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[fixeswatches]

It was pretty late at night by the time they finally reached the Canadian border. As he drove closer to the border he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. They'd only ask a few questions, right? It wasn't likely that they would have pictures of them or anything, any way of knowing that they were trying to run from the law, right?

Right.

He was worrying over nothing, he was pretty sure of it. So far, everything had been going well. Sure, it had taken them a little longer than expected to get here, mostly because they kept stopping to fool around and the like, but they had managed to get here, new car and all. Once they got through they could find a place to stay for the night and figure out the rest in the morning, right?

Right.

Still, one of his hands left the wheel and searched for her hand, fingers intertwining with one another. Being able to hold her hand was a comfort, at the very least.

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[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Noah chuckled a little. "You found yourself a smart boy, Elle."

She seethed, torn between keeping her boiling gaze on Noah and her eyes on Gabriel. His blood was seeping through his shirt now; she felt the warmth and wetness on her palm. Her breath shortened, nearly stopped.

What if the bullet hit an artery? What was she supposed to do? She didn't even care if they didn't get away, not when he seemed to get paler by the second. As long as he was okay.

"What do you want with us, Bennet?" she hissed, setting her jaw and trying to keep the panic from her eyes. "If he bleeds to death you're not following orders."

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

"Maybe part of my orders was to see just what Mr. Gray can handle," Noah answered in a flippant tone of voice.

"I'll be fine Elle," Gabriel insisted in a weak tone of voice. "You don't need to worry so much." Never mind that he felt dizzy and suddenly very, very tired. He was still breathing steadily. That couldn't be a good sign at all.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Elle's attention turned completely to Gabriel at his words, and she wished she could believe him. She didn't know anything about superficial wounds, or fatal ones, and she didn't like the unfocused look in his eyes at all. Even if she was over-exaggerating, she couldn't help it. She could hardly think past the racing of her heart. She couldn't lose him. She'd almost lost him so many times.

"Look at me," she whispered softly, caressing his cheek with the back of her hand, nudging him to her. "We should lift your arm, so maybe the bleeding stops."

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

Gabriel nodding his head weakly in response to her words. He tried his best to focus on her, on her words so he didn't black out or anything. "Elevating it would be a good idea." He lifted his arm up, wincing in pain as he did so. He looked around for something he could rest it on and keep it elevated. They really needed to find a way to stop the blood.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"It's okay, here," Elle breathed, getting up. Noah stared at her steadily, raising his gun an inch; she paused only momentarily to challenge him with her eyes. A tense second passed, and then she nudged Gabriel over to the window seat, letting him rest his arm over her shoulders.

"Be careful," Noah drawled. "You don't want to make it worse by moving too much."

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

"Like you care if it gets worse or not," Gabriel snapped in annoyance, leaning his arm carefully against Elle. He hated getting his blood on her like this, but it wasn't like they had options at this point

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"Ignore him," she said in frustration, none of it directed towards Gabriel.

Stains were the last concern on Elle's mind. She didn't mind that his sweater's blue hem was already red, or that she felt some smear on her shoulder. She was merely thankful she could apply pressure on his wound much easier like this; she lifted her hand to do so, bracing for every turn and bump, trying to stay as still as possible for him.

After a few silent, tense moments, Noah chuckled quietly. "Relax. He'll be fine, Elle. We're going to pull over and Rene will patch him up."

Elle turned her head enough to glare at him, her lips a thin, murderous line. Was this some kind of game to him?

The answer was obvious--yes. And not the kind Elle liked to play.

"I didn't know his life meant so much to you," Noah remarked casually, almost conversationally, his voice lilting in a way she didn't like.

"Yours doesn't," she growled.

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

The Haitian pulled the car over to the side of the road a few minutes later and parked the car. He opened the back of the van and got inside, making his way over to Gabriel to start silently working on the wound. Gabriel's eyes teared up as he cried out in pain while the Haitian began to extract the bullet from his arm, cutting it out.

"He's not very good at handling pain, is he?" Noah asked in an amused tone, keeping a good eye on both Gabriel and Elle. "Then again, there are a lot of things I'm sure Mr. Gray wasn't used to before he met you Elle, isn't that right?"

Gabriel tried to ignore the pain as much as he could, instead chosing to focus on the other man's words. "That may be true, but everything she's introduced me to has made my life better." Except for when she made him kill his mother. But he pushed that down. They couldn't give into those negative emotions right now. Now, more than ever, they had to work together.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"Interesting," Noah stated.

"Shut up, Noah. Just shut up," she hissed, holding onto Gabriel and keeping her eyes on him. Usually she'd be telling him to grow a set or something, but not now. She was too worried for him--he was so pale--and too relieved and angry as Rene patched him up and caused him more pain.

The last thing she wanted to do was play Noah's little game, whatever it was.

"Even killing your own mother?" Noah ventured.

Elle reached for Gabriel's hand, blanching at the question and thankfully not facing Bennet. She twined their fingers and squeezed them tight; they'd already been in fists from the pain. They did have to stick together, especially now. No matter what Bennet said.

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

"It was for the best," Gabriel replied with an uncomfortable shrug. It wasn't true, he knew it, but he wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction of telling him that. Instead, he just squeezed Elle's hand in return. They had to stick together or who knew what was going to happen to them next.

"Is that really what you believe?" Noah asked, raising a curious brow.

Gabriel nodded, wincing as Rene cleaned the wound with peroxide. "Yes, it is," He insisted.

"Somehow, I don't quite believe you, Gabriel."

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Even if she knew he was lying, could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes, Elle felt gratefulness building in her chest. If he was sticking by her now, after she'd admitted such horrible things, wouldn't he stick by her always? She wanted to think so, and the reassuring pressure on her hand made her gasp quietly with happiness.

"Believe it," she hissed, turning her head to glower resolutely at Noah's smug, infuriating face. "They're both dead and it's exactly what we wanted," she reaffirmed, even though it made something in her stomach twist.

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

Gabriel's stomach turned at her words. He didn't really agree, but what could he say. If he showed he and Elle were having problems, Noah could use it against them. He didn't want that.

The Haitian finished wrapping up the wound with proper bandages. He nodded to Noah before getting out of the van and header back to the driver's side.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Elle was relieved, to say the least, when Gabriel was all patched up--but she still felt the heavy, taut tension seizing her body as she tried to relax back down into the seat. She rubbed his fingers between hers, gazing at his troubled face masked with indifference. He was not as good an actor as she was, or maybe she could just tell.

If Bennet and Rene would have just waited another moment, she could have told him. She could have told him she wasn't happy, they weren't even. She could tell him she'd do anything to take it back, because the last thing she'd wanted to do was hurt him, or lose him, or for him to be mad at her.

She didn't know how to make it okay again.

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

Gabriel rubbed her fingers back, slumping against his seat. Would he even see Elle where they were taking them? What were they going to do? What did the Company want with them?

He wondered if things were ever going to be okay for him and Elle again. He was beginning to doubt it.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

She couldn't believe they weren't going to be okay. She needed him. She lightly pressed her lips to his shoulders, mindful of his arm, and closed her eyes at his returning touch.

It would be a long drive back, she knew. She could hardly stand the silence. Even if she tried to talk to him, Noah would hear, and he couldn't hear. He would just make it so much worse.

He seemed too interested about what Gabriel did to his mom, or maybe he was just being cruel. Either way, she couldn't say a word.

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

He leaned his head against her shoulder, sighing softly. He wanted to talk to Elle, to finish discussing things, to find some sort of peace...or something, but he couldn't. Instead, the unease was eating at his stomach and the longer they rode in silence, the more uncomfortable he felt.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

There was nothing they could do. Nothing but wait. Elle pressed her lips into his hair but couldn't close her eyes, every now and then reaching to touch his chest, his thigh, his cheek.

What did the Company want with them? To punish her for killing her Dad? To punish Gabriel? Now they were the types of people the Company hunted; she knew that. They'd probably be locked up. Would she ever see him again, past the moment they arrived?

Elle bit down on her lip, reopening a dark red, crusted scab, and worriedly tongued the cut, licked the seeping blood. Her entire body repelled at the thought, and she felt queasy, and sick, and angry.

Everything she feared was coming true. Being taken away from Gabriel, being lock away for real. Would they take away her memories too?

[justgabriel.livejournal.com]

"It's so sweet, watching the two of you. High school romance, all Unicorns and rainbows," Noah drawled in amusement as he watched them. "You didn't really think this was going to last, did you?"

Gabriel had, even after Bob died, after Virginia, after they left New York, he thought somehow, they could find a way to make it work. He had really thought that maybe they could find a way to move past things. He could find a way to fully forgive Elle for what she did, for what she made him do.

He wasn't so sure now.

He wasn't so sure of anything now.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Elle ignored Noah, despite the rising of protest in her throat. She had thought it was going to last, just as he did. How could it not? They belonged to each other. To no one else. Even if he didn't want to kill his mother, he had. He had chosen her. Didn't that mean anything?

She had to believe it did. Even if he needed time, or space, or... anything. She could give it to him. She could. She thought she could. He'd forgive her, she was sure of it.

If they'd even get the chance, now.

Sure. She swallowed thickly, huddling as close as she could towards him. What else could she do?