"I hate this so much. I can't be the only one that hates this so much." Alec fidgeted restlessly, flipping through security camera footage from all over the city.

"Hey, careful with that, Button-Masher. It took me forever to rig that up." Lily chastised.

"Sorry," Simon mumbled, setting down a walkie talkie, then turned back to Alec. "Yeah. I definitely am not feeling this."

"I mean, this whole thing is so shitty. It's hard as hell to say goodbye without saying goodbye. I've never really had to do that."

"Just… pretending that they'll be okay, that they'll come back." Simon agreed bitterly.

Lily let out a long, pained groan. They stared at her in concern. "Your incessant bitching is going to drive me insane. Can you shut the fuck up?"

There was a sullen silence, and after about thirty seconds, Alec began tapping his fingers on the table. Simon cleared his threat awkwardly.

"Look," She began sharply, and Simon froze mid-cough. "I know it's hard, okay? Your friends and family are out there. If you…" she trailed off, heavily considering her words. "If you want to go off and join one of the groups, be my guest. I ain't your babysitter. It's Raphael you'll have to worry about pissing off. That is, if he doesn't die." Here, the boys flinched, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. "I can hold down the fort by myself. That's what I usually do, anyways."

"So… we can just go?" Simon slowly stood, as if he was expecting to be shot in the knee. Alec mimicked him.

Lily rolled her eyes with a sardonic smile. "No, I just like the sound of my own voice. Did you hear what I just fucking said?"

Alec gave her a grateful look, then addressed Simon. "I think we should try to meet Group B. We'd do more harm than help with Group A."

"Yeah. So… should we grab weapons?"

Alec walked over to the opposite wall, where a sparse selection of guns remained. "Do you know how to shoot?"

"I… uh… no." He admitted.

"Just take this." Alec reached into his own pocket and gave him a pocketknife. "Try not to use it unless you really have to. There aren't any doctors around if you slice your own fingers off."

"I'll keep that in mind," Simon replied, perhaps a bit bitingly, and Alec decisively selected an unusual looking pistol.

"Whoa… is this a Maxim 9?"

"Yup," Lily confirmed without bothering to look over. "It has a built-in silencer."

"Great. Let's go."

Alec parked his car as close to the Princes' base as he dared… still a twenty minute walk. "The others are coming on foot, in small units. We have time to wait. Unless… you want to get there first."

"Let's… just get over there. Gives me less time to freak out."

"I can get behind that."

They walked together along the broken sidewalk, dim streetlights throwing their outlines into sharp relief in the falling darkness. Their footsteps, although carefully placed, were still excruciatingly loud against the backdrop of silence. Every once in a while, the faint sound of a passing car was audible.

"How are you so calm?" Simon whispered to him, slowing his strides. Alec fell back to match his pace, surprised.

"I'm not," he responded. "I'm terrified. I could probably pass out, but I can't really afford to right now."

"You just seem so composed. It feels like my heart's going to beat right out of my chest." His friend admitted.

"Believe me, I feel the same. I'm just good at hiding it."

They turned a corner and were faced with a narrow alley. Alec knew that they were frighteningly close to the Princes now. The two of them walked single-file, Simon leading with a hand hovering near his pocket. Ready to pull a knife if the need arose.

Suddenly, there were voices, heading towards them. They froze. If they ran, they'd be heard. If they stayed, they'd be spotted. Of course, the voices could belong to normal passerby. But something about their harsh intonations led Alec to believe the worst. Is this what it felt like to have a heart attack?

Think, you idiot. Think. He almost panicked completely. Should he shoot them? Pretend to be lost?

There was a small nook making up a section of the wall behind them. It would be a tight fit… but it could conceal them from anyone looking down the alley. Alec took a chance and shoved Simon into the space before pressing in behind him. It would've been awkwardly uncomfortable had it not been for the fact that they were under duress. Simon's breath was shallow and rapid, and Alec was sure that his friend could feel his heart pounding through his chest.

A flashlight beam drenched the alley with light, and paused. Honestly, it was considerably impressive that Simon didn't make a sound even as Alec squashed him as much as possible without breaking his ribs.

Miracle of miracles, the light passed. They remained immobile until the footsteps finally became too distant to hear.

"Oh my God. What the fuck." Simon whispered. "That was way too fucking close."

"Tell me about it," Alec answered, and felt the unmistakable sensation of a gun pressing to the space between his shoulder blades. Instinctively, he threw his hands up in surrender, and Simon mimicked him with a gasp.

"Thought I killed you already. Bet you thought you were real clever," A voice hissed into his left ear. Val.

"Nah, you're just dumb as shit," He spat, earning himself a knock upside the head. Ouch. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

"If I was really dumb as shit, I wouldn't know what the hell the Night Children are up to, wouldn't I? I doubt they'll move forward with their plan once they find out we have hostages." Val sneered, and Alec spun around, cocking his fist back.

The last thing he saw before being pistol-whipped into oblivion was three or four more Princes, all armed and all grinning viciously.

A/N: Uh... hey. I'm alive. I haven't done any of my summer assignments and school starts in less than two weeks. In other words, my life is in tatters and I am a terrible person. Again, I'd like to restate that I'm never going to abandon any of my fics. To be honest, I've kind of outgrown them, and these plots aren't as fun to follow as they used to be. I hardly even remember what's been going on in this story, and I can only vaguely remember the actual source material (TMI books, in case that wasn't obvious). I've kind of been on a Supernatural kick for the last few months, actually. But! Let's not dwell on the negatives! Here's this! I know it's short, but I hope it's just enough to tide y'all over. This isn't the last you'll read of me! Until next time... stay awesome ;)