AN: I am so so so sorry for the delay... When my friend betas the chapters, we run through them together to be sure everything's alright but she has major Internet problems, so that brings, of course, major delays.

Like before, the ideas are mine but the whole decoration is hers.

Becker could hear the creature behind them, though he didn't dare look back. The walls were shaking and groaning with each thundering step, stones cracking and crumbling as the beast's tail lashed from side to side with the thrill of the chase. Jess was keeping up alright, but Kael's weight was slowing Becker down more than he wanted right then. Quickly, he yanked on Jess's hand, still tight in his, thrusting her ahead of him as he swung the little boy to his hip, letting Kael latch onto Becker's neck with his hands, and around the hips with his legs.

The woman wanted desperately to turn around and see how close her boys were behind her, but she knew this was also the surest way to slow all of them down, even if she didn't trip. Grimly, she fixed her sights on the path unwinding in front of her and ran. So long as the creature was still coming, she knew it hadn't caught them yet.

Cracks opened gaping holes along the walls which had seen centuries of abuse without complaint, widening with every tremor. It was getting closer, gaining speed, the jolts of its steps nearly knocking Jess off her feet as she tried not to think how close this building was to collapsing.

The reptile's growl vibrated the marrow in Jess's bones, but she refused to look back. Becker, though, saw its snapping jaws swing from side to side, saliva spattering the old stone, desperate to catch a bite of its prey. It was gaining ground.

They weren't going to make it, he realized, racing through yet another archway.

He would have been right, maybe, if the monster hadn't completely shattered that archway as it tore after them, and in an explosion of stone and dust and a sudden groaning of the very earth, the ancient ceiling gave way to the massive weight, no longer supported by careful architecture.

It sounded like the world was ending. Jess was sure that she'd actually died, except she could feel her feet moving under her still. Blind and choking, Becker tucked Kael's head in his collar, hoping that would be enough to spare the boy the worst of this burning that had lit his lungs on fire. Ears ringing, the man tried to listen for the massive footfalls that had been beating out his heartbeat, but he was pretty sure a grenade could have gone off under him and he wouldn't have heard it.

Jess, though, wasn't used to not being able to breathe. She couldn't just press through. Her muscles were burning, so when her foot came down on a pile of loose rubble, she stumbled, nearly fell, but really did tumble into the wall when Becker ran smack into her. For his part, the man was instantly turned around, ready for his death, even if he couldn't see it coming. He wasn't leaving Jess, so if she was down, he was done running.

The pair were silent, panting harshly, both staring into the gloom, into the dust, waiting. Long moments passed, before the woman dared to push herself to her feet, cautiously coming alongside the soldier, whose gaze never wavered.

"Listen," She said softly, her voice echoing oddly in his ears as he realized he wasn't deaf.

Senses straining, the captain tried to hear something other than the distant sounds of continued collapse from somewhere up above.

"What?" He demanded gruffly.

"There's nothing" the brunette replied, voice only shaking a little as her lips fought to smile.

"So what?" he snapped.

"Becker, there's nothing. Nothing. It's- I think it's dead"

But he didn't say anything, didn't confirm her statement, just waited until the dust settled, leaving her half hopeful, half terrified, silent, beside him. The clouds did eventually clear, after what Jess was sure had been hours, and Becker finally got a view of the damage. The corridor was blocked, decimated. If he hadn't just run through it, he would have sworn there'd never been an opening that way, or, at least, not one that had been useable for centuries. Given the size of the chunks blocking it, he would also swear that there was no way they were going to make it out that way. On the plus side, there was also no sign of the reptile. While he wouldn't bet on dead, not until he saw the body himself, it was probably trapped on the other side of the block. And even that creature wouldn't have been able to make it out through that mess either. They were safe, for now. The tension in the room snapped.

Heaving a sigh of relief, both adults collapsed on the nearest wall, breathing heavily. Even Kael tentatively lifted his head from where he'd burrowed it into the soldier's neck, risking a look around until he spotted Jess. Cautiously, the boy wiggled in Becker's arms, reaching for the woman. Becker released his death grip slowly, letting Jess take the child. She did so with a grin and wrapped herself around the little body, hugging him for dear life, looking like the weight of the world had been lifted from her. It was only when she started humming that Becker could stop staring at this entirely too surreal scene (who would have thought Jess would be the motherly type, but there it was…) and actually get words past that lump in his throat.

"I thought he was deaf" the man remarked weakly.

"He still feels the vibrations in my chest" Jess explained softly, having lost all of the snappy attitude she had sported while searching for the boy, looking more melted and sunny than the icy warrior woman she'd been portraying earlier.

Minutes passed, hours maybe, without any of them moving. Just sitting. Just breathing. Just trying to believe that they were still alive. No one slept.

It took a part of the upper story coming crashing down a bit louder than the usual pebbles and such before Becker seemed to wake from his trance. Gruffly, he rubbed his face, spreading the dust around a little, at least.

"Time to go."

He pushed himself up with determination, turning to offer Jess a hand. She took it gratefully, still clinging to Kael, who clung to her with equal ferocity. Of course, despite her mental recovery, Jess's legs were still mostly jello, so his tug actually sent her stumbling into his chest. He steadied her quickly, balancing the three of them efficiently.

"Do you want me to carry him?" he asked, though.

"No. No, I'm fine" she answered instantly. The idea of letting the boy go was mildly terrifying just then.

Nodding slowly, Becker stayed at her elbow, rather closer than he would have dared otherwise, and set a slow pace to the exit.

"I don't suppose you know how to get out this way," he said after they'd taken four turns and walked about half an hour. Jess just shook her head, grip tightening minutely. He nodded. "Alright."

In the hours that followed, the pair faced hundreds and hundreds of meters of corridor, coupled with dozens of junctions. There was never a discussion of which way to go. Jess just trusted Becker's sense of direction. He wasn't sure whether to be worried or flattered by her lack of arguing. Of course, some of it was probably due more to her approaching exhaustion than anything else, he realized after seeing her trying to readjust Kael's position for the umpteenth time. Becker took the child from her arms wordlessly, careful to do it slowly in an attempt to not frighten either of them. He watched patiently as she took a moment to reassure Kael. Becker suspected that the explanation of transfer was more for Jess than the boy, though, since those little eyes were already half closed as he settled against the man's chest. The child was wiped out, not surprising after that sort of adrenaline rush.

Kael was entirely asleep, head lolling on Becker's shoulder, long before they reached the next split in the path. Six splits later, and Becker was watching Jess carefully as she started to sway on her feet. Her expression never changed, though. The woman was determined, he'd give her that.

"I think," he said finally, breaking the silence as they reached a room with four exits, "that we should get some sleep. Either Matt will figure something out, or he won't, but if you hurt yourself because you're too tired to pay attention, we're going to have a real problem."

He was sure she was going to argue with him. He saw the flash in her eyes, saw her open her mouth. But then Kael murmured in his sleep, shifting slightly, and her face softened entirely.

"Alright."

Becker made her sit, handed over the boy, and set up camp as best he could. Any extra clothing went into making the boy a makeshift bed, tucked in a corner. Once that was sorted, and the boy settled, Becker pulled out the little lantern in his bag, as well as what was supposed to have been his lunch and settled himself next to Jess. The woman was watching the boy as if he were going to vanished if she turned away, running slender fingers through his hair. He had to know.

"Will you tell me now?" he asked softly, moving a little closer. For heat, he assured himself. Not because he was worried she might disappear.

Defeated and exhausted, she put her head on his shoulder.

"It's not what you think," She whispered.

"He called you 'Momma'…"

Jess snorted at Becker's careful non-question question, trying to ignore just how awkward he looked like he felt just then.

"Becker, I'm nineteen, he's seven," she said with mock sternness and a dramatic sigh. "Do the math."

"But it is poss-"

"Jesus, Becker! Glad to know how much you think of me!" She complained, a little offended, but not enough to sit up. "Did you really think I- Look, do you want me to tell you or not?

Alright, he'd screwed that up and he knew it. Becker ducked his head, embarrassed.

"Sorry," he said, abashed. She snorted, but wiggled closer. He shifted at her insistent prodding until he back was against one of the pillars lining the doors, letting her settle against his chest.

"You better be," she informed him archly, even as his arms wrapped around her waist. They were just making sure they could get some sleep, she told herself sternly when she decided she liked that feeling. They had to stay upright to make sure they would wake up at the first sign of movement, but they'd be uncomfortably cold without each other. This was being practical, she decided, watching his legs stretch out on either side of hers.

"I am," he assured her again. "Explain it to stupid old me?"

She sighed again, bracing herself. She hoped he knew what he was getting himself into, but doubted he could. Still, he deserved to know. So she told him.

"When I was about ten I think, my family got to go visit some pretty distant cousins of my mom's in France, spend the summer there. It sort of felt like a fairy tale, you know. And everything was just so peaceful. Well, I mean, relatively speaking. And exciting!" She added fondly. "We even got to join in the huge celebrations for their sort of 4th of July. Lots of firecrackers and all, you know, but theirs is on the 14th instead.

"And, I mean, there were supposed to be rules. But no one pays attention to rules about fireworks, do they? People just like blowing things up, especially when there are lots of pretty colors," Jess said mockingly. He knew this was about to head into dangerous territory, given the set of her shoulders, but Becker kept quiet. "So all the kids go firecrackers in the evening, just to keep us busy until the big ones that night. There were dozens of us running around the square, making a mess while our parents had civilized conversation. They only yelled at us every once in a while, when people got too close to setting things off on top of people.

"There was this one boy, the only other boy who spoke English, who was really bad about that. His name was David, I think, and he liked watching people jump and scream when he set things off so close they got singed. He… was not what you can call 'good company', so I tried to steer clear from him. I was afraid of him" Jess said firmly. "So I ran away from him, tried to hide behind one the stairs of one of the buildings. He found me, of course, and called me all sorts of names. Nothing that serious, but you know what it's like when you're a kid. It doesn't take much. So I started crying, ran past him back into the square, but he stuck one of those damn things into my pocket. Stupid. It was just stupid. I didn't even feel it, until it blew up.

"I mean, it wasn't a huge one, but it burned my side well enough. The worst of it, though, was the noise. Felt like my head had exploded. I mean, it hadn't, but I remember just staring at my mother running over to me. I could tell she was yelling, but I couldn't hear anything. I could see the other kids pointing and crying, but it was like watching a movie with the mute on. So, terrifying," she managed with a half a laugh. Becker hugged her a little tighter, wondering vaguely if she knew where this guy lived nowadays. Maybe Matt could find him, and they could go visit.

"The burns turned out to be mostly superficial, nothing that wasn't going to fix itself up sooner or later. My ears were a different story.

"My mom told me later that they weren't sure I was ever going to hear again. My eardrums were ruptured, the doctor had said, there was nerve damage, too much for implants, but they were going to have to wait until everything scarred over before they could tell if they were ever going to be able to do anything. I spent months with this constant ringing in my mind and headaches 24/7. It was like a nightmare, but nothing like so depressing as when they finally sent me to a school for the deaf. It was like admitting defeat, saying I was never going to get better. I felt like my life was over.

"That's what it's like there, like they're teaching you a new life, not just a new language. It's not just learning how to sign or, if you're good, how to lip-read, it's also learning to be aware that you have an entire sense missing, so you really can't live your life like before. You aren't going to hear the fire alarm, or that car that's coming around the corner too fast. You have to be so careful, pay attention to everything, learn how to compensate. And you have to do it fast

"At least, since I was already ten, I knew how to speak properly, but I still had to practice. You know how people get when they're wearing headphones, when they yell without meaning to just because they can't really hear how loud they're being? Imagine that difficulty in judgment times a hundred. I was terrified I was going to lose it. Then how would I even manage to interact with the rest of the world? It was hard enough just going home after school. It wasn't as if my parents knew sign language, and I didn't want an interpreter, listening to everything I said, hearing everything anyone said to me. I didn't want to rely on anyone, lose what little freedom I had.

"So I made them teach me more lip reading, and as fast as possible. For a while, they were fine with that, but then my main teacher realized I could hardly sign at all, much less understand when someone else was using it. She made them stop with the lip reading until I caught up everywhere else. I did throw a tantrum after that," Jess admitted, still watching Kael, even as her hand gripped Becker's tightly. He wondered if she realized she was doing it, caught as she was telling that story. "But I did learn them both, in the end.

"I was almost used to it by the time I turned thirteen and went to go see the doc for the annual check. I'd given up hope of anything changing. And at least I was the coolest girl in school," Jess said proudly. Becker snorted appreciatively. "But he said… he told us there was a new surgery, one that might give me back something. Not all of it, that was still impossible, he said. But it might help. Or it might mean I'd definitely never hear again. Maybe I should have worried about that more. But I was thirteen! I was invincible. So I begged my parents to let me try for a month solid. Eventually, they said okay. I remember my classmates coming to see me in the hospital before the procedure. They were making fun of my hospital gown," Jess informed Becker. "They wanted to know if I'd gone blind, too. Apparently, neon pink is not a good color on me.

"It worked," she said abruptly. "I mean, completely. I woke up, and I could hear the nurse breathing across the room. Three years of nothing, and that was what woke me up. Probably sounds stupid, but it just made everything feel real again. I could hear her breathe, so I knew she was alive, knew I was alive.

"After that, I had a choice. I could have left it all behind me, gone on like I'd been doing before the firecrackers, pretend none of it had happened. Or I could realize that even though I hadn't wanted it, the last three years had taught me so much, and were so very much part of making me who I was, that I owed it to everyone I'd met to make sure other kids could do as well as I had. One guess which one I picked," she challenged wryly. Becker kept his mouth shut, but let his eyebrow arch. Even if she couldn't see it, she felt it. Sixth sense-Becker vision. "I started going by the deaf school after my regular school for more classes, hung out with my same old friends, kept my skills up to par, and did my best to stay a girl of two worlds, I guess. Not that it took much work. It was mostly just fun.

"As soon as they let me, I volunteered to be a sort of teaching assistant for the younger kids. I suppose it was hard, at first, but it was mostly just really fun, too. I watched them when they were doing their after school activities, I got to be their friend, and I watched out for the 'new deafs', since I knew how that worked. I think it helped them, knowing that if I'd made the transition, they could too. And they weren't all angels. A lot of kids came in angry, or scared, or frustrated, but I got to be good at cracking those shells.

"And, of course, I had favorites, even though I tried not to. Kael was one of those." He heard her swallow hard before she started again, and he could hear the dip in her tone. "I was sixteen when he came in, he was four. I adored him. He was so shy at first, but he just wanted someone to love him, like any kid. And once I got him talking, he loved me right back. He used to trail after me, and a couple times, parents asked me why they'd never met my little brother before. That used to make his mom laugh. She loved him, she really did, even if she, as a hearing person, was having a hard time really using words of any sort to communicate with him.

"I know she tried to learn, but it seemed like she was working all the time. She had two jobs I knew about, and who knows how many others. Still, when she came to get him, you could tell those two didn't need things as fancy as words. Her eyes said everything she needed to. She was a wonderful woman. I used to give her extra lessons when she had a couple minutes after she dropped by, so we got to know each other a little at least. I never met Kael's dad. For a long time, I wasn't even sure if he was still in the picture. It didn't really matter to me. I was just happy to know those two.

"But then that winter Kael stopped showing up to class. His mom hadn't said anything to me about moving away, and none of the teachers had heard anything, but no one had a phone number for her either. No one heard anything, not about either of them. I worried. It's what I do," Jess added, but the joke was lost in her plaintive tone. "It wasn't until Kael's picture showed up in the paper, right before Christmas that I knew I had any right to. The pictures… I wish I'd never seen them. She'd been taking them to get groceries before dropping him off, right after a blizzard. The car had taken a turn badly, hit a patch of ice that hadn't been salted yet, spun out, hit a set of trees. She'd died instantly, neck snapped, shrapnel through her chest." Jess swallowed hard, trying not to remember the blood. "But Kael… he'd been buckled up, safe and sound in the back seat. Just a few bumps, a couple scratches. Physically, he was fine.

"But I knew he wasn't. He'd just lost the mother he adored! How could he be fine? I knew he'd have closed up even further, and I had no idea if there was anyone else he'd talk to, much less if there was anyone to care for him still! I mean, I assumed there had to be, the state would take care of that, but I wanted there to be someone close to him who understood what he would need. I nearly made myself sick worrying about it all day. When I got home and made dinner, it was all over the news. That's when I first heard about the father.

"His father was a respected policeman, responsible for a lot of the bravest arrests in the past ten years, decorated for dedication to duty, well liked by everyone the reporters could get a hold of, from neighbors to colleagues. He looked like a super hero, with his square chin and neat hair, his record of fighting the bad guys even at the risk of his own life, being loyal to the good guys, even having been shot once so his partner could get away. What more could I have asked for, I wondered, watching the man smile and hug Kael. But… there was something about the way… I don't know. I thought it was stupid at the time, but something… I still needed to go see Kael, to make sure he was okay, to try to get him to come back to the preschool.

"Turns out it was a damn good thing I did. See, this amazing father who saved the innocents, locked up the criminals, this father who smiled and waved at cameras, who cried at his wife's funeral as if it were the end of the world, this father who was apparently doing everything in his power to make sure his son was safe and happy?

"He was the same father who, blaming his own son for the loss of the love of his life, now beat his child to a pulp on a daily basis."