Cain felt a delicate hand stroke his cheek lightly, slowly bringing him out of his slumber.

"Wyatt, wake up." He heard a feminine voice say. Cain slowly opened his eyes, looking up at the woman, with raven hair. She smiled down at him, almost, predatory like. He blinked again, not sure how he got here. A quick flash of the blade in his mind and his hand was on his side.

"My Viewers healed you, Wyatt, but you still lost a lot of blood. You're going to need some time to recover."

"Where am I?" Cain said weakly. The woman's smiled wider.

"My tower."

"Azkadellia?" The woman nodded as she stroked his cheek again. "Do you always visit your hurt soldiers?"

"No, just the special ones. I'm proud of you, Wyatt, for all the work you did for me and my men."

"What about Lucas?" Cain asked.

"Released, just as we promised, but I think that's only going to hurt you in the long run."

"What about his family?" He could tell Azkadellia was getting a little annoyed but she smiled and answered.

"We kept his father, but released the rest." Cain nodded at that.

"You need to shut down the Tin Men, or you're going to have a civil war soon." Cain said, trying to get up.

"Shhh! Don't worry your pretty little head over it. We heard. It's being taken care of as we speak. I'm giving them all a chance to join, or they are arrested. A simple choice, in my opinion. What about you Wyatt? Are you ready to join with me?" Azkadellia said as she continued to stroke his cheek, almost lovingly. Cain took one look into Azkadellia's eyes. Something about them told him that saying no to this woman would be a mistake. He nodded.

"Good boy." She purred out. "Your family has been notified, and they are on their way. I would rest until they get here." And almost as if her words where magic, he felt himself slip back into a deep sleep.

----

Cain woke again. He felt a hand on his, this one, more masculine in nature. He smiled as he opened his eyes. He looked over to see Zero, who had pulled up a chair to the bed, laid his head on the bed, and fell asleep, while holding his hand. The sight of Zero made him happy. He turned his head, looking at the rest of the room. He saw that Jeb had curled himself on another chair within the room and was asleep as well. He felt Zero's hand squeeze his and he turned to see Zero's eyes where open as well.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Cain said, weakly.

"Don't 'Hey there, sweetheart' me," Zero said with a sleepy yet angry voice. "I'm mad at you, for making me worry, for making Jeb worry."

"I didn't think Morgan was going to overreact the way he did." Zero glared at him.

"I did, and I have been telling you to be careful ever since you got it in that stupid head of yours to go try to save the world."

"I'm fine, Adrian," Cain said with a smile.

"You where stabbed, Wyatt. Jordan was covered in your blood when he came and got us. Do you know how terrified we were?" Cain moved his hand to cup Zero's cheek.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Zero's hands when to either side of Cain's hand, holding Cain's hand, and pulling it up to give it a light kiss.

"I could have lost you today, Wyatt. I was so close to losing you. Please, don't ever do that to me again."

"I promise I will do my best to never scare you like that again."

---

2 weeks later

It took a few days for Cain to build up his strength, but once he did, he insisted that they return to their home. Azkadellia had pleaded with them that she wanted her newest members of her family to stay in the tower with her, but Cain's stubbornness won out. He wanted Jeb to return to school, even if Azkadellia had tutors on hand for the Longcoat's children.

The news of his heroism, as Azkadellia put it, had widely been spread across the O.Z. And the night that Cain had been stabbed, Azkadellia had taken over the Tin Men, shutting them down for good. There were some that joined, some that fought and some that had fled. Lucas was one of them that fled. Cain figured as much, but he still wanted to give the man a chance.

After a week of being back in his own surroundings, he almost felt like it was a mistake. Cain and Zero put on their new identities, and did the assignments that had been given to them, which at the moment wasn't much different from their jobs as a Tin Man, because all they were doing was patrolling the streets and keeping the peace. It was nice to have Zero as his partner for a change, for he knew, his lover was not going to betray him. But it wasn't the job that was getting to him, it was the people. There were several people, who would come up and thank him for what he did, for stopping the violence, but there were many more people who would glare at him, spit at him, and yell at him that he doomed them all. Those were hard to take. He could understand why the Longcoats where as hostile as they where, with that kind of treatment, day in and day out, it would make the most patience man into a tyrant.

Another blow to them that made Cain regret his decision to stay was his neighbors. The looks he received, and the avoidance, even the Stevens where avoiding them. He could see that Kelly was trying, giving him smiles when they passed, but her husband, Joel, wouldn't even make eye contact with them anymore. They started to receive hateful letters on their door, telling them they were not welcome there anymore.

Cain and Zero could stand the treatment they received, but Jeb couldn't. He came home more times than not in tears, being teased by his fellow classmates, being told that his father was a murderer. He talked to Jeb's teacher but he could tell that she was not going to be any help in the matter. For all Cain knew, she was encouraging the teasing.

"I think we might need to think about moving," Cain said walking out of Jeb's room. He had been so upset when he picked him up at Alyssa's today. She told him he been crying all afternoon. He didn't even want to eat that night, all he wanted to do was sleep. It broke Cain's heart to see his son like that. And the fact that Jeb didn't even want to tell him about it made it worse.

"We're just going to be giving into the people, letting them win if we do." Zero said.

"I don't care; I can't stand to see Jeb like that. Not again. My poor baby…" Cain said tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

"Azkadellia said that we could always stay at the tower, there are living quarters, and some are made for families. It would get Jeb away from the teasing."

"Maybe," There was a knock on the door then. Cain was surprised at this, for they were not expecting any visitors. Both Cain and Zero were on their feet, and at the door, not sure who was behind it. When Cain opened it, he was shocked at what he found.

"Adora?" Cain said looking at his ex-wife in his door way. It was obvious that she was pregnant; Cain would have had to guess about six months along. She smiled before pushing herself into their home.

"So where is Jeb?" She said as she looked around the small apartment.

"What are you doing here, Adora, we haven't seen hide or hair of you in…." Cain started but Adora interrupted him.

"Four years, I know, I've gotten married, and we are about to start a family. I also recently heard what..." She said with a little disgust in her voice as she glared at Zero, "... you two have been doing, so I'm came by to get my boy."

"WHAT?" Cain yelled.

"You really think that you two joining up with the Longcoats is what's best for Jeb. I'm sure you two will be killed before too long. Jeb needs to be in a less unstable environment."

"So you expect us, who spent the last seven years raising him, just to give him up. You are fucking nuts, Adora," Zero said.

"You have no say in this, Zero; you're not one of his parents." Zero just laughed.

"I'm more his parent than you are. You've seen him like, what, two times in the past seven years?" Zero barked out.

"He's still my son though," Adora said.

"You gave up your right to be his mother the moment you left him with me," Cain barked out. "Adora, I want you to leave right now."

"Not without my son," Adora said moving past Cain, but Zero got in the way of Jeb's bedroom.

"What're you going to do, manhandle a pregnant woman?" She said with disgust in her voice.

"Normally no, but I will make an exception for you. Adora, you are not taking my son," Zero yelled at her.

"Papa? What's going on?" A sleepy Jeb said from his door way.

"Jeb!" Adora called out, and Jeb just stared, wide eyed at the woman who was trying to push herself past his papa and get at him. Jeb was confused, and most of all he was scared. Cain moved passed them, pulling Jeb protectively into his arms.

"Leave, Adora, you're just scaring him." She glared at Cain.

"I'll be back." She huffed out before walking out the door, slamming it, making them all jump at the sound.

"Daddy? Who was that? She was scary," Jeb asked, still staring at the door.

"No one you need to worry about. But if you ever see her again, I want you to stay away from her." Jeb nodded at his dad.

"She will be back. We are going to have to do something," Zero said.

"We are moving. We can get thing settled tomorrow, and then start the process this weekend. I'm sure Azkadellia will be more than willing to set us up with some living quarters."

Zero just nodded. Zero just looked down at Jeb.

"Did you hear that? We are moving soon. Just a few more days at that school and you will never have to go back. How does that sound?" Jeb's eyes sparkled at Zero as he moved to leap into his papa's arms in excitement.

"Thank you, Papa!!"

"So if anyone else gives you a hard time, just remember, you don't have to put up with it for very much longer." Jeb nodded at this. Zero looked up at Cain now.

"I'll put him back to bed ok?" Cain just nodded.

---

After dropping Jeb off at school, they reported in. They explained the situation to their superior officer and then made their way to the tower. They talked with people to make the proper arrangements to start to move in. They were shown to their living quarters.

When they walked in they were shocked to find Azkadellia waiting for them with a smile.

"I knew you two come to your senses." She said with a purr. "And how are my favorite new Longcoats today?"

"We are fine, Sorceress. And you?" Cain said voice emotionless.

"Awww Wyatt. You hurt me. Here I am, missing you two and you act like you don't care," She said with a fake pout.

"I'm sorry Sorceress. I've just been under a lot of stress," Cain tried to explain.

"I heard, sorry to hear about the way people are treating you. I hope it doesn't make you question the decisions you made?"

"No Ma'am. I do not regret my choices," Cain said.

"Good," Azkadellia purred out.

"With all due respect, Sorceress, I am curious what brings you here?" Zero said.

"Just wanted to welcome you two properly," she said with a smile.

"But, why do you care about us so much, there are hundreds of Longcoats, and you're so focused on us." Azkadellia's eyes flashed annoyance for a second before her smile widen. She walked up to Zero, moving to caress his cheek.

"I sense something special within you two," Azkadellia said turning to Cain, caressing his cheek as well. "It just needs to be properly nurtured and I think you two will be some of my best generals."

Cain and Zero just looked at her wide-eyed, unsure of what to make of her.

"Well I'm sure you two will be busy in the next few days, getting moved and all. I will see you two later," she said as she walked from the room.

"That was..." Zero said

"Uncomfortable?" Cain said

"I was going for interesting but uncomfortable works too."

They both smiled at each other and soon left the tower. They decided to go pick up Jeb together, so they could talk with Alyssa about the move, knowing that she would not be happy about losing her Jeb time. They had always been so close. When they got to Alyssa's house, their hearts stopped. They saw that the door was obviously kicked open.

"Alyssa!" Cain yelled as they both rushed in and Alyssa was on the ground, recovering from a recent struggle. She looked up at them, tears in her eyes.

"Lucas took Jeb," she said pointing out the backdoor that was wide open. They were both out the door in a flash, and Cain saw movement, down the far end of the alleyway.

"JEB!" Cain screamed tearing down the alley, Zero on his heels.

"DADDY!" They heard Jeb say as Lucas turned down the alleyway. They went down turning the same corner to see nothing.

"JEB!" Both Zero and Cain screamed.

"Daddy! Papa!" They heard him scream, muffled but still they were able to move towards the sound of their panic son.

They turned around another corner and they could see them. Lucas was struggling to keep a hold of Jeb, as he fought hard against him. Jeb and Cain's eyes met for a second before he saw Lucas letting go of Jeb, as Lucas let out a howl of pain. Jeb got to his feet running straight for them, as they ran for him. It was Cain who grabbed Jeb, holding him desperately within his arms, as the boy cried in his arms.

Zero was on Lucas with in a second, knocking the older man to the ground, fist flying, hitting Lucas hard, anger within every strike. Cain held Jeb closer, not wanting him to witness what Zero was doing, but still not wanting Zero to stop. After few more punches, when Cain was having trouble recognizing Lucas, from all the blood that covered his face, he knew it was enough.

"Adrian! Stop it! It's enough." Zero turned to look at Cain, fury within his eyes, and for the first time in Cain's life, he was scared of Zero.

"Why? He deserves to die!"

"Because, I don't want you to become a murderer, especially not in front of your son!" Zero looked at the scared boy within Cain's arms and all the fury, the uncontrollable rage that boiled within him started to fade away. Zero looked back down at the man on the ground, blooded and beaten, he then looked at his hands, covered in that same man's blood and felt sick to his stomach.

"She sent you, didn't she? She's part of the damn resistance!" Cain said, not even caring if he was answered as the anger built within him. "If either of you get anywhere near Jeb again, I will kill you myself."

Cain pulled the crying boy from his chest and the rage boiled even more at the sight of blood on Jeb's face.

"The bastard hurt Jeb," Cain said to Zero. Zero looked at his crying son, touching his bloodied lips, then smiled, turning to look at Lucas.

"Well I'll be damned, good job Jeb!" Zero said, grabbing Lucas's arm, despite the man's moan of protest, showing Cain the deep bite mark within the arm. Cain saw the bite mark and smiled as well. Zero let go of Lucas's arm, leaving the man in the alley as they walked back to Alyssa's.