Eliza skidded onto the kerb, pulling over and popping the trunk.
"Good luck!" Maria yelled with a bright smile. The others chimed in agreement, whooping and hollering as Aaron pushed the boot open, Theodosia holding his hand.
"We'll see you on the other side," Aaron grinned before jumping out of the boot, Theodosia by his side. Aaron slammed the boot shut and they ran into the bush land on the side of the road, waving good bye as they escaped to collect their daughter and run away.

The group was waving them off through the windows when Eliza's phone suddenly began to ring, vibrating in the middle console. She swooped it up and checked the contact, coming up with no caller ID.
"Should I-" she began to ask before Alex quickly jumped in.
"I gave Thomas and James your number," He exclaimed. She quickly swiped it open and switched it onto speaker.

"Hello-" Eliza began to speak before Thomas' voice screamed through the phone.
"WHY HAVE YOU STOPPED DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!" He yelled frantically. Eliza stared at the phone worriedly before the wail of police sirens began to echo behind them. Everyone's heads snapped out the back window and saw Thomas speeding towards them with a fleet of police cars on his tail. Eliza's eyes widened and she spun around, slamming on the gas and quickly skidding onto the road.

Everyone in the car was whipped to the side with the momentum, latching onto the seat in front of them, their own chair, or each other to refrain from falling all over the car. Eliza hit 100 kph in no time, speeding down the street with Thomas hot on her heels, still on the phone.
"We should split up." Alex suggested from the back while John counted how many cars they had behind them.
"Are you sure?" Eliza replied worriedly, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
"Ask Thomas," Maria suggested. Usually nobody would want to hear Thomas' opinion but the tables had turned tonight.

Maria held the phone up to Eliza's mouth so she could continue focusing on driving.
"Thomas, what are your thoughts on splitting up?" Eliza exclaimed into the phone. There was an awkward silence in the car (with the exception of police sirens and roaring engines) as they waited for the other car to finish discussing.
"Do it discreetly, we'll take the mother-load, at best two or three will go after you," Thomas spoke smoothly from the other end.
"Alright hang on guys," Eliza warned.

Alex reached over and grabbed John's hand and the handle of his own door. John smiled gently at Alex which he returned with a smirk of determination. Eliza turned a corner onto a new street, the others hadn't gotten onto it yet as they were a fair length ahead. All of a sudden Eliza yanked the wheel to the side, gracefully turning 90 degrees to zip off the street they were on and slip into an alley way. She spun the car again and parked in the shadows behind a dumpster.

"Eliza we're trapped!" Alex hissed.
"No, we're hidden." Eliza corrected quietly. They sat tight and in no time they saw Thomas' car zoom straight past the alley way, followed by the four cop cars screeching behind them. Eliza grinned triumphantly and turned to Alex raising her eyebrows.
"Good one," Maria grinned at Eliza excitedly. A gentle blush dusted over Eliza's cheeks and she smiled warmly.
"Thanks," was all she could muster.

She shifted into reverse and pulled out, driving forward, back into the street but turning back the way they came.
"How are you lot going?" Maria asked into the phone sternly. There was no answer over the roar of engines on the other end and distant shouts as they argued in their car. Finally James picked up the phone, holding it up to his ear off speaker.
"We're back on the street from before, we're fine, this just isn't getting anywhere," James frowned from the other side. "OH SHIT!"
The ear splitting sound of tires skidding screeched through the phone.

Everyone in Eliza's car began to panic.
"James? James what's going on over there?" Eliza spoke into the phone, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Road spikes, they set up road spikes Eliza they've got us," James yelped before the line fell dead. The car was silent before Eliza muttered a string of profanities under her breath, u-turning on the street and speeding down the path Thomas' car had previously taken.

"Eliza where are we going?" Alex asked quickly.
"To help the others," she replied firmly, Maria's expression lighting up in a determined grin.
"Wha-we'll just get caught too!" Alex exclaimed in protest to Eliza's decision.
"Not with the element of surprise," Eliza smirked.
"The element of surprise against 5 cop cars, yes, that helps us," Alex deadpanned.

"Well we have to get the others back! What's your plan huh Alex?" Eliza shot, staring at him through the rear view mirror.
"I say we fight," John shrugged quietly, glancing at Alex wearily. "Remain relentless,"
"Well the cops aren't going to take flight, they're there to catch us, can you even begin to justify the cost of this fight? We need to be strategic about thi-" Alex began to argue before Eliza groaned from the front.
"We don't have time to be strategic Alex! We just have to outrun, get in quick, rescue the others and get out fast," she sighed, a hint of frustration in her tone.

"What are we even going to fight with? Maria's gun? Against 5 cars of cops?" Alex growled in annoyance, John squeezing his hand to try and calm him down.
"Don't sass me, you're underestimating how much 'Maria's gun' is capable of," Maria shot in, raising her gun and loading it. Pick your battles Alex, pick your battles. It's not worth it.

Alex sighed and rest his head back against the headrest of his seat. John undid his seatbelt and shuffled over to sit in the middle, right beside Alex. Alex glanced at him and shot him a fake half smile before closing his eyes.
"I know this is stressful, and risky," John whispered worriedly. "But just perk up a little, think of all the the turtles and dogs we can have once this is all over,"

Alex stifled a small chuckle and wrapped his arm around John's waist, pulling him closer and pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his head.
"I like the sound of that," he whispered under his breath, John smiling up at him warmly.

Slowly the car began to decelerate, pulling up on the edge of a street corner.
"There," Eliza muttered, leaning forward in her seat. Everyone peered forward and saw James, Samuel, Hercules and Lafayette kneeling on the road with their hands up while Thomas was being shoved against the hood of one of the cop cars.
"It's go time," Maria smirked.
"Wait I thought we were kidding," Alex but in quickly.
"Kidding about what?" Eliza muttered, furrowing her brows.
"Maria single-handedly taking on 5 cop cars with one gun." Alex stated matter-of-factly.

Maria rolled her eyes and smirked, slowly opening her car door.
"Lesson one, don't underestimate Maria Reynolds." She spoke formally with a prim and proper bow before slipping out of the car. She stood against the wall of the building they were concealed by and raised the gun.

15 bullets. 10 cops. Showtime.

Maria slipped half her face and an arm out, they hadn't seen her yet, she had to use her element of surprise wisely. She lined up 3 shots that she could fire in a quick round and BANG one target hit BANG another target hit BANG one missed BANG got him.
11 bullets, 7 cops. There was a lot of shouting as cops raised their guns carefully, tending to the wounded officers. With the distraction Lafayette and Hercules used combined momentum to pull each other up, fighting officers hand to hand.

"Over there!" An officer yelled. She'd been seen. Two officers ran towards her, firing wildly. She sprinted across the road, jumping to dodge a stray bullet that almost caught her foot. She raised her gun. BANG miss BANG miss.
"SHIT." She cursed as she ran. BANG got him. As she was running she didn't even notice a cop running straight for her.
"LAFAYETTE!" She yelled, ditching the gun to where he and the other boys fought the officers, dodging their tasers skilfully.

Lafayette jumped up on the hood of a police car and intercepted the gun mid air, yelping in pain from his bullet wound, as Maria rolled to the side out of the path of the cop running towards her. BANG Lafayette shot the cop with his bad hand, still getting the job done. Maria jumped up onto the hood of the car Laf was on, but a cop grabbed her ankles and whipped her legs out from underneath her. She slammed into the hood of the car with a yelp, growling and kicking her leg to slam it into the officer's nose before Laf got a clean shot. BANG.

The leftover cops were struggling to control the inmates in the middle of the cars.
"Get yourself and them out of here, you're injured, I'll finish these guys off," Maria muttered as Laf passed her the gun.
"6 bullets, 4 cops," Lafayette warned as he jumped off the hood of the car.
"Piece of cake," she smirked, flipping her fringe out of her piercing eyes.
"I think you meant piece of custard tart," Lafayette corrected with a grin. Maria shot him a confused glance but he knew what he was talking about. "Raise a tart," he grinned with a wink, his accent smooth before he ran into the cross fire to get the boys out of there.

Maria aimed carefully, she couldn't hit one of the inmates, but it was hard with all the erratic punches being thrown this way and that, everyone ducking and dodging. BANG she just missed shooting both an officer and Hercules. Maria bit her lip and took a deep breath. She aimed again, her lips pursed in a slight pout as she held the gun firmly.

BANG an officer dropped to his knees in front of James before slumping to the floor, clutching his bleeding abdomen. Maria glanced backwards to see Eliza pulling the car out and John ushering Sam inside.
"Guys!" Alex yelled from the car. James and stopped fighting and legged it into the car, diving into the boot beside Lafayette.
BANG she missed, moving her gun last second as Hercules had stepped in the way.
"Piece of fucking-" she growled, lining up the shot again. BANG the officer slumped to the floor in front of Hercules.

BANG she missed again, the officer dodging her bullet. One bullet, two cops. Hercules ran to the car, leaving Thomas fending off one officer while another came charging towards Maria.
"DUCK!" She screamed.
Thomas knew which duck she meant, dropping to the floor as Maria jumped off the hood of the car where an officer was about to lunge at her. She rolled out of the jump and shot up to her feet.
BANG
The bullet travelled through both men's heads, knocking them both backwards. Thomas stood back up with a grin as bright as the sun.

"There was no duck, stupid." He hissed teasingly, mocking Lafayette, not that Maria knew because she wasn't in their car.
"What do you mean? It's a phra-"
"I know." Thomas laughed before turning to run to Eliza's car, Maria hot on his heels.

Thomas dove into the boot and Maria slipped back into her seat in the front. As soon as they were in Eliza smashed the gas and the car shot forward. They sped down the street until an odd sound began to echo outside the car, chutting like blades slicing through the air.

Helicopter.
"I wasn't kidding!" Thomas exclaimed triumphantly.
"Not the time," James snapped at Thomas, causing him to instantly shut up. Eliza yanked the wheel to the side for the second time tonight and drove off road, straight into the bushes and trees lining the side of the road.

Everyone yelped in confusion and surprise as Eliza sped through the woodland, skilfully dodging trees until she skidded to a stop under a patch of thick canopy.
"Whaaaat are we doing?" Thomas piped up, glancing out the window.
"We can't get the helicopter off our tail, we'll have to hide from it." Eliza shrugged, sinking back into her seat.

And so they waited.

A/N I really wasn't feeling this chapter sorry it's kinda crap I'm sick and I just wanna get on to the future chapters already asdfghjkl if you've got fan art that hasn't been mentioned yet, pls remind me! My notes on my computer got cleared and I've lost track of your beautiful work :( xx