UNMASKED

#30

Eli could almost feel how tense Matthew was. It was obvious enough by his stance.

He looked ready to move at any second, eyes warily following Jack as he moved ever so slowly. The mercenary's eyes flickered from Matthew to Eli, a sharp sort of glimmer in them. For a moment, Eli couldn't help but feel like some sort of cornered prey. It made him want to shrink back against the metal containers.

In a flash, Jack moved, hand flicking forward. Eli wasn't even surprised when he was yanked to the side and just let his body be led to what he hoped was safety. Matthew managed to keep him from getting a knife to the face. Which was nice.

Jack didn't stop in his attack, which was not nice.

Eli just let himself be dragged around by Matthew. Anything to keep from getting stabbed, he figured. At least Matthew was doing a good job of it, even if he couldn't really fight back. Jack was making that pretty difficult as he proved to be relentless. Not that Matthew didn't do his best.

Eli was once again pulled back as the mercenary slashed at him. Matthew pivoted and somehow managed to keep them standing as he sent a kick at the enemy. Jack drew back, only for a second, but Matthew was able to push Eli away from the fighting. The redhead stumbled, but managed to keep his footing.

Which proved to be fortunate as one of Jack's men nearly crashed into him as he rounded a corner. Both Eli and the goon were taken aback, but Eli managed to compose himself faster. Without thinking—and probably out of a reflex built up after being in so many dangerous situations—Eli swung at the man. He landed a solid hit that had the guy's head snapping back and dropping his gun.

In spite of his shock at his attack not having failed, Eli threw another punch before the guy could get his bearings. The man stumbled, but didn't topple, instead shaking himself enough to block Eli's hit and throw one of his own. Eli did his best to dodge, but the guy's fist still caught him in the side.

"Get down!"

Eli didn't question it when he heard Matthew's panicked voice. He dropped down as fast as he could. The guy in front of him wasn't so quick to act. There was a pained grunt and then a gurgling sound. When Eli looked up, there was a knife sticking out of the man's upper chest.

A shocked look was on his face as his fingers grasped at the weapon embedded in him, legs stumbling back. He collapsed against a container behind him and Eli looked away from where he lay on the ground.

He looked away and, for a second, met Jack's crazed glare. Matthew had him tearing his gaze away a moment later. Wincing at the pain in his side—which would eventually blend into the pain in the rest of Eli's body—he picked himself up off the ground. It wouldn't be a good place to be if someone else showed up.

He looked back up at the fight in time to see Matthew get thrown against one of the containers. His back slammed against the metal, but he pushed through the pain and dodged to the side as Jack lunged at him with a knife in hand and a manic grin on his face. Matthew grabbed the hand with the knife, managed to slip behind Jack and shoved him away from both him and Eli, the knife now in his hand. Which didn't seem to bother the mercenary as he simply pulled yet another knife out.

For a second, Eli didn't know what to do. If he stayed, he'd just get in the way, especially with Jack actively trying to kill him. But then, he couldn't just leave Matthew. And besides, there was no way he stood a chance on his own.

That was when Matthew was thrown over Jack's shoulder—an unwelcome change from the usual. He slammed onto the ground, Jack immediately lunging towards him while Matthew rolled away from the attack. At the same time, something seemed to have dropped from one of Matthew's pockets, rolling off to the side. Eli almost cried when he recognized it as a smoke bomb.