SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Mel was breathing hard, crouched low with her jacket bunched in her right hand, barely behind the halfway open passenger door with her other hand in an awkward position on the handle. Disgusted - with how dumb these things always turned out - she let go and ducked behind it properly.

She'd meant to use it for cover. Guess it worked better all the way open.

He'd fired. He'd missed, somehow. Now he was staring at her and she wondered if this was supposed to be some sort of standoff where she just happened to be missing a gun.

He was there in front, almost too far away. She was here on the right. They were both in the wrong place, and she knew it.

Just a few feet away, across a seat and a gear stick, the keys were in the ignition where Serena had left them.

Matt stared at her, not sure what to do next. He held the gun in his hands, spent shell lying on the grass next to him. An accidental warning shot by anyone's guess. He couldn't pull the trigger and he didn't entirely know why. She was running from him. She was afraid. A born loser. She was going to die. That's what he was telling himself. He didn't feel like killing anyone else today, accidentally or otherwise. He'd let her go. He'd let someone else do it.

He lowered the gun and shouted to her.

"Start driving."

Her anger flared, and she shouted right back.

"You scared?" She was the one hiding behind the door but y'know, she had a good reason for that. Part of her was pulling back, saying yeah, taunt the guy with the gun, see where that gets you. But she was pissed. Didn't know why exactly. Lot of whys out there. Because she was tired and grumpy. Because he figured he could order her around. Because he'd taken Aiden's gun. Or maybe because he was real fucking ungrateful - more or less - after Serena had decided to up and save him.

"Think I'll gun the engine if you come close? Or you just gonna stand there until she comes back to kill you?"

For the briefest instant, Astrid came again to mind. Her temper, that familiar sour expression, the dangerous look in her eye before either of them had known real danger, a death glare before they'd known death - and Mel knew at least one thing hadn't changed. Poking the bear, here.

Mel dove for the driver's seat anyway, keeping her head low, because she'd been plenty stupid enough already.

But there was no response. Not even another shot as the engine turned over, as she leaned over the steering wheel and thought for a moment she might as well do it, ram right into him, just crumple this car and turn the two of them into bloody smears on the tower - for Aiden, for the others Matt might hurt, to keep Serena from stewing in the revenge she'd no doubt promised herself - and then she turned the wheel to the side and peeled out.

((Melanie Beckett continued in Knife to the Canvas))

He watched her drive off. He didn't yell anything back in response. There was nothing to say, really. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing and that was the only reassurance Matt had that he was safe. He didn't particularly know what he was doing, either - he had only started today - but that was still more than her.

Eventually, when she disappeared out of sight, he moved over to Aiden's corpse and took what little he had.

And then he left, not really thinking about Aiden anymore.

((Matt Moradi continued somewhere else.))