Leon watched the road ahead of him warily, eyesight blurred with weariness. He didn’t know exactly how long he’d been on his feet; well, it’d been long enough, that much was certain. The forest surrounding the trio was quiet, but Leon didn’t consider silence a good sign. The faraway hums and chirps of insects coupled with the wind trailing through the branches was all that could be heard this chilly night. Winter in Spain, Leon decided, was a bitch.

“How you holding up, hermano?” The Spaniard’s words had become more of a drawl than his usual lightly accented and smooth voice.

Leon gave a slight wave with his hand, trudging onward. “I’ve felt better. All this’ll be over soon, though.”

Luis didn’t miss the tremors of Leon’s shoulders or the fatigue apparent in his slowed movements. None of them had managed a decent bit of sleep in at least three days. It seemed that after about an hour of rest- if that- another group of Ganados would attack, seeming to materialize out of the dark, forbidding forests.

Ashley didn’t seem to be doing any better than her bodyguard. Her hands, limp at her sides, twitched and wrung at every sudden movement. Her porcelain skin was smeared with dirt, and her expensive looking clothing was spotted with blood and grime. The only brightness left in her seemed to be illuminated within her honey colored eyes, which seemed chronically teary, filled with innocence, innocence broken. Though he couldn’t say he was overly fond of the girl, Luis decided that he couldn’t quite blame her for her constant need to be in Leon’s sight, her vivid nightmares that left her screaming and crying. She was just a normal girl, reacting the way any civilian would be expected to. She didn’t deserve this any more than they did.

Luis shook his head, frowning slightly. He couldn’t afford to think of them this way. There was no room for pity, especially considering what he was expected to do. The memory of Ada’s cutting gaze seemed foreboding. Such a bastard, Luis thought. I’m such a fucking bastard.

“Luis?” Leon’s voice brought him back to reality. “Take a look at this.”

Ahead of them loomed a pulley system of sorts- an elevator? The sight seemed strange to him. It was structured below them, underneath the raised part of land they currently stood on.

Leon began helping Ashley down the rocky hillside. His determination seemed regenerated by hope at the sight of the elevator. It was this part of his personality that Luis had fallen for. That uncommon refusal to give in to overwhelming odds came few and far between in today’s world.

“You got it?” Leon called up to him, his voice rough as he struggled to get himself down and help the girl at the same time.

“Sí. No problem.” Lowering his feet onto the jutting stone, Luis willed his heart to become as hard as the ground beneath his feet.

The three of them made it down without incident. They crowded onto the metal platform, glancing at one another anxiously.

“No matter what happens… we’ll try to escape. If anything happens to me, take her, Luis. If it comes to leaving me behind or risking yourselves, you get the hell out. Got it?” Leon gave Ashley and Luis stern glances, one after the other. Ashley let out a small sob, nodded, bit down on her lower lip to keep from saying something she shouldn’t. “Come on now. It’ll be okay. We have to end this now.” Leon consoled, reaching out a hand to clap gently, reassuringly on her shoulder. He didn’t need to initiate physical contact to get his point across to Luis. His feelings and intentions were clear in the look he was giving Luis right now, even as he wrapped his arms around the shaking young woman. The look in Leon’s eyes cut him deeper than any of Ada’s words and masked threats. Those silvery blue irisis threatened to swallow him, his every intention and thought.

Luis fisted his hand and slammed the large button firmly, and the metal cage began its well-oiled ascent.

Ashley hadn’t let go yet, so Leon settled for gently touching Luis’s hand. Luis willed the tension in his body to ease slightly, enough to lace his fingers with Leon’s. Leon turned his head a little; Ashley hadn’t noticed or cared by the way she had her face buried in his neck.

“Love you. Alright?” Leon’s lips brushed against Luis’s ear as he whispered the words like a secret his heart no longer wished to keep. Luis’s heart skipped, seemed to cease its function for a moment before cautiously beginning again.

“More than alright. Te amo.” The words come easily to Luis, more easily than he though they might’ve in this royally fucked up situation. The smooth hum of the elevator, Ashley’s hitching, breathy sobs, and the wind is all that’s left to hear, until there’s the loud clank of metal on metal and the entire box shudders.

“Guess we’re here.” Leon mumbles, brushing his lips across Luis’s for what might be the last time.

When they’ve all picked up the fragmented pieces of their emotions, can at least sport decent poker faces for whatever might be lurking outside, Leon presses another button and the doors open.

Sorry for the wait on this, guys. I suck big time. But hey, you never know… if I get lots of lovely reviews, I might go and add lots of new stuff, or at least post a final chapter that is both epic and long! Well… longer.