We staggered to the train station.

Miraculously, no one had seen us being propelled from the crash, and as soon as Gabriel had changed our appearance with a glamour, we weren’t even recognizable as the people that had been in the explosion.

I got us on the train, pretending that Gabriel and I were newlyweds, and so couldn’t bear to let go of him, which meant I could help keep him upright. He played along, but I could see that his strength was failing.

Thankfully, I was able to find an empty compartment, and locked the door behind us as Gabriel’s glamour dropped, and he collapsed into a seat.

“Oh dear.” I sat next to him, and used my magic to stem his bleeding as best as I could. “Where does it hurt?”

“Aside from where I was bleeding, m-my wings hurt…Only ‘hurt’ doesn’t do the pain justice.” he gasped, shifting uncomfortably, rolling over onto his chest, and allowing me to get at his back. He extended his wings, or rather, what was left of them. As he did, he gasped in pain from the movement.

Gabriel’s wings were…destroyed.

“Oh sweetheart.” I tried not to burst into tears, knowing that I needed to focus on getting him on the road towards healing.

Thankfully, it was now warm enough to go without my coat, so I shrugged out of it, planning on cutting it up to use as bandages until I could get better ones.

“This is going to sting, I have to clean it with magic.”

When Gabriel didn't answer, I realized he’d likely passed out from exhaustion and pain, which would actually make my work a little easier.

I cleaned the burns, and then, after quickly searching his jacket pockets for his pocket knife, I cut my coat into strips, and used them to bandage the burned parts of his wings as best as I could. It was a difficult task, as some places had been burned through entirely, and my coat wasn’t the easiest thing to use as bandages…But it would have to do.

Thankfully, we had a long train ride before us, so he could rest, and I was able to work on his injuries every so often, as my strength and endurance allowed.

-

After some time, the elvish man moaned in pain, slowly returning to consciousness.

“Shh, Gabriel, it’s alright.” I said, reaching out and pushing magic into him, hoping that it would lessen the pain, if not numb it entirely.

The elf shifted, grimacing as he rolled onto his back, “I-I can’t feel my wings…”

“I’ve numbed them, they were badly burned.” I said, not sure if I should tell him the extent of his injuries, which were positively horrible in some areas, and had seemingly ruined his once beautiful, perfect wings.

“Ah.” was all he said, and closed his eyes, setting his head back down on the cushion.

We were quiet for a few moments.

“You saved my life.” I told him softly, fully aware that if he hadn’t grabbed me and thrown us both out of the carriage, I would have probably been killed by the blast.

“Then we’re even.” He murmured, but opened his eyes, and even managed a smile. The handsome, wounded elf pushed himself up, sitting, then held out his hand, beckoning me.

Getting up, I slipped my hand into his, and sat next to him. “I don’t know about that. I didn’t get hurt when I intervened. You did.”

“It was every bit worth it.” Gabriel reached up with his other hand, and stroked my face for a moment before letting it fall. “How long have we been on this train?”

“Five long, stressful hours. Every moment that I wasn’t checking on you, I worried that every single person who walked by our compartment was coming to finish the job…” I told him, shuddering.

“Unfortunately, that’s not an impossible thing to imagine. Although I don’t think there’s anyone on this train that belongs to the enemy, otherwise they would have attacked us when I was still incapacitated. That said, I’m sure that we’re being pursued at this moment.”

“What will we do?”

“Our tickets say that that station is our destination.” He motioned at the name of the town on the ticket, it was a bit of a jumble of letters that I couldn't pronounce.

“I noticed that earlier.”

He nodded, “That’s the place that Mrs. Hudson’s sister lives in. It’s a lovely mountainous place, and full of waterfalls, according to her letters. We’ll get off there, and make our way to her sister’s home, we’ll be welcome there. And I do not see how they could possibly know what stop we’ll get off at, or even what train we were on, for that matter, as I’m sure that Myles bought the tickets under some pseudonym.”

“I hope so.”

Gabriel nods. “At any rate, once I am healed, we will make for the elvish Kingdom.”

“And we’ll be safe there?”

“Yes, we’ll be safe there.” The elf told me, his voice was reassuring and his eyes were warm.

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“Good.” I squeezed his hand, and was pleased to feel his fingers tighten around mine.

“We still have some time before we’ll need to get off. Try and get some sleep, love, you look exhausted.”

I shook my head, “You need it more than I do.”

“I’m fine now. I’m completely numbed, and on the way to being healed. You need sleep too.” He opened his embrace, beckoning for me to lean against him, like a pillow.

“O-okay.” I let him pull me into his arms, and rested my head against his chest. “But don’t hesitate to wake me if you need anything, anything at all.”

“Sleep, Joan.” He murmured, and I felt him plant a kiss in my hair.

Closing my eyes, the rocking of the train and the beat of his heart lulled me quickly to sleep.

--

Gabriel lay there, holding her, and felt surprisingly blissful. It was ironic, really.

He was injured, and she had very nearly been hurt as well. They were on the run, and had no supplies with them to speak of, save his pocket knife, some money, and the effect that the name Locke had on people.

But he was still inexplicably happy just to have Joan in his arms. Sure, his wings were beginning to hurt, and he’d been able to tell, through her expressions, that his wounds were more severe than she wanted to let on, but he was just glad that she was alive and curled up in his arms.

Love was a curious thing. As long as he had Joan, few other things mattered.

Of course, he worried for his brother, but if Myles said that he was safe, then he was safe, and there was no sense wondering or worrying. But again, love kept Gabriel concerned for his brother still.

The elf took a deep, calming breath, and banished his frightened thoughts, seeking solace in Joan’s small form in his arms. He planted a kiss in her hair, and was pleased when she snuggled closer to him, her fingers curling into his shirt as she slumbered peacefully.

--

Gabriel had gently woken me a half-hour before we were to disembark the train. I’d numbed his hurts once more, and we’d readied ourselves to leave.

Now we stood on the train platform, both jumpy and exhausted, our eyes skittering about, terrified that we’d see Gem Moriarty appear, or even one of her lackeys.

Normally, I wouldn’t have doubted that Gabriel could have protected us, but in his injured state, he was moving pretty slowly, and I knew that he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight if we were attacked.

I picked up a mass-printed pamphlet-map of the area, and examined it.

Gabriel motioned at a spot on the map. “That’s the area where Mrs. Hudson’s sister lives. I know the address, thankfully, from her mail every month.”

“Come on then, let’s hire a hansom to take us there.”

“Yes, of course.” He nodded.

I supported him as we hired a cab, gave our destination, and then climbed in. Gabriel relaxed into the cushion, sighing a little, saying, “It shouldn’t be too long of a ride.”

We bumped along in silence, the country roads far rougher than their city counterparts. It felt like an eternity before we came to a stop, and the cabbie announced that we’d arrived.

Gabriel settled our bill upon exiting, and the hansom drove off. Looking around, I saw that we’d been dropped off in a wooded area. I would have found the place extremely beautiful, if the light hadn’t been quickly dying, and I hadn’t been so frightened and tired.

“If I understood everything that Mrs. Hudson said in her letters, the house is just up that path.” Gabriel nodded wearily. “Help me just a little farther, Joan.”

“As if I would be unwilling to help you now.” I told him, smiling tiredly. “Come on.”

When we finally reached the door, I knocked.

“Coming!” Mrs. Hudson’s familiar voice called, and she was there a moment later. “Oh my! What are you two doing here?!” she cried, no doubt noticing our disheveled states, and that Gabriel was leaning on me for support.

We all but fell through the doorway as she stepped aside, the little bit of strength that Gabriel had regained on the train and cab ride was finally spent. His glamour dissolved, revealing his elvish nature, and Mrs. Hudson exclaimed in surprise at the sudden appearance of his currently bandaged wings.

“Oh Mrs. Hudson, it is so good to see you!” I cried, my heart filled with relief. “And I can explain everything, but Gabriel is badly hurt, and I need to tend to him more thoroughly before I can explain the situation in its entirety!”

Her face settled into a grim expression that I’d never seen before, and she nodded, gravely, “Bring him this way, Joan.” She helped me get the injured elvish man into a room upstairs, and I situated him in the bed.

“Some proper, clean bandages would be wonderful, if you have them? And my magical energy is spent, so a basin of hot water, a rag, and some soap would be a blessing as well.”

“Of course.” The wonderful old lady nodded, and disappeared, then returned, with the supplies that I’d asked for.

“Thank you.” I nodded. Pulling away the strips of what was once my coat, I cleaned the wounds, and then bound them with better bandages, made from clean sheets that Mrs. Hudson had so willingly sacrificed. When I was done, I washed my hands in the basin of water. “Now I can explain. Gabriel, and indeed his brother-”

But Mrs. Hudson held up her hands, “Let me save you some breath, dear Joan. I lived with Gabriel for ten years, about three of that with my husband, and the remainder after my dear husband died. That said, I know a good deal more about him and his brother than they realize. One day, I happened upon some letters that the dear boy had left out. He can be rather absentminded sometimes, and these letters made it clear that he was elvish. I didn’t fully understand the letters, though, until Myles visited one day, and I saw him without his glamour up, quite by accident, as I was walking by the study door, which they hadn’t closed properly.”

“Of course you knew.” I laughed, feeling relieved. There had always been the chance that she wouldn't believe me.

“I’m not just a hat-rack.” She winked, and then motioned for me to continue. “But please, what on earth happened to you two?”

“He got into the bad graces of an extremely powerful crime-lord…or lady, shall I say. Her name is Gem Moriarty.” I shuddered at her name, “She tried to kill Gabriel a few times now. The last attempt of which was a bomb in a carriage that her cronies no doubt saw us entering as we fled to the train station to come here.”

“Do they know where you are?” Her tone was deeply concerned.

“Gabriel doesn’t think they could have figured out what train we boarded, nor where we got off at.”

Mrs. Hudson sighed, shaking her head. “You two were right to come here. My dear sister, Emily, has grown a bit senile in her old age, and doesn’t notice most things, like elves, for example. But rest easy now, all is safe, for the moment at least. Now, you come downstairs and get a bite to eat. Gabriel can rest easily enough by himself, and we’ll hear him if he wakes and calls for us.”

I nodded. “I’m famished, and I’ve no doubt he is as well, but he can eat when he wakes up, he needs sleep more than anything right now.”

The food was homemade, hot, familiar, and positively wonderful.

“After you get done eating, you can have a nice hot bath too. How does that sound?”

“You’re a saint, Mrs. Hudson!” I cried.

“Well, I do try.” She smiled kindly at me.