A/N: please let me know if you feel this chapter (or any others) should be marked Mature. I'm not sure what exactly people consider "strong language"; this chapter has three uses of the f-word but not in a particularly aggressive context. Chapters going forward are pretty similar. It doesn't *seem* that mature to me but I'm not sure.

There were more people in the jail than I’d expected. The only light came from moonlight pushing its way through a trapdoor in the low ceiling; still, I could see that more than half of the cells were full. “Sterling?” I whispered, creeping forward.

On a time limit. Not getting out quietly. Right.

“Sterling!” I said loudly.

There was some shuffling, and a few people glanced at me. Further down, I heard a scuffing sound, and then, “Wh- Holy shit, Arrokas?”

I rushed forward. Sterling was standing in his cell, his shadowy form leaning against the iron bars as he stared at me. “How did you get in here?”

“Long story,” I said, although I really wanted to tell it. “Watch out.” I pulled the revolver from my belt and pointed it at the lock of his cell.

“My god, Arrokas, at least hold it properly.”

I stared at him, trying to remember what our master gunner Roxy had taught me. “Right.” I shifted my grip and straightened my arms, bracing my shoulders forward.

I pulled the trigger. The gun jumped back in my hand, accompanied by a startling bang, but I quickly re-aimed it and fired again. It took four bullets to get the lock out, and then we had to yank the door back and forth before the actual bolt worked free. By now, people from other cells were crowding against their bars to see what was going on. Some were even placing bets on whether or not we’d make it out, although I doubted they had much to bet with.

The cell finally opened, and Sterling joined me in the hallway. “What now, my savior?”

I rolled my eyes, handing him the revolver with two shots remaining. “Carter will probably be coming back this way by now, and there’s a guard outside. We shouldn’t leave through the front door.” I started back down the hallway.

It was too dark to see Sterling’s face, but I knew he was raising an eyebrow as he followed me. “Front door’s the only door.”

“There’s a trapdoor in the ceiling ahead. Look.”

“Right, which will put us on top of a two-story building.”

“The buildings here are great for climbing.” I stopped beneath the trapdoor and stretched up, sliding the latch open. “See a stool anywhere?”

“Nope.”

I turned to face him. “Help me up, then.”

He stowed the revolver in his belt, then braced his feet in a wide stance and cupped his hands. I held his shoulders and stepped into his hands, then cautiously reached up and pushed the trapdoor open. Moonlight spilled onto me as I grabbed the lip of the ceiling and struggled to pull myself through. As soon as I was out, I laid down at the edge of the opening and reached down, grabbing Sterling’s hands and managing to pull him up until he could climb out himself.

He closed the trapdoor beneath us. “Great. We’re on top of a two-story build-” His eyes widened, and he pulled down on my shoulder, knocking us both over. I winced as I caught myself, but stayed quiet, glancing at him questioningly.

“The Sheriff is running this way,” he hissed at me. “With someone else, too.”

I nodded, getting to my hands and knees. “We can climb down the back of the building as they go inside.”

This time, his incredulous expression was clearly visible.

“Unless you’d like to go back in and talk to the Sheriff.”

Sterling rolled his eyes and followed me as I crawled toward the edge of the roof. I swung my legs over the edge, then turned around and lowered my feet until they found a crack between wood slats. “Look, there’s a place to stand right here,” I whispered.

He took a long breath, then copied my motion, leaning over the roof as he hesitantly slid his feet down. I rocked back to watch. “A little further…right there, see?”

“Arrokas, that is not a place to stand.”

I ignored him and started down as my heart marched up my throat. I pointed Sterling to each move, and he started to catch on quickly, especially when we heard a stream of curses soak through the wall in front of us. Still, trying to be quiet slowed him down, and by the time he was near the ground, early dawn light was beginning to haze over the stars.

Once I got to the ground, I jogged to the edge of the jail and glanced around. People were milling about the main street a ways away, probably alarmed by the gunfire but hesitant to approach while their Sheriff was at work. Luckily, no one could see Sterling and I from this angle, and we had a clear shot for the town’s back entrance.

I turned to Sterling as he jumped the last few feet to the ground.

“Now I assume we run,” he said, and took off.

I sprinted after him, adrenaline shooting into my limbs. I may have been the better climber, but Sterling was a natural runner, and even after a few seconds I was barely able to keep up. As we ran into the open, people finally spotted us from the street, and a few shouts crescendoed into an uproar of noise and pointing fingers.

We were almost to the town entrance, where the cliff walls pinched the road, when I realized the trap we were heading for. “Sterling,” I shouted, heaving for air. “Guard outside…gun ready!”

Sterling grabbed the revolver from his belt. We met the main road and charged up it toward the place I’d first met Wyatt and his partner. Sure enough, the other guard was still there, and she whipped around, hand going to the gun at her own belt.

“Draw that and I shoot!” Sterling shouted, revolver bobbing in front of him as he continued to run toward the guard.

She drew.

He shot.

I cringed as the bullet ricocheted off of the cliff wall behind the guard. It hadn’t been that close—after all, he was actively running, which was probably why she’d risked it—but the guard had still ducked down on reflex, and in that time Sterling closed the distance to her. He drove a knee at her gut. She crossed her forearms and caught it, at the same time twisting away from his swinging fist. She pushed his knee to the side and tried to point her gun at part of Sterling’s body, but he used the opportunity to slam an elbow into her chest.

In the second the guard stumbled back, Sterling spun and threw the revolver at me. My eyes widened as I fumbled to catch it, and by then he was throwing another punch at the guard, who had quickly gotten her balance and was twisting out of the way.

It was a good idea; he wasn’t going to get enough of an opening to shoot in this close-up fight, and was better with his fists anyway. Hypothetically, I could also cover his back now, but I didn’t trust myself not to shoot him on accident.

But as the fight progressed, it was clear Sterling was outmatched. Even with one hand full, the guard was able to block each of his swings, and every time she moved, the point of her own gun came a little closer to him. I saw the moment she realized she’d won, and then the moment Sterling realized he’d lost as his arm was twisted to the side from behind and the guard’s gun rested under his chin.

With no choice, I raised the revolver in my hands, aiming it at both of them. If the guard shot Sterling, I could shoot her.

The guard watched me patiently, unmoving.

It took me a second to catch her train of thought. We were in a stalemate for now, but she had reinforcements coming. I didn’t. In fact, it was surprising Wyatt and Carter hadn’t caught up already.

I took a long breath, then stretched my face into my best attempt at a confident grin. “We can wait here as long as you’d like,” I told the guard casually.

Her eyes narrowed. She looked skeptical—god, I needed to work on my acting—but didn’t call my bluff.

“You don’t really think my Captain sent me all by myself, do you?” I flicked my eyes up the road behind her.

She took the bait and glanced in that direction.

Sterling noticed the moment of hesitation and drove his head backward into her nose. She stumbled back, and in that time he spun and slammed his knuckles into her temple. With both hits to her head, she collapsed to the ground.

I tucked the revolver back in my belt and bolted up the road, Sterling hot on my heels. “Where is everyone?” he puffed as he caught up next to me.

“On…Starwatch,” I heaved. We were running uphill now, and my body finally seemed to be realizing that I’d been awake all night. I was exhausted.

“But didn’t you just say-”

“Lied,” I gasped.

He paused. “Well, fuck. Where’s the Starwatch?”

“Half mile north…Red Cliffs.”

“Fuck. How’d you get over here?”

I shot him an incredulous look, and he finally noticed that I could barely breathe. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and turned back to the road.

We made it up to the plateau and turned along the cliffs. The sky lightened as we ran; I didn’t dare look up to see the first rays of sunlight breaking over the mountains.

The unmistakable sound of hooves thundered in the distance behind us.

“Fuck!” Sterling exclaimed yet again.

That explains why Wyatt and Carter didn’t catch up earlier. They must have run to the town stable. I didn’t even have it in me to be scared anymore. I just kept running.

The horses drew closer alarmingly fast, but I didn’t turn around to look. I just. kept. running.

A bullet zipped into the ground near me.

The prospect of actual, imminent death finally caused a new spike of adrenaline to flood through my body. As my legs screamed with effort, I squinted ahead, and saw a slight dip down at the edge of the ground. The top of the climb I’d selected hours before. “There,” I called to Sterling, pointing ahead.

Another bullet. I swore I could feel it brush past my skin.

“We jump?”

“Yep.”

Hazy golden light touched the red earth around us as we neared the dip in the ground.

I took one glance at Sterling’s face. It was flushed with exertion, but he was grinning like mad.

Warmth hit my back as my feet found the end of the earth. I launched myself into the air, Sterling jumping next to me without hesitation.

We floated, weightless, as gold sprayed out across the water.

One more gunshot sounded behind me, and one more bullet zipped past my head.

Gravity pulled up on my stomach, and I dropped toward the waves.

I told you it was possible.