, this time firmer. "I- I won't be mad, I just want to keep you safe,"
Maria shifted her gaze to the floor, her eyes growing glossy with tears as she nodded once. She hastily blinked them back, avoiding Eliza's gaze at all costs and letting her pull her to the counter.

The woman at the counter smiled weakly, probably glad to have her first customers of the day at 10pm at night. When she gave the girls a closer inspection her eyes widened and she choked out a gasp, shakily raising a hand to grab the phone.
"WAIT! Wait please!" Eliza begged, throwing her hands up. "We're not going to do anything, please don't," she sighed, placing the box on the counter and grabbing Maria's hand.

Maria immediately tensed, trying to pull it away but unable to escape Eliza's death grip. The woman slowly lowered her hand, her gaze flickering between the two girls behind her misty oval glasses.
"Thank you," Eliza breathed as the lady scanned the box, still cautious, passing it back over. Eliza scooped a $10 note from inside her boot, passing the crumpled paper over with a sheepish grin before she accepted the box and tucked it into Maria's pocket, careful not to reveal their other items.

The lady sent them off with a curt nod, letting them speed walk away hastily. The girls were almost out the door when they heard a sharp voice begin speaking sternly behind them.
"-into custody, finishing where they began at King's Correctional Facility," the voice cut in mid sentence.

Maria and Eliza spun around with a sharp intake of breath, seeing the woman had turned on the small box tv in the top corner, a breaking news broadcast flashing across the screen. The screen revealed Conway being shoved into a police car forcefully, followed by Levi Weeks and James Reynolds' bodies being carried off the scene on stretchers under white sheets, floating almost like ghosts under the paramedics' hold.
"Criminal escapees from Columbia's location remains unknown, but it appears they have turned to work in favor of the public, as it was their call that alerted authorities of Conway, Weeks, Reynolds and Frederick's location."

"C'mon, James needs us," Eliza whispered, tugging Maria back towards the door. Maria nodded solemnly, following her obediently. Eliza shot the old lady one last thankful smile before both girls made their way back out, moving back to the alleyway. "We got-"

"Finally," Nathaniel breathed, his head popping up from where he knelt over James. Himself and Adi were already getting to work on figuring out how they would patch him up.

"When did you two get here?" Eliza smiled in relief, leading Maria over so she could empty her pockets for them.
"We've been driving since 9am this morning, was planning to meet you at the docks, but Lafayette redirected us here," Nat smiled quickly, leaning over James to study the items Maria had brought back.
"What luck," Maria muttered under her breath.

The group fell silent as Nathaniel and Adrienne began talking under their breath and discussing how the procedure would go.
"Alright, we're going to need James awake while we do this." Nathaniel frowned, his gaze flickering up to the rest of the group.
"What? Don't hurt him!" Thomas snapped, jolting forward before Lafayette ripped him backwards.

"I'm not going to hurt him, the brain is the one part of the human body that doesn't have pain receptors, and he'll barely feel anything from the stitching, he'll be fine," Nathaniel sighed, shaking his head. "But we need to be asking him questions during the operation, simple things, what's his name, what colour is grass, if he hesitates or gets something wrong, we know there's a problem," Nathaniel explained, earning a few cautious nods.

"Alright, let's wake him up," Alex piped up as nobody was saying anything. A chorus of agreement rang out, Thomas moving forward slowly and reaching his hand out shakily to caress James' cheek.
"James," Thomas whispered, gently squeezing his shoulder. James squeezed his eyes shut with a groan, whimpering as the pain returned, rocketing through his skull like a bullet. "Hey hey, sh, it's okay, we're gonna patch you up now, you just need to be awake," Thomas frowned cautiously.

"W-why?" he whispered, scrunching up his nose as the pain sent another spark through the side of his head.
"We just need to talk to you, okay?" Nathaniel cut in, shooting James a weak smile. James closed his eyes with a rattling sigh.
"Ngh- ok-kay," he mumbled, opening his eyes back up to gaze at Thomas with sad eyes.

Thomas felt his heart snap at that look and he grabbed James' hand, squeezing it gently. Nathaniel rolled James onto his side with Adi's help, ordering Alex and Hercules to sit either side of him and hold him there, so he wouldn't roll over while there was a needle in his head.

"Okay James, we're going to give you two sets of stitches, then we'll bandage the rest up, is that okay with you?" Nathaniel murmured kindly, Adrienne grabbing her phone and flicking on the flashlight, having John hold it over James' head.

"Yes," James whispered hoarsely.
"Okay James, can you tell me something you write with?" Nathaniel asked clearly, applying pressure to one part of his head.
"Uh," he paused. "Pen."

Nathaniel shook his head at Adrienne, implying not to patch there.
"Great, now what's this man's name?" He asked, pointing at Thomas while Adrienne pressed gently on a new section.
"Thomas J-Jefferson," he croaked without a second's hesitation, Nathaniel nodding.

Adrienne got to work preparing a needle and passing it to Nathaniel, as he began to carefully stitch back up that area on James' head. Thomas couldn't watch.
"What colour is the sky James?" Adrienne asked for Nathaniel as he focused on the stitches.
"Blue." He sighed shakily, his eyes fluttering closed.

"Good job, keep your eyes open honey," she frowned, Thomas rubbing his thumb over his knuckles soothingly.
"But I'm tired," James murmured, wincing in pain.
"You can sleep as much as you'd like after the operation," Adrienne assured him sweetly, Nat finishing up his first set of stitching.

James reluctantly opened his eyes, staring straight ahead lifelessly as Adrienne prepared the second set.
"Alright James, can you name a fruit?" Nathaniel murmured, pressing lightly on a new area of his head.
"Ba- ap- ngh-" he struggled to make words, Nathaniel immediately pulling his hand away. He tried moving it a little to the left.

"Can you tell me an animal?" Nathaniel asked this time.
"Capsicum," James mumbled, almost questioning himself. Nathaniel's eyes widened and he pulled back again.

"Don't go near this area," he muttered to Adrienne, gesturing around the entire section of James' head above the stitch. "We're just going to have to bandage, I don't want to risk hitting anything, I'm not a neurosurgeon," He whispered, Adrienne nodding in agreement.
They retrieved the bandages and everyone was able to step back as they wrapped up James' head.

John passed Adrienne back her phone and crawled to Alex's side, taking his hand.
Alex looked up at John with glossy eyes, the gloomy streetlights outside illuminating them with an eery glow. Despite the bags under his eyes, the bruises littering his skin and the dried blood left stagnantly dripping down his head, John still thought he was gorgeous.

Alex stood up slowly and guided John to the edge of the van where they sat, Alex leaning his head on John's shoulder with their feet dangling over the edge like small children.
"Levi Weeks is dead," John whispered, staring ahead blankly. Suddenly a sense of deja vu swept over Alex, his eyes widening before he glanced at John.
"Levi Weeks is dead," he repeated, just like last time. "But it's not over."

John let his eyes flutter closed and released a shaky sigh, hugging Alex close.
"No, not yet,"

Sorry for being dead please don't hurt me