your l.o.v.e. is MINE for the tAkInG! (Echo)

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He heard her cry and froze. No, he thought. What was she doing? He pulled out his gun and fired at the first person through the door. They crumpled and he jumped over the body with a shout, crashing into the next policeman.

[~echo~]

Rhea flew back into the sky, dodging bullets that whizzed centimeters past her. Her goal was simply to distract them until he could kill them, and it was working. A few were looking at her, trying to aim for her while not paying attention to the person really doing damage to them.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He shoved the guy to the ground and shot him in the head. Bullets and laser shots zipped by him as he threw himself to the side. He rolled and then sprang back to his feet and began firing.

[~echo~]

Rhea soared overhead, surveying the fight with bated breath. It didn't look good. She swooped through an open window and immediately turned back into a human as soon as her feet were on the ground. She rushed downstairs and, finding a gun, she began firing as well on the government.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He glanced to the side at her. What are you doing? he wanted to scream. The momentary distraction cost him. He cried out in pain as a bullet hit his shoulder.

[~echo~]

"John!" she yelled in distress. In her anger, she quickly dispatched the person who had done it. She then pulled him down and inside. "We need to get out of here! NOW!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He blinked up at her, clearly dazed. "I... I don't... I don't think I can. Why didn't you leave? I told you to run!"

[~echo~]

"I don't follow orders very well," she said sarcastically. She took a piece of cloth from her pocket and began to dress his wound with it. "We have to get out of here. Please, you have to try, John!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He grabbed her hand and pushed it away. "Stop. They'll shoot you, too. Just leave me." The officers were moving in.

[~echo~]

Tears formed in her eyes. "I can't! It isn't physically possible for me to leave you behind!" She pleaded. "If we go now, we can get a head start and hitch a ride on a cargo shop to earth or something!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He lifted his gun and fired at the man coming up behind her. Then he laughed and coughed up blood. "I've never been to Earth."

[~echo~]

Rhea fought to keep her tears from spilling over, but she failed. She dabbed at the blood on his chin. "John, please get up... imagine getting to Earth... We can start over..."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"We?" he said softly. "There's no 'we.' We should go our separate ways." He fired again. "Get the hell out of here. We don't have time for this."

[~echo~]

Finally boiling over, Rhea turned around and shot two more in the head before turning back to him. "John," she said harshly. "You get your a** up before I drag you to Earth with me! Stop being so stupid! Get the h*ll up!"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He squeezed his eyes shut and then gritted his teeth. He pushed himself up into a sitting position. He wanted to cry out at the pain, but he kept his mouth shut. "How do you plan to get out of this one?" he asked haltingly.

[~echo~]

Rhea hesitated. "I... I've only tried it once before, but it worked... If I hold your hand when I turn into an osprey, you will, too, for a certain amount of time," she said softly. "We can fly away."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He hesitated. A disgust, familiar to him and yet not something he'd felt in a long time, rose at the idea of a mixed-blood's abilities. Then he nodded and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Let's do it."

[~echo~]

Rhea squeezed his hand and closed her eyes tightly. A vein bulged out of her neck and her jaw worked. Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead as she concentrated. Finally, feathers began to appear on her arms and then her body. John also began to change into a bird, and he was fully transformed right after Rhea was. She chirped and took flight, looking at John to make sure he followed.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

He turned his head from side to side in amazement. He spread his wings and let out a cry, too stunned for a moment to follow her. Then the shouts of the officers brought him back and he took to the air. It was like he'd been flying his whole life. The instinct was there, in his very bones. As he took the sky, he cried out again, this time from joy. There was nothing in the world like this.

[~echo~]

Bullets whizzed past them as they flew. Rhea tilted her wing down and wheeled in a circle, making it harder for the officers to shoot her. She flew out towards the edge of the city, turning her head occasionally to make sure John didn't become distracted. It was almost thirty minutes until they had lost the officers and she landed in the area outside the city. She touched her wing to John's and they both turned back to their human form. "What do you think?"