"No."

Fox sat on the couch in Merc's lair with his legs and arms crossed. He glared at Merc and Faith and scoffed. Overall, he resembled a child who wasn't getting his way.

"No, no, no, no, a thousand times fucking no."

"Look," Faith said bluntly, "I don't like him any more than you do, but he may be the only one who knows who's behind this whole thing."

"But Faith," Fox whined, "he's such a jackass."

"No kidding." The woman took an earpiece from Merc. "I'll say it again: I hate Jacknife as much as you, but I have to talk to him."

"Yeah," Merc agreed as he tossed a second earpiece to Fox, "and I don't want her going alone. Jacknife's a real snake in the grass and there's no telling if he'll lead you into a trap or not. If you go with her, at least the two of you can take him. And whine all you want," he added when Fox opened his mouth to complain, "you're going. Either that, or I can always play the concerned citizen and tell the Blues about that apartment downtown you rented under a false name."

Fox shoved the earpiece into his ear and begrudgingly followed Faith out of the hideout, mumbling something about Merc being an "underhanded manipulative bastard." Merc laughed at his young protege.

The two runners made their way across the city with no trouble until they dropped into the canals that led to the storm drains. That was when the Blues started shouting warnings from their helicopter shortly before opening fire. Hey, at least they warned us this time. Faith and Fox dashed down the drains, leaping over the floodgates and trying not to let the helicopter's machine guns turn them into a stain on the concrete. The young man followed Faith up onto the side of the drain and the two were about to continue running when Fox spotted the red dot on the back of Faith's shirt. He yelled for her to look out and quickly threw himself behind cover, pulling Faith with him shortly before the sniper's bullet flew by. She looked up and thanked him with her eyes. He nodded.

"I'll go out and distract him. You head in that door over there, I'll be right behind you."

Before she could protest, Fox was back in the canal. He noticed the red dot on his shirt, and quickly jumped out of the canal and dashed behind cover. He felt the air current of the bullet brush by his arm and exhaled. Damn. So there are Blues that can actually shoot. He spotted Faith heading through the door and quickly followed, narrowly dodging another bullet. By the time he caught up, she had already turned off a steam vent blocking their access to the next room.

"We'd better be careful," he said, "some of those Blues have actually learned how to shoot a gun. Now if they only ran, then they'd be a threat."

"Be careful what you wish for." Faith laughed and waved for Fox to follow her. He gave her a second, then followed her up some pipes and through a vent that gave them access to the next floor. One door later, they were outside, staring at one of the storm drains.

"They've got you surrounded," Merc said over the comm, "get down into the storm drains."

"I told you!" Fox pointed at Faith as they headed toward the drain amongst the wailing police sirens. "I told you nothing good comes of Jacknife!"

Faith simply rolled her eyes. The pair used two cranes and their payloads to help them down into the drain. As they made their way further underground, a chopper descended and began to pepper the area with bullets. Luck was on Fox and Faith's side, however, because the bird soon took back to the air, leaving the two runners to continue unhindered on their underground foray. Faith jammed her fist onto a button that raised a massive floodgate that allowed the two of them to continue. After raising a second floodgate, Faith and Fox found themselves in a large underground atrium. Merc informed them of an exit far above their heads.

"I really don't like this." Fox moaned.

"What are you?" Faith stopped and turned around. "A runner with a fear of heights? How laughable."

"Hey," Fox said, "I'm not scared of heights when there's a wide open sky above your head. At least if you fall there, someone might find you. You fall here, the only thing that'll find you is a rat, and I don't think little Ratty's gonna be able to carry you back to Merc's."

"Then don't fall." Faith smiled and winked at him before turning and clambering up onto the scaffolding that clung to the large pillars in the atrium. Fox followed, and soon they were nearing the top when Merc warned them of a sniper team.

"Great," Fox said dryly, "any more good news, Merc? They figure out how to send a bird down here, too?"

"Watch it, kiddo," Merc warned, "I may be older now, but I can still kick your ass."

Fox would've laughed, but there were snipers about, after all.

"You get out of here," he told Faith, "I'll take care of those snipers. I'll—"

"Be right behind me," Faith finished, "I know. You know, you don't always have to protect me."

"Yeah," Fox shrugged, "but I want to." He winked at her. "Once I take out that first sniper, just run, I'll 'borrow' his rifle to handle his friends."

Faith nodded. Fox took off and launched himself onto the platform where the first sniper was waiting. Since Fox was on top of him before he could line up a shot, the sniper decided to try and use the unwieldy gun as a club. Fox caught the gun mid-swing and thrust his palm into the sniper's face. The man dropped the gun, and Fox used the front of his body armor as a handle to flip the man over the scaffolding's railing and down to his death. Without skipping a beat, Faith was sprinting down to find a way onto the large cement columns as Fox aimed the gun across the room. He peered through the scope and spotted the first of the remaining two snipers. He quickly fired a shot and watched as the man slumped over. He followed suit with the last sniper as Faith began leaping across the columns. Fox dropped the gun and used a few pipes to get over to the next platform, where he was able to leap to the columns. He followed the path Faith had taken and was soon standing near a conveniently placed zip-line. He grabbed hold of it and swung across the gap, landing against the far wall. As he carefully edged closer to a door, he spotted the flashlights of the Blues that had followed them down into the drains. Luckily, by the time the Blues had noticed him, he and Faith were through the door and taking a 'fun' slide—down a still active drain—down to yet another floodgate.

"Aw," Faith said to Fox, "what's wrong? Aren't you having fun?"

"Oh yeah." Fox was in no mood to cover his sarcasm. "Loads. I'm soaking wet and running around in a freaking storm drain to go see some guy I'd like to throw off a building." Faith just laughed and activated the floodgate.

Fox was pleased to hear that the storm drain they'd just entered was their exit point. The pair parkour-ed their way out of the drain...only to find a few cops waiting for them. They managed to make it into the nearby building without any shotgun holes in them. They soon found themselves in an elevator as Merc told them not to let Jacknife get them riled up. Yeah, that's gonna happen. Fox sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Calm down," Faith told him, "he'll only get to you if you let him."

"Okay 'mom,'" Fox laughed, "don't worry, I'll be fine. And if worse comes to worse, I can always dump him off the roof when we're done." Faith shook her head and laughed.

When the elevator opened, Fox took the lead. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind before opening the door. Sure enough, there stood Jacknife, a smug look on his face.

"Hey there Fox, Faith!" Those were the only words he offered the pair before he ziplined to the next building.

"I knewit! I knew it!" Fox exclaimed as he and Faith began chasing Jacknife across the old training grounds. The dashed across the rooftops in hot pursuit of the former runner before Fox stopped.

"Go," he yelled to Faith, who was still on the chase, "I'll head him off." Fox wasted no time in using a nearby AC unit to climb to a higher roof that Jacknife was leaping onto. He dove at the man, but Jacknife dodged out of the way, leaving Fox to roll into the side of a power box.

"Nice try, Foxy!" The man yelled over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill him." Fox told Faith as she dashed by a second later. They continued to pursue him, their chase soon moving inside. As Fox rounded the corner just behind Faith, he saw Jacknife waving with that same smug grin on his face as the elevator doors blocked Fox from tearing his face off. Faith pulled him into the second elevator and mashed the 'up' button.

"Well?" She asked Fox after a second.

"Well, what?"

"Thought you were going to head him off."

"I did. He just managed to...move a bit faster than I anticipated."

"Oh really." Faith had a mischievous grin on her face. "Because what I saw was him dancing around your tackle and you taking a little dive into a power box like a newbie."

"Well you...must have been...hallucinating or something." Fox spoke with all the dignity he could muster while his face was the color of strawberries.

"Yeah," Faith giggled, "okay. By the way, you look cute when you blush."

Fox's blush deepened as the elevator chimed and the door opened, allowing Faith to laugh and head back out to the roof. Fox followed just in time to see Jacknife take a dive onto the next roof. He promptly fell over laughing.
"Oh man," he said as he stood, "now that was funny. Know what, Merc, I forgive you. That makes up for everything I had to go through to get here."

Faith slapped him on the forehead, although she did have to admit that watching Jacknife land flat on his back was pretty funny.

It didn't take them long to find a second way onto the rooftop and make their way over to Jacknife. He stood as they approached.

"Nice fall," Fox said, "tell me: how unskilled do you have to be to pull off something like that?"

"Oh I don't know," Jacknife replied, "about as unskilled as it would take someone to, I dunno, run headlong into a power box."

Faith had to hold Fox back for a minute before she could start asking questions. Out of Jacknife's entire explaniation, the only words Fox registered were "Travis Berfield." He was more concerned with imagining the different ways he could make Jacknife "trip" off of the roof. He really had to hold himself back from giving Jacknife a gentle little push over the edge when the man moved to the building's edge to point at the sign hanging from an adjacent building. Soon enough, though, Faith had gotten all the answers she needed and Jacknife was rounding the corner to leave.

"Good hunting Faithy. See ya, Foxy!" He waved to Faith and winked at Fox, which made the other man growl. Faith rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

…...

"Ropeburn, huh?" Merc typed the name into his computer as Fox and Faith reclined on the couch. "And you're really going after this guy?"

"We have to," Faith told him, "it's they only way I can save Kate."

"I'm with you," Fox put a hand on the woman's shoulder, "even if we have to break into the Blues' HQ, I'll be with you."

"Thanks." Faith closed her eyes and massaged her temples. This was the only rest she and Fox had gotten all day. Fox glanced outside as the sun was beginning to set.

"Alright," Merc said after a few minutes, "I don't have anything else for you today. Why don't you two go get some rest."

Fox stood and stretched as Faith began to make herself comfortable on the couch.

"Hey," Fox said to her, "I can't let you sleep here. Why don't you come back to my apartment? You can have to bed tonight and I'll just sleep on the couch."

"You sure?" Faith looked up at him.

"Yeah. Come on."

Faith grabbed the spare set of clothes she kept at Merc's place and stuffed them into a runner's bag and followed Fox out of the AC unit. He led her across tow to a small apartment building. The two of them descended to street level in an alleyway across from the building before crossing the street and entering the lobby.

"Hello Mister Smith." The lady at the desk looked up and greeted Fox as he entered. He waved to her and quickly led Faith to the elevators and pressed in the '5' button.

"Mister Smith?" Faith gave Fox a quizzical look.

"What?" He shrugged at her. "Should I have just told her 'hi, I'm Aaron O'Shay and I'm a runner looking to get a room here?'"

Faith laughed as the elevator doors opened and admitted the pair to the fifth floor. Fox led Faith down the hall to his apartment and unlocked the door and pushed it open. He allowed Faith to enter before closing the door behind her. The woman glanced around. The apartment wasn't very large, but then again, Fox didn't do much but sleep there anyway. The common area was connected to the kitchen and only held a small couch, a recliner, a coffee table, and a television on a stand. A single door led to the bedroom, and beyond that was the bathroom.

"Bathroom's in there," Fox pointed in the direction of the bedroom, "feel free to take a shower, if you want. If you need something to sleep in, I've got a few pairs of pajama pants and old shirts in the third dresser drawer. There's some pizza in the fridge, and you can watch TV if that's your fancy."

Faith nodded and went almost immediately into the bathroom. Fox snatched one of the pizza slices from the fridge and munched into it as the water in the bathroom started running. He sat on the couch and flipped the television to the CityEye news channel.

"Earlier today," the broadcast began, "city police pursued two suspects into the city storm drains. These suspects are believed to be the man and woman who stole evidence from the Robert Pope murder scene earlier in the week. The suspects managed to evade police, killing three officers in their escape." Oops, my bad. "In other news, police are continuing to question Officer Kate Conners in relation to the murder of city official Robert Pope. City Police have release no news pertaining to the answers Conners has given them, but she is still their prime suspect."

Fox turned off the television; he'd had all the news he wanted for the night. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to Faith, who had come walking out of the bedroom in the clothes Fox had offered her.

"Hey," he said, "our little escapade into the storm drains made the news."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently were the city's most wanted now."

"Does that have anything to do with the cops you keep killing?"

"Hey," he grinned, "if they'd just go back to eating doughnuts and catching speeders, none of them would get hurt. And besides, you've killed your fair share of cops, too."

"I know." She grinned. "And I agree with you."

"Anyway," Fox said, "I'm going to shower before you grab the bed. Again, feel free to take a slice or two of the pizza in there." He pointed to the fridge before heading into the bathroom himself. He stripped off his dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. He sighed as the warm water splashed down onto his face and body. He stood under the water for a moment before quickly washing and grabbing a towel to dry himself off.

He moved into the bedroom and quickly put on a fresh pair of underwear and loose sweatpants. He let the towel hang around his neck as he walked back into the common area, where Faith had seated herself on the couch. She'd turned the television back on, CityEye news again, and they must have been talking about her sister because when Fox got around to look at her face, lines of concern were etched on it.

"Hey," he said as he sat himself next to her, "what's wrong?"

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Faith's voice cracked a bit as she asked him, her eyes still glued on the television.

"Of course."

"But what if we don't rescue her in time?"

"Hey." Fox grabbed Faith's shoulders and made her face him. "She'll be fine. I'm going to help you get her back, I promise. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to let anyone hurt her."

"Thank you, Fox." She said as she stared him in the eyes. "Thank you so much."

The two stared into each other's eyes as their faces moved closer and closer. Finally, their lips met and they began to kiss as Fox held Faith in his arms. Faith wrapped her arms around Fox's shoulders and kissed him some more, not wanting to let go. After a few minutes, their lips parted and Faith leaned her head against Fox's chest.

"You're right." She said after a moment, "We will get her back."

"I know."

"Fox...will you...sleep with me tonight."

"What?" Fox jerked uncomfortably. "Are you talking about..."

"No," she leaned away from him and slapped him on the shoulder, "I mean I just want you to share to bed with me." She stood and moved toward the bedroom. "And if you want to have sex, you're going to have to at least take me out to a nice dinner or something first."

Fox exchanged grins with her before heading into the bedroom. He pulled the sheets back and climbed into the bed, leaving plenty of space for Faith. The woman pulled the shirt off and tossed it into the corner, smirking at the disappointment Fox showed in the fact that she was wearing a bra.

"After you help me save Kate," she said, "then we'll talk."

She climbed into the bed next to Fox and pressed her back against Fox's bare chest. The man wrapped his arms around his running partner. Right now, he didn't care about the City, or the Blues, or even Merc. To him, there was only himself and Faith, laying there in the dark room. Faith...I promise, I'll help you get your sister back.