Few things unsettled Eli more than empty gas stations at night.

It was something about the lung-clogging scent of gasoline, or the way the world dropped off into nothing at the edge of the fluorescent lights. He had stepped out of the car to stretch his legs and un-bend his spine, but after a few seconds in the sticky air of the liminal space, he itched to curl back up in the car and wait inside for Grim.

The flannel brigade had been driving in a stolen vehicle for over twenty-four hours now, taking turns at the wheel and not daring to stop for more than five minutes at a time. Eli had woken up at hour twelve, the remnants of a scream on his lips, and it had taken several healing potions to get him to where he was now—limping around the neon lights, shaking the lingering aches from his arms, and glancing back at the car every thirty seconds to ensure Ambrose was still breathing.

“Hey.” He jumped towards Grim as they exited the convenience store, shadows under their eyes and a bundle of sandwiches in their arms. “I can drive for the next few hours, if you want. If I gun it, we can cross state lines before morning, and—”

Grim pushed a plastic-wrapped sandwich into his chest. “Relax for a second. I swapped the plates hours ago, and Banneker’s keeping tabs on the agency. No one’s following us.”

“Sure, but...but...” Eli gestured to the car, “Ames really needs a place to rest, you know, and if we need to find a new car before then, I should really start driving—”

“Valenz.” Grim set a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Take a few minutes. Call someone. Sherry’s driving next, and Beake can survive a little longer in the car.” They shuffled over to the car, shifting the sandwiches in their grip. “Kid’s dead to the world right now, anyway.”

Eli set his jaw at the choice of phrase, but they weren’t wrong. Ambrose and Sherry were asleep in the back seat, Banneker chugging an energy drink in the front. Somewhere between hours two and three, Sherry had scrubbed the blood off Ambrose’s face and swapped his ruined button-down for an ill-fitting convenience store find. The tags still poked out of the loose white t-shirt, its front emblazoned with the name of a state they weren’t even in anymore. If Eli hadn’t felt so jittery, he would be lining up fashion jokes to pelt Ambrose with when he woke.

For now, he just kept an eye on Ambrose’s chest and tried not to panic whenever the rhythm of his breathing shifted.

“Call someone,” he echoed Grim’s words and wandered towards a bench by the parking lot. “Right.”

He weighed his burner phone in his hand. As much as he owed Dawn a thank-you and an explanation, he didn’t have enough energy for her questions right now. And there was only one other person outside of the stolen car who even knew he was alive.

He slumped on the bench, hit the call button, and hoped she was still awake.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Lil.” His voice cracked. “Too late to call?”

“Too late-?” He heard a fumbling, like she was rushing to get to an empty room. “Eli, I haven’t heard from you in a month—”

“I know, I’m sorry.” He held up a hand, though she wouldn’t see the gesture. “It’s been, um…” He thought back to yesterday, when he jumped from a motorcycle into a moving truck. “It’s been busy around here.”

“Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“I’m okay,” he said quickly, then tried to sift through what he could actually tell her. They were headed to Santa Barbara, un-chased at the moment. As far as Banneker could tell, Ambrose was still marked dead in the agency’s files, while Sherry, Banneker, and Grim were still ghostly unknowns in the reports. He glanced at the sleepy figures in the car. If they just laid low for a little while longer...

“We’re headed somewhere safe,” he finally said. “I still don’t know when I can see you next, but...we’ll be fine.”

“Okay...” Muffled shifting sounded on the other end, and he could almost imagine Lily settling into their mother’s old armchair, tucked away in a room she only used to escape from the twins. “You keep saying ‘we.’ You trying to tell me about that guy? The one with the blue hair?”

Eli froze. “What?” As Lily began to laugh, he sat up straight. “Who—did Grim talk to you or something?”

“No, I don’t know who Grim is.” Lily covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. “I just...I saw him look at you, back at the lake. When you weren’t looking. And I…” she let out a breath. “You seemed important to him. Really important to him.”

Eli’s throat tightened as tears sprang into his eyes. “Lily, I almost lost him,” he blurted, “he was gone for a second and I—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Lily said. “Take a breath, you’re both okay.”

He could feel all the questions she was holding behind her teeth, and was grateful when she swallowed them back and distracted him with chatter instead—how work was, what book she had just read. As she spoke, yesterday’s memories slowly melted away. Not entirely, but enough for now.

Several minutes in, Grim waved to him from the car.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” Eli stood, rubbing his forehead against the headache the tears had brought on. “I’d talk more, but…”

“Call me when you’re at your new place.” Lily smiled. “I want to hear more about this guy.”

Eli laughed through a sniff. “And I need a longer update on you and the twins.”

“Oh, breaking news on that front—Maria’s got a new favorite dinosaur.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Lily paused. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Eli pocketed the phone and strode to the back of the car, where Sherry was rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms in the middle seat. “Sherry, can I—?”

“You’ve asked to sit next to him five times.” She shot him a hard look. “You can’t—”

“Smother him, I know, I know.”

“I worked hard to get him to the state he’s in now, and I’m all out of healing potions!”

Eli held up both hands. “I promise I won’t bother him.”

With an exaggerated grumble, Sherry slid out of the car, gave Eli a kiss on the cheek, then pushed him towards the back seat. Eli grinned as he ducked in and gently wrapped his arm around Ambrose’s. “What happened to slapping me three ways to Sunday?”

“I’ve decided I must count my blessings when surrounded by such stupidity.”

Grim leaned against the roof of the car. “I take offense to that.”

Banneker shrugged and downed the rest of his energy drink. “I don’t.”