Savages

Before the man could stand upright, his entire body was flung backward, and his limbs sprawled around around him as he rolled along the dark pavement. My ears focused on the 6 beating hearts still locked inside the car before I jumped over the vehicle and landed where the man had previously been kneeling. The only part of my body that Harry could see were my bare feet, the skin untouched by the shards of metal and glass that littered the pavement.

The two men that had been standing near Gemma retreated to the man that was groaning in pain, their heads lifting in my direction as I stepped over her body.

"Elle?" She rolled over and gaped at me, the white v-neck shirt and grey sweats belonging to her brother, her brow furrowing when a dim light began to glow from my hands.

"Get behind the truck." My voice was hard and showed no room for question. I waited until her footsteps stopped scraping against the ground before stepping forward farther, the men frantically trying to lift their comrad.

Rage.

The emotion that fueled me the most was running through my veins at a quick pace, my eyes narrowed at the three men that now only stood a few feet away. One of the men stood and ripped a gun out from behind his back, his finger quickly holding onto the trigger, but never getting the chance to squeeze. My hand flew up and grabbed him around the throat, taking him by surprise, while my other arm gripped his wrist and twisted it unhumanely. A sickening crack mixed with a scream of pain echoed around me, my left leg shooting out and snapping the leg of the other man in half, his movements ceasing immediately.

Letting out a cry of frustration I tossed the man struggling to breathe backward into one of their vehicles, the car caving in under the impact, and then turned my attention to the two men left breathing. I grabbed them both by the collar of their shirts and lifted them easily off the pavement, their feet dangling a few inches off the ground.

"You can't save them," one guy breathed, his hands clawing at my fingers. His cheeks were puffing out and his eyes were bloodshot. "Eventually you're going to be too late." I gripped onto his throat and growled.

"As long as I'm alive, they will live." Without another word I threw them backward, listening to the metal of the other vehicle grind against their bodies and shift from the sudden weight. Looking at my hands I took note of the soft glow and let it stand, turning back to the up-turned SUV.

I felt the crunch of debris under my feet but no pain, my skin a solid exterior that kept the sharp objects from embedding themselves as I knelt down next to a shattered window. The glow from my skin gave off enough light for everyone to see each other and I looked right into a pair of glistening green eyes.

"Bout time you showed up, woman!" Louis voice broke the tension. "I was about to break out of this seat and drop a can of whoop ass on those bloody twats!"

"I would've paid for that entertainment," Niall snickered from the back seat.

"Is anybody seriously injured?" My voice brought them back to the situation and I waited for anyone to speak up.

"I don't think so," Meghan stated.

"Then hold onto something," I instructed. Adjusting my legs I got into a squatting position and secured my grip along the broken window. "Back away." Gemma quickly shuffled her feet backward as I slowly lifted the SUV so it tilted on the edge of the roof, the metal bowing and shaking slightly before I eased the car on its side. "Everyone alright?" A chorus of 'yeahs' filled my ears and I walked to the other side of the car, securing my grip on the door where another window had been busted out, and pulled.

The vehicle groaned in protest as it turned, my hands sliding from the window down to the bottom of the frame and gently setting the vehicle onto its' four wheels once more. Yanking on the door next to Louis I felt the object easily tear off from the hinges and held it in my hand, setting it out of the way.

"Wonder Woman!" Louis shouted once he was freed from the seatbelt, running around in the dark with his arm thrust out toward the sky.

"Elle, my door is stuck," Meghan called out. I repeated the process for her door and she smiled at me once her feet hit the ground. But I couldn't bring myself to return the gesture.

"Gem, give me a hand," Harry pleaded as he struggled against the seatbelt. The brunette stuck her head back into the vehicle while I went around and made sure everyone else safely got out of the car.

"It's fucking jammed," she grumbled. Trying to pull at the same time he tried to push the button, they both let out sounds of irriation.

A humming noise drifted into earshot and caused me to tilt my head to the side, slowly turning to face the direction where the other battered vehicles rested. Ignoring the curious glances I received from Meghan and Paul I stepped around the SUV and stared into the darkness, the struggling noises from Harry and Gemma faint in the background.

About a mile away a black SUV was slicing through the darkness down the highway, the driver gripping the wheel hard enough that his knuckles were white.

"Run. All of you, to the side of the road!" All heads snapped in my direction as I turned back to the SUV and ripped away the only remaining door. "Go Gemma!"

"I'm not leaving him," she protested, still pulling on the seatbelt.

"Paul!" The large man wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her away, her voice fading as metal crashed on metal, the dark SUV throwing on its headlights as it trampled through the wreckage I created.

"HARRY!" Gemma screamed as the SUV slammed into the one we were in, flipping the vehicle multiple times and crashing it into the barricade. Tears welled up in her eyes as both vehicles burst into flames, everyone shielding themselves from the heat, their mouths hanging open in shock.

"Look! Look!" Niall bounced on the balls of his feet when he spotted the movement in the middle of all the chaos. The sound of crunching metal could be heard faintly over the roar of the flames attempting to lick the starry sky and a collective gasp rippled through the group.

He was light in my arms, his curls hanging around his lolling head as I walked, a hue of blue contrasting against the orange color of the flames. Glancing down at Harry I couldn't ignore the fact of how peaceful he looked, how beautiful his skin was, and I didn't push away the tingling sensation that coursed through my body.

Paul took him from me and set him gently on the ground, pressing his head to his chest and letting out a sigh of relief. "He's alive."

The noise Gemma created was a mix between a sigh and a growl, her arms wrapping around her brother as she cradled him against her chest, muttering things into his hair.

"I love you too, Gem," he croaked, patting her awkwardly on the arm as he coughed. He opened his eyes slowly and shook out his hair, Gemma sitting back so he had a chance to catch his breath.

"You!" Gemma snapped once she had helped Harry to his feet, her blue eyes glaring in my direction. I stood frozen in my spot but did not expose any emotion in my facial expression. Her footsteps echoed in the back of my mind as she pointed a finger in my face, dropping her arm sharply, and letting out a breath through her nose. "I don't know who you are, where you came from, or what the fuck you just did." I half-expected her to throw a punch at me, slap me, anything but what she did next. Her arms were thrust around my shoulders and her weight threw me off balance for a moment, my feet staggering slightly until I pressed my hands onto her sides. "But it doesn't bloody matter. You saved us, you saved Harry, and no amount of gratitude will ever be enough."

I dropped my hands to my sides and waited for her to release me, my eyes shut in discomfort, and luckily somebody caught on because they cleared their throat. "A vehicle is on its' way to pick us up and the organization will be here to clean up this mess."

"Elle kicked some serious ass!" Louis babbled, doing a karate chop to Liam's chest.

"Yeah, Elle, yo-" Zayn turned around and stopped mid-sentence, "where did she go?"

Meghan lifted her head from Niall's shoulder and scanned their surroundings, a frown present on her lips at my absence.

........

The night air was crisp against my skin, the light breeze wafting through my hair, and I couldn't take my eyes off the white moon in the sky.

They were back, safe and sound, nestled away in the flat together as each person took their time cleaning themselves up. I heard the hushed whispers that Meghan and Niall exchanged before most likely disappearing into our flat. I listened to the conversation Zayn and Liam were having over what movie they wanted to watch.

I was almost too late.

A broken record replayed that thought as I pulled tightly at the bottom of the shirt, my muscles tense, and I let out a shaky breath.

You're our only hope.

I wasn't fast enough. Strong enough. No matter how hard I pushed my legs they wouldn't carry me any quicker to the scene. In the darkness I had to watch as the SUV swerved left, then right, and tilt from the tires being shot out. I had to hear their screams of terror as they slid across the ground.

That's when the rage kicked in.

The one and only emotion that I was physically afraid of. I was temporarily blinded, fueled only by the raw feeling, and driven to kill. I was almost too late to save them. To save him.

"Beautiful night tonight." His footsteps had been light, almost untraceable, but his beating heart gave him away.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," I stated softly. I didn't turn to look at him, didn't change my position to make him more comfortable, I just waited.

"Something's wrong," he pointed out, now standing next beside me, our arms brushing lightly against each other. Rather than shrink away from the jolt of energy pulsing from the contact, I welcomed it.

"Very observant." I kept my gaze fixated on the moon.

"I'm sorry, Elle." That statement caught my attention. I turned my head to him and saw his eyes were downcast and his teeth were biting into his bottom lip.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry."

"I've treated you like complete and utter shit," he pressed. I furrowed my brow and parted my lips to speak but he beat me to it. "I was raised better than that. You treat people how you would want to be treated and if that were the case tonight, you should've let me burn up in that car."

"I'm a freak, Harry. I'm not normal, I don't expect to be treated normally, and any person in their right mind would do what you did." His green eyes shot to my blue ones and held my gaze. "I was never treated like a human in the cage, so I don't expect you or anybody else to do the same up here."

"That's a load of rubbish." He scoffed shaking his head.

"Enlighten me." My eyes drifted out into the night sky once more, forcing my body to focus on the feel of his hand gliding up my arm and resting on my shoulder. He shifted closer, my shoulder pressing into his chest, and used the hand on my shouder to turn me so we were looking at each other.

"You're beautiful, head-strong, intelligent, selfless, and spend every second risking your life to protect me and the lads. You deserve more than what we've been giving you."

"Harry, I was genetically engineered in order to protect you. It's my mission."

"Your heart wasn't engineered. Nor your personality. They grew naturally inside you. Although you didn't have much social interaction before I think you've learned to fit in rather quickly."

"Not with you." His hand dropped from my shoulder and I instantly regretted my words. My body craved his touch and I let out a small breath, watching his facial expressions.

After several agonizing seconds, he pursed his lips and met my gaze. Bringing the same hand back up he brushed his fingers along my cheek, pushing a few pieces of hair out of my face, and let his thumb glide over my skin. Slowly his face inched closer, his green eyes dark, and I felt my heart race in my chest, nearly matching the speed of his own.

But nothing prepared me for the shocking explosion that rocked every particle in my body when his lips molded against mine.