This was supposed to be a oneshot. It ain't. This moment was too deep and poignant to cover in one short moment. Please review. I answer all reviews on my LJ site.

Unsung, the noblest deed will die.

-Pindar

I'm ashamed of the terror that I feel. I'm so afraid, so scared that I can hardly stand it, but I'm not gonna show it. I'm strong, dammit. I'm brave. I'm gonna make my daddy proud. Oh, Daddy, please help me. It hurts so much…

They're talking, talking, talking, planning on how to get out, how to get us all out of here. They don't understand. I'm not going anywhere. This is going to be my crypt. They don't understand. But I can give them one last gift, one last chance. This is my moment.

I make my voice strong. I make my point heard. I make them see that I'm a lost cause, and that this is my choice and they have no say in it. I make them understand that this is the only way. But what they don't hear is the voice screaming deep inside my mind for someone to save me. I'll never let them hear that voice. I have to be strong. Be brave. I smile a smile to hide my fear.

How did it come to this? He presses the trigger in my palm, enfolds my hand in his. He looks at me, his eyes showing me the anguish of knowing that he will soon lose someone he cares about. So he cares about me. Too little, too late. Too fucking late. He kisses my forehead and I hear the breath hitch in his chest. Even his lips on mine are no comfort. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. So unfair. So damned unfair.

I feel my heart flutter in my chest, but it's not from his kiss. Deep inside me, I understand. After my years of watching and studying hunters, I know that this flutter means more. It means that my heart is trying to compensate, trying to make up for all the blood I've lost. My body is failing.

Daddy…please…I don't want to die, not like this…Mom…

My mother kneels in front of me, looks me in the eyes, searches me the way only she ever could. And then the understanding hits me like a shock of electricity. She is staying. No. You can't. Not for me. But she is as stubborn as I am. And deep inside there is relief, a relief which fills me with horror and shame. I don't want to die alone.

They are coming. I feel her arm around my shoulder and I tip sideways into her. I can't find the strength to hold my head up any longer and it lolls on her shoulder. I can smell her shampoo and her perfume over the stink of my own blood, and it comforts me somehow. My world is fading into a pinpoint, vision darkening, mind quieting…but I know that she's there. And as the darkness folds around me like a cold embrace, I hear her words.

"I will always love you, baby."