ain't no place for no hero;;

tw: blood, gore, guns and all that jazz. 

He couldn’t leave the pale man be, not like it was. As soon as he was done with Charlie he left, knowing that fae was safe with faer siblings was enough for him as he quickly made his way back downtown and to fight that thing. He made a detour to his apartment to restock on weaponry, making sure to pack as much as he could carry without hindering him and getting him killed. It felt final somehow, when he closed that door, taking one look back on the apartment as if he wasn’t going to see it again. 

He just hoped that his family didn’t come to collect his things. 

Although he’s never seen this minion before Griffin does note just how bloodthirsty they seem to be when it attempts to latch itself on Aaron. For some reason he is suspended in bewilderment that he forgets he has a gun in his hand to help out the man that struggles for a few moments. The hunter is snapped back into reality when he hears the gunshot and he offers a stern look to the man. “So give me an update, what the fuck is happening here Harmon?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “These creatures have been appearing from that breach, I encountered some in the woods, but I’ve never seen this thing before.” he admitted, indicating to the pale man. “This isn’t good.”

Juliet screamed when she heard a gun shot fire off and she looked up to see Aaron. She let out a sigh of relief but it was short lived as the pale man continued to walk towards them. “Fuck!” Juliet cursed and she ran towards Aaron. “We need to keep our distance!” Juliet insisted as she moved behind him and shoved him away from the monster. She turned sharply towards the pale man, a shiver running through her body as she watched his head cock to one side, as if staring her down. Juliet clenched her jaw and jumped towards it, kicking it square in the chest. The monster stumbled backwards but didn’t fall down. “What’s going to kill this thing? Anything?” Juliet shouted over her shoulder at Aaron.

“Distance?” he echoed in disbelief, “We need to kill the fucking thing.” he replied, as he aimed another couple of rounds off toward the pale man, a fearling coming towards them and he shoved her back out of the way and ducked forward. He ducked a claw, aiming a fist at it’s stomach before pulling his dagger and sending it into it’s neck and twisting. It dropped limp in his hand and he kicked it away. “I don’t know. Something to do with the hole in the sky maybe?” he replied, looking up in time to see her kick the pale man’s chest. 

Penny grabbed  a chair and wedged it underneath the doorknob, hoping to buy them a little time. She heard the ding of the elevator, and turned to see Aaron stumble inside. “Hey, hey,” She called softly, rushing over. “Take it easy.” Penny took the brief ride up the elevator as a chance to asses the situation. She finally got a good look at Aaron’s chest, and she sucked in a gasp through her teeth. “I’ll patch you up when we get upstairs, okay?” Penny had to admit, this kind of was all her fault. If she hadn’t been wandering around not paying attention, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt, Aaron wouldn’t have come to her aid, Penny wouldn’t have said anything, and Aaron wouldn’t be bleeding in an elevator. “I am such an idiot, I am so sorry.” The elevator slowed and the doors opened. “You can lean on me.”

He nodded slightly, before he frowned a little at her words. “No, you’re not. Don’t be.” he muttered, indicating his head to the buttons. “Top floor.” he told her, suddenly remembering he hadn’t brought her to his apartment before. “It’s not your fault, Pen.”

Penny held on to his hand like a lifeline, nodding in agreement as he pulled her away. “This thing will kill everyone if we don’t stop it.” As they ran towards the apartment, Penny kept glancing behind to make sure the pale man wasn’t after them yet. By the time they’d reached to door,  it  began making its way toward them. Penny growled in frustration, shooting it twice in the leg. “Just stay down.” She growled, before turning back to Aaron.

He took a couple of deep breaths, before he shook his head, “No need, my apartment.” he told her, pulling her into the lobby of the building. By lobby, it wasn’t really much more then a 2x2 room with an elevator. He pressed the button as he leant heavily against the wall, wincing a little as the door opened and he just made it inside before he leant against the back wall.

“Come on dude, I come from a family of hunters,” fae shortly answered. Charlie already knew Aaron was a hunter. Most of the people Lachlan hired were. If not all the people Lachlan hired. “I’m not big into it, so I’m rusty, but desperate times.”  The pale man let out a screech as it redoubled in its efforts towards them. The bullets didn’t seem to be doing more than slowing it down, so fae aimed a shot at one of the hands where its eye was and fired. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” With that fae grabbed his hand and began running.

He didn’t hesitate, though part of him still worried about leaving the pale man to run through the town, but equally he didn’t want to leave Charlie alone, especially if faer’s skills were rusty. “Where were they last,” he asked, trying to remember what Lachlan had said she was doing. 

Penny realized he didn’t look completely surprised by her full disclosure. He only seemed truly surprised about witness protection, and of course, the fact that she was a little in love. She supposed the middle of a battle probably wasn’t the best place to confess that sort of thing.

Penny yelped as the pale man swiped at Aaron. She got closer than she ever would have dared to the thing, driving her knife into its side, and lodging a bullet right beside the blade. The pale man let out an animalistic scream as it struggled to get away.

Penny ran over to Aaron, quickly looking at his blood soaked shirt. Penny nodded in agreement, firing at a minion, hitting it in the head. “You live near here, right?” She asked, glancing over her shoulder at the recovering pale man.

He nodded a couple of times, indicating over his shoulder to his apartment, he winced as he moved and tried to hide it as he grabbed her hand and began to pull her away towards his apartment. “We’ll figure out a plan there,” he replied, pulling her towards the building. “We can’t just let this thing attack everyone--”

Penny kept her gun trained on the recovering monster, her wide eyes glancing back and forth from Aaron to the pale man. “Oh, no, I’ll be fine-.” Penny started to protest as he tore up his shirt to bandage her arm. Penny figured it wouldn’t be the last injury she got that night. She nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “Yeah, I’m good. Thank you, Aaron.” Penny said earnestly. If she had to fight this thing, there was no one she trusted more, or would rather fight with than Aaron.

Penny noticed his eyes scanning her, searching for some undiscovered wound. “Aaron, I’m okay.” She said again. “He just clipped my arm. Stay away from his hands, his fingers are more like talons.” At this point, the pale man had recovered from their bullets and it seemed to be deciding which of them to rip apart first. Penny rolled her hurt shoulder, and held her gun and her knife. “Please, just… Don’t die. That’s a funeral I don’t want to attend.” Penny’s voice was a little shaky, something uncharacteristic for her. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to die with so many secrets.

As the pale man started towards them again, Penny opened fire. In between some shots, she decided, for once, she would tell the truth. “Aaron,” She called over, scared more of the truth than of the monster coming towards them. “I’ve been lying. My name’s not Penny, it’s Melissa Pennybacker.” She fired two more shots and continued. “I lied because my sister and I got our family stuck in fucking witness protection when I was six.” Three more shots and she emptied her gun, and she quickly reloaded it. “And my entire fucking life was a lie, so I ran, and made up Penny and I’ve been lying ever since, and god,” She laughed at herself, despite the circumstances. “It feels good to come clean. Also, while I’m telling the truth, I think I’m a little in love with you. And not in a town fangirl kind of way. Now, in case I die, someone at least knows the fucking truth.”

He nodded when she mentioned the talons, having noted that but without getting close he wouldn’t have been able to tell for sure. It was just a shame that she had to get hurt to confirm that fact, and part of him was detirmined to take the things hands off just as retribution. He shot of another couple of rounds and briefly paused to reload, hands moving automatically doing the chore without really thinking it through, given how long he’d been handling guns it was more like a second nature, something he did so easily it was a part of him now. 

“Likewise.” he replied, he’d been to one funeral recently and he’d not even been close to Zach, to attend Penny’s would be far, far worse. He tried to distract himself, however, by continuing his onslaught of the pale man, taking another minion out as quickly as he could before returning to the creature. He heard every word she’d said, and part of him wasn’t surprised that she was lying, almost everyone had some kind of secret in this town, but the witness protection took him by surprise and he briefly glanced at her.

The confession of love however, completely made him stop and he opened his mouth to say something, but words couldn’t come beyond a “Penny...” as he sighed, before the pale man took his distraction as a sign and slashed out at Aaron’s chest and he grunted as it slashed his shirt, blood rapidly drenching the front. He realised how easy it was going to be to lose this battle, that they had little chance. “We need to get out of here.”

Ever since the funeral Griffin has been actively avoiding Aaron at all costs so not to draw attention to himself more than he already has, but that has not stopped him from lightly stalking him—just to know where not to go. From the dirty window in his apartment he could see him with an assortment of weaponry running past the building, which makes Griffin rather curious to know what he’s up to. Obviously it had to have been something serious for him to be strapped heavily, so he did the same. Griffin thought he had lost him since getting his weapons together, but it seems as if he was hiding so when he checks his surroundings to make sure the area is clear, he races towards Aaron only to be told to leave. “I’m not leaving without you,” he says but in the back of his mind he knows its only because he’s the only part of Zach he has left even though hey are complete opposites.

“The chivalry isn’t needed--” he snapped, a minion of the pale man launching forward and trying to sink bared teeth into shoulder but before it could Aaron had it by it’s neck, gun at it’s temple and shooting, guts coating his hand as it’s head exploded with the impact of the bullet.  He huffed a little as he realised that Griffin was still there, and nodded to the man’s weaponry. “Least make yourself useful.”

The first time Aliana had gone beyond the steps of her apartment and all hell breaks loose. How she ended up in the Historic District she had no idea but at the moment she’d wished she’d never left her room. Ali stood frozen in the middle of the street at the sight of the malformed creature in front of her. “Oh dear god.” she said backing away slowly, hoping that would deter the thing that now had it’s sights locked on her. She could see the evidence of it’s power sprawled out in the streets in the form of various body parts and blood. Unable to do anything else she screamed, images of her short, young life flashing before her like she wasn’t already dead. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the stranger scream at her but she followed his commands and ducked, relieved when it appeared to wound the creature. “Thank you.” she said her voice trembling. “But I think it’s gonna take a lot more than that to kill this thing.” 

He nodded to back up her statement, clipping his ear piece that connected to his phone and pressed a button to dial Penny and see where she was. He aimed off another couple of rounds at the pale man, trying to slow him down enough. “I have friends that can help,” he admitted, though he’d always been more of a lone hunter, he’d managed to make a few connections through the pub and other avenues, he knew a few strong fighters. “Do you know how to fight?” he asked, ducking a swipe from the pale man and pulling his dagger to try and get close and stab it somehow. 

All rational thought had abandoned Charlie. Fae had been sitting at home, doing some research when it seemed all hell broke loose. There was a moment of silence, but then a piercing scream broke the silence. Sirens then filled the other. And minute after minute, new layers of sound filled the air. Chaos was truly reigning down on Braddock. When fae looked out the window of faer shitty apartment, fae noticed the nearby grounds that appeared to be a war zone. Immediately, Charlie rushed into the living room. Only Alpha was there, frantically moving about. She could tell something was wrong. But Charlie’s heart stopped. Timmy was out in the warzone. He wasn’t safe. Fae couldn’t loose faer best friend. 

The first thing Charlie thought to do was text Lachlan, Timmy, and Nathan, asking if they were safe. While waiting for a response, Charlie hunkered down beside Spencer’s dog. Tears were streaking down faer face. Fae couldn’t loose another sibling. The loss was too much. But, no response was coming from anyone. Faer phone remained silent. “Fuck,” fae whispered. “I have to go out there.” After looking at Alpha for another moment, Charlie gave a dog a kiss on the head and got off the ground. First thing first, fae pulled the bag of dog food out and filled the dog bowl an excessive amount, then left it in a place accessible for the dog in case fae didn’t return for a while. Then fae grabbed all of the hunting gear the Knights gave to faer, even if fae rarely used them. Hunting wasn’t faer forte, but today was a special case. Once all geared up, Charlie headed onto the battle field.

Not long after faer quest for faer siblings, Charlie ran into Aaron…and some horrifying creature that even fae knew little about. “N-No, you look like you could use some back up.” Charlie wasn’t about to be a liability. And Aaron could help faer find Lachlan. As his attention was focused on fae, the pale man recovered from the shot and lunged for Aaron. “Duck!” fae called, before firing at the monster. “Listen, I-I don’t know where my siblings are and I need your help finding them.”

“Shit, Charlie--” he hissed, though he ducked as Charlie shot at the pale man, looking back up to faer with a sigh as he realised how close he’d come to death, and Charlie was the reason he was still standing. “Do you have any experience?” he asked, knowing he wouldn’t need to elaborate. As he waited for an answer he aimed another shot at the pale man, hoping to try and slow it down and buy them more time. 

Penny didn’t know why she was out at night. She didn’t know what to expect anymore. Nothing in this godforsaken town was black and white. It was just various shades of grey with no silver lining in sight.

She’d been walking for blocks , aimlessly trying to figure out where the hell she went wrong, or how to escape the mad house that had become her life. She didn’t think to grab her arsenal. She just had her gun, some extra bullets, and a pocket knife.

She was so lost in thought, she didn’t noticed the second shadow till it was practically on top of her. Penny went to grab her gun as she dodged to get of way, but that didn’t stop the pale man from clipping her shoulder with it’s long, sharp fingers. Penny screamed out in pain as she stumbled to the ground, watching her pistol skitter away.

Scrambling away from the horror stalking her down, she yanked her knife out of her boot. She wouldn’t be going down without a fight. She heard someone call out to her, but the world seemed to be moving in slow motion. She could die, and no one would ever know the truth of who she really was. Melissa Pennybacker was screaming inside at the thought of no one being  to mourn the stupid who thought lying and secrecy was the answer to all her troubles.

Someone fired a gun, and world sped up again.

“Aaron?!” She called as she took the few seconds he’d bought her to grab her gun. She fired at her attacker, the kick of the gun making her shoulder burn. She glanced at it noticing shredded bloody fabric that was her shirt sleeve. She ran over to the friendly face, desperate to get away from the pale man.

“I owe you for that.” She breathed, shaking her head in an attempt to focus.

He froze as he realised that Penny’s shirt was stained with blood, moving forward to scan the wound quickly before he was moving to remove his jacket, undoing the button down he had over his normal t-shirt and ripping it to make a makeshift bandage. “Can you keep going?” he asked urgently, as he shook off her words with a slight shake of his head. 

He scanned the rest of her quickly to assess for further injuries, concern obvious, but what was equally obvious was his desperation to keep fighting. “You have any idea what this thing even is?” he asked as he turned to face the pale man’s direction, and cracked his knuckles in preparation to keep fighting it.