Lily slept at intervals, lulled by the steady rhythm of the tires on the road surface. Occasional lights penetrated her consciousness, but otherwise, she gave herself over to utter exhaustion. She was both physically and mentally spent. Between the abuse life heaped upon her, and the abuse she heaped upon herself, consciousness was a very unhappy place. She had tried to block it all out, but thoughts of self condemnation resounded in her mind to disturb her rest. She wished for something hard to knock herself out right now. To listen to the quiet of sweet Morpheus, gently engulfing her senses. Before long they were pulling down a rocky, gravel road, slowly, turning off the headlights and driving from memory. He drove a few minutes this way, Lily coming to consciousness with concern. They were approaching an outcropping of rocks in a break of the forest line. The road had once been a stream bed. He pulled into an apparent crack in the wall and fifty feet in, over very rough rock, they hit pavement. He turned the headlights on and drove a little ways into the mountainside. He slowed and stopped as they approached a large, cavernous open area . He turned the car off and turned to look at her. She looked tired. Dark circles under her eyes, hair ruffled and tangled looking. He was sure he looked similarly. But there was no time for pleasantries now. They needed to move. He needed to claim his aircraft before the alert was sounded against him. He would kill if necessary. His reputation preceded him. He was not known for his tender heart, he was not called Rock because he was merciful and kind. Her heart pounded with guilty pleasure at the look in his eyes as he gazed at her. She dropped her head, and he started to speak, but had to clear his throat, then told her the truth.

"We need to get out of here fast. I have had an unfortunate incident with my superiors and we need to work out the misunderstanding, but I'm afraid that wont stop me at this moment. Got your pistols loaded? Good girl. I knew I loved you for some reason. We may need them. Load up what we have in the car, then we will quickly proceed to the plane, and hopefully take off without too much interference. " Lily had an adrenaline rush to motivate her into action. She had stashed a lot of things in the car, being from a state with snow where you could die if unprepared. She grabbed everything she could tie together and carry . They had walked across to the aircraft, in the open hangar, opened the cargo door, and loaded up what supplies she had before it appeared that they had company. She reached around behind her right hip to the Ruger in her waistband. It's muzzle gently caressed the crest of her round buttock. She came to stand a step behind Rock, and slightly to one side, one hand behind her back, gently touching her pistol grip, the other loosely at her side, giving the over all impression of a model type. Striking a pose, one sharp hip thrust forward, thigh turned out. The guard who came up recognized Rock, but started off uncertainly. He was hardly able to take his eyes off Lily, who pouted, and wriggled prettily behind Rock.

"I, I, ...I'm sorry sir, Your passwords have been disallowed. You are to be taken into, uh, custody at the first sighting of you...uh, uh. ..I can't allow you to take the Raven, ...Sir." The guard carried out his duty with a sweaty, shaking dignity, and Lily almost pitied him. Rock's eyes took on a razor sharp gleam, his finely shaped lips curling back into an evil sneer, showing his sharp, even, white teeth as he snarled quietly at the guard.

"That's okay, because you won't be Œallowing' me to do anything while you're dead!" His rage was bubbling over. Lily rushed forward and grabbed onto his arm.

"Please! Please, don't! We can tie him up! We don't have to kill him. Look at him! He's a boy! " She pleaded, as the guard looked uncertainly around them all. He was sure back up was on the way. If only he could stall them. Rock turned on Lily and told her in a glacial tone that matched his eyes at the moment.

"Get your ass in the plane. I will be right there. Unless you prefer to stay here for torture and questioning? " She was hurt by his tone of voice, but did as she was as she was told. He Would never take that tone unless it was serious. She crawled through the cargo area to the cockpit, and wondered what was going on outside. She slid timidly into a seat and curled up and closed her eyes. She couldn't hear much. Some muffled shuffling noises. It seemed she had just dropped off when someone plopping into the main seat startled her awake again. It was Rock. She locked eyes with him for a moment, then looked away again. He turned his attention to the controls in front of him and started flipping switches, warming up the engines, preparing for take off. She said nothing to him. She was feeling rather unreal at the moment, and didn't know what to say. He was uncomfortable with the quiet, and finally broke the silence by saying,

"I didn't kill him. I tied him up. "

Lily said nothing but smiled. She was truly overcome. She remembered feeling them move to taxi to the exit, but the details of the take off were lost to the sandman. Soon they were another dark shape in the night sky.

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