Mia

The look on Archer's face rips me to pieces.

I've never seen him so heartbroken, so internally shattered. His eyes water, a tear rolling off his cheek and falling on the ground. I'm no longer focused on the gun pointed at me. All my attention has fallen at the broken boy before me.

"Evelyn, please. Please don't-"

"Funny that you think you have a say in this," Evelyn says to Archer while keeping her stare on me.

Archer pulls on his tied hands, his breathing getting heavier. I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think. Evelyn is going to shoot me, and there's nothing we can do about it.

"Please, don't shoot. Don't, please!"

A slap to the face has Archer in a quick daze, the blotchy red looking bright against his pale skin. But no pain will stop him from protecting me.

And sometimes I hate him for it.

How easy would it be for Evelyn to just shoot. If it wasn't for Archer, I would have been dead a long time ago. I can't count how many times he's saved me.

And he just might do it again.

"I'll do anything."

Evelyn stops at Archer's words. Those simple words let out so much vulnerability in him, and so much power to Evelyn. Archer knows. He knows what he said has costed him everything.

"Archer, don't-"

"I'll do anything Evelyn," Archer ignores me, "just don't kill her, or the deals off."

"Maybe I should keep her around more often? You behave when she's around," Evelyn smiles while putting the gun down. Tears well up in Archer's eyes, and I can see the sorrow in his eyes. Either save me, or save the Alliance.

And I know he so desperately wants to save the Alliance.

It's what he left his dome for. It's what he risked his life for. But he ran into me, and I messed everything up. I made him weak.

I made him love me.

"Archer, let her do it. She's going to kill so many more-"

Evelyn comes up to me with her fist, and I topple to the floor as her fist connects with my cheek.

"No!" Archer cries, and I can hear him pulling against his restraints, can hear the crack in his voice that signifies his shattered life. I cup my cheek and sit up, but Evelyn has turned her attention to Archer. Archer looks down at me, his wide eyes focused on mine. I nod, trying to tell him that it's okay, but he looks as if he's about to crack.

Doctors draw a needle in his forearm, and I watch dizzily as his blood goes up the narrow tube and into a bag. He's seem to calm down a bit, letting the doctors prick the needle and get things situated. I can't help but feel panicked. Adam and them are out there, and Evelyn knows. I imagine guards finding them, hurting them, killing them...

"Your little Alliance won't live to see another day," Evelyn says, "I hope you two already said your goodbyes."

I can see Archer tense up, but he doesn't say a word. Instead, he shuts his mouth shut, a muscle in his jaw working furiously. I'm still slumped against the floor, also not speaking. But Evelyn won't leave it alone.

"It's too bad, really. You two are about to kill many lives-"

"It won't work."

Evelyn tears her eyes to me, and I push myself up, dizzy along the way.

"And why do you think that?"

"Because your last plan didn't work."

Now Evelyn is interested. She stands next to Archer but has her attention on me. She looks at me, wanting me to go on, to test her.

"You formed Archer. You changed him."

"Congratulations," she says, "you figured out the change."

"You made him hate me. You formed him into a monster, a destruction to the Alliance. You wanted him to hurt others, to hurt me."

Evelyn doesn't respond. I've created a dent in her, and I push farther.

"Sure, you made him for a distraction as well. It worked for a moment. But Archer felt bad. He wasn't the monster you created in those moments. You can't change a person, Evelyn. Not all the way-"

"And look where you two are now," she sneers, but I'm not finished.

"That has nothing to do with it. You needed him back, because you failed-"

"Mia." Archer looks at me with pleadings eyes. He doesn't want me to get Evelyn mad, and I know he's right, that I shouldn't be saying a single word.

"Oh Mia," Evelyn smiles, "you think you know everything. You think you know the good times Archer has had in my hands. Did he tell you? Did he tell you everything he went through?"

I pause as Archer lets out a sharp exhale, his eyes fixed to the ceiling, his lip trembling. I want to scream, to cry out for this broken boy that has been through hell.

"I've heard enough." I say quietly, but Evelyn just laughs as she rests her hand on Archers forehead, making him flinch.

"He can't even think of all that he's been through himself," she smiles, "not even his mind can handle it. He's been through worse than you'll ever face-"

"No."

Evelyn and I are taken aback at Archers simple comment. Evelyn takes her hand away from his forehead, her eyes resting on him.

"No? What are you saying?"

"Mia has been through pain," Archer says simply, his eyes still staring at the sky, "there's no reason to compare it. Pain is pain."

My eyes start to water at his words. Pain is pain. Archer is saying that what I've been through is equal to his. I don't believe it, can't believe it, because this boy has been through the unimaginable. But for some reason, those words are mesmerizing. Pain is pain. We've both been through pain.

But I'm done with being in pain.

And Archer is too.

I didn't even realize that one of his hands slipped out of his restraints. He swings an arm forcefully at a doctor, and rips out the tube from his forearm, blood trickling down his flesh. Evelyn snatches his arm, but I quick kick her in the leg and she stumbles.

I help Archer with the remaining three restraints, my eyes trailing on Evelyn as she slowly tries to get up. Archer gets free and takes out the remaining guard with a neck punch, and I topple onto Evelyn, trying to wrap my hands around her neck before she can stop me.

Archer appears next to me, about to lean down to help, but a soft voice catches the both of us off guard.

"Archer, Mia, please."

I pry my hands off of Evelyn, and when I turn around, my heart sinks.

Abby has her arm gripped firmly around the beaten up body, and her other hand grips a gun, shoving it into the victims temple.

Adam stares down at us, his eyes wide with pure terror.

"I found your friend," Abby sneers. She tightens her grip on him, and he flinches. "Also, tell them who I killed?"

Tears flow out of Adam's eyes. He whimpers as his mouth slightly opens.

"She killed Lydia. And-" he stumbles with his words as he tries to let words out. "she shot Casper."

Abby grins. "And the chances of him living is slim."

••••••

WHY, HELLO WORLD!

The last time I posted a chapter was in...OCTOBER!

I'm the worst person ever😅

I'm so incredibly sorry for not posting a chapter for SUCH a long time. This story has been in the very back of my mind. There are so many other stories I have planned that I forget I need to finish this one!

Tell me your thoughts! Your comments really help me keep going, and I am so thankful for the few who still read this story! Blessings to you all❤️

Thank you! Another chapter will hopefully be up soon!