Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.

A/N: Thanks, Babe.

"Brookwood," the male voice said on the other end before the line went dead.

I was up and running out of my office before I had pressed the end button on my phone. Brookwood was about halfway between Trenton and Deal on 195. It was a meeting place for Ares and me if shit hit the fan. I used the speed dial on my phone as I ran down the stairs towards the garage.

"What's up?" Bobby said when he answered his cell.

"Ares just made contact," I said as I hit the garage door. "I have to meet up with him. Tell control to monitor my GPS."

"Got it," Bobby said. "Be safe."

"I'll call you when I can," I said as I jumped into my Bronco.

"Love you."

"Love you, too," I said and then closed my phone.

I peeled out of the garage and shot out into traffic on Haywood. Within minutes, I was on 195 heading out of town. I had gotten my heart rate calmed down some as I fought my way through traffic. Something had to have really gone wrong for Ares to go to Brookwood. There was a little motel just off the freeway that was designated as our rendezvous point.

I kept one eye on the road and the other eye on my rear view mirror. I wasn't looking for any black Broncos. I was looking for any other suspicious vehicles. Bobby would keep the guys back for me. This was Family business. It had nothing to do with RangeMan and I didn't need their help at the moment. My first priority was making sure that Ares was all right.

I pulled into the parking lot of the motel and waited. I heard that back cargo door open and then quietly close. Without waiting, I eased back out of the parking lot and got back out on 195 heading back to Trenton. My heart rate finally slowed to its normal rate as I sped down the freeway. The silence from the back of the cargo area didn't bother me. I could hear Ares' even breathing and that was enough for the moment. I knew that he would tell me everything once I got him to a safe place.

I finally grabbed my phone and called Bobby when we got to Trenton's city limits. I knew that he would be worried and I had to make sure that it would be okay to take Ares back to the apartment.

"What's going on?" Bobby asked when he answered.

"I'm heading back to the apartment," I said slowly. "I need two favors."

"Sure."

"Tank was suppose to leave a schedule on my desk for the next week while you guys are gone," I said as I drove towards the apartment. "Can you grab it and bring it home with you?"

"I think that I can do that," Bobby said. "What else?"

"Can you pick up dinner for four?" I asked, hoping that he would get my meaning. I wanted permission to take Ares to our place without actually saying it.

"Consider it done," he said after he was silent for a long moment.

"Thank you," I whispered and then closed my phone.

I pulled into the underground parking to the apartment building and parked near the elevator. I jumped out quickly and rounded the Bronco. My stomach flipped over when I opened the back door. Ares was covered in blood and unconscious. I fished my phone back out and called Ram. I knew that he was upstairs since it was his day off.

"Hey, Bomber," Ram said when he answered.

"I need help," I said as I felt my chest start to tighten up in panic. "I'm in the garage."

"I'm on my way," Ram said and then disconnected.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket as I bent over to look more closely at Ares. Both of his eyes were black and almost completely swollen shut. There was a large, deep cut that ran down the right side of his face. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a knife did that. I gingerly turned his face to the side and saw blood coming out of his left ear. That's not a good sign. I was taking in the sight of his blood stained t-shirt and jeans when I heard the elevator ping open.

"Steph!" Ram shouted as he ran out of the elevator.

"I need to get Ares up to my apartment," I said when I opened the door the rest of the way.

Ram froze when he saw Ares lying in the cargo area. He looked over at me with raised eye brows and said, "That's one of Ramos's men."

"I know, Ram," I hissed. "Are you going to help me, or not?"

"You have a lot of explaining to do later," Ram said as he stepped up to the back of my Bronco.

Without another word spoken between us, Ram picked up Ares and got him up to my apartment. I got Ram to lay Ares down on my bed as I went into Bobby's bedroom and grabbed his medic bag out of the closet. I walked into my room and found Ram taking Ares' clothes off.

"This is a Family thing, Ram," I said as I sat the bag next to the bed. "You don't have to help if this is going to make you uncomfortable."

"You are my family, Steph," Ram said quietly as he got Ares' boots off. "I'll always help you. That's what family is for."

I took Ram at his word that he was okay to do this. I went into my bathroom and grabbed a stack of hand towels. I soaked a couple of them in warm water and then brought them into my room. I gave Ram one of the wet ones and we got to work getting him cleaned up.

His injuries weren't as bad as I thought they were. He had a couple of defensive wounds on his hands from a knife to go along with the one on his cheek. Ram said that the blood from his ear was probably just a busted ear drum, that more then likely it was the result of a blow to his head as he pointed out the bruise that was starting to form. It sounded pretty serious to me, but Ram had said that it wasn't all that bad. He said that Ares' ear would be fine in a few weeks.

"Why isn't he waking up?" I asked once we were finished cleaning and bandaging Ares up.

"I don't know," Ram said as he slid an arm around my waist. "I'll call Bobby and ask him to hurry up."

I nodded, but I just kept staring at the man that was lying unconscious in my bed. I felt Ram release me and I heard him leave my room. I started getting everything cleaned up. I always manage to make a mess when I play medic. I didn't think that Bobby would appreciate the state of disarray that his bag was in. I tossed the bloody hand towels in the trash in my bathroom and set myself in clean up mode.

I was just finishing up putting Bobby's bag back together when he walked into my room. I looked up at him and gave him a watery smile. I had been sitting on the floor wondering what had happened to Ares. He was a physically strong person and I couldn't fathom what type of person it would have taken to bring Ares to his knees.

"It's okay," Bobby said as he knelt down beside me and wrapped his arms around me.

"This isn't what you signed up for," I said after a moment of enjoying the warmth that was surrounding me. "I shouldn't have brought him here."

"You did the right thing," Bobby said as he leaned back and cupped my face with his hands. "I signed up for the chance at a life with the woman that I love. I'm not afraid to walk into the part of your life that involves the Family. It's a part of you and I'm here if this is where you want me to be."

I was thrown off by his words. I searched his eyes for a moment and saw only the truth. Every word that he had just said was exactly how he felt. He was on my side, and my heart soared. I threw my hands around the back of his neck and pulled him into a scorching kiss. I held nothing back in the kiss and showed him everything that I felt. I wanted him to feel all of the love that I had inside for him.

I broke the kiss when I heard a shifting sound come from the bed behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ares raise his hand and rub his face. I turned back to Bobby and gave him a light kiss on the lips as I pushed his hair back off of his forehead. I always manage to mess it up when he kisses me senseless.

"Sky?"

"I'm here Ares," I said as I stood up and moved to the head of the bed. I sat down next to him and leaned over his head. "I brought you back to my apartment. Bobby's here. I want him to take a look at you."

"Okay," Ares whispered. He grabbed my hand as I started to shift and I froze as I looked back down at him. His eyes locked with mine as he whispered, "Deacon is dead."

That was all that I needed to hear. I would never have to question what had happened to Ares. I already knew. Those three words told me everything. The war that I knew was coming, finally had. And it had come here, to New Jersey.

I moved out of the way as Bobby approached the bed. I watched as he accessed all of Ares' wounds. He took his time, making sure that he was being as gentle as he could, but still being thorough. He grabbed his bag and started riffling through it.

"There's a brown paper bag in the fridge," Bobby said as he looked at me over his shoulder. "Can you grab it for me."

I silently turned around and left my room. I found said bag in the back of the fridge on the bottom shelf. I opened the bag and pulled out one of the little bottles as I walked down the hall towards my room. Morphine. May not be a bad idea. It looked like some of the bruises on his ribs might be a little painful. I dropped the bottle back into the bag and handed it to Bobby when I got back into the room.

"…hurt to breath?" Bobby was asking.

"Yeah," Ares whispered.

"I'm going to give you a small shot of morphine for the pain," Bobby said as he pulled a syringe out of his medic bag and grabbed one of the little bottles out of the bag I had given him.

I moved away from the bed and sat on the couch under my window. I silently watched as Bobby gave Ares the injection and then set to work on the deep cut that ran across Ares' right cheek. Once I caught sight of the needle and thread that Bobby was going to use, I got up and walked out of the room. That was one thing that I just couldn't watch. I knew that Bobby would take care of Ares for me. I had two phone calls to make.

I held up my hand to ward off Binkie and Ram as I passed them in the living room as I headed to the door, shutting the door to the apartment as I pulled my cell phone out. I flipped my phone open as I paced the hall between our apartment and Ram and Lester's. I got into the phone book and called the first number that was listed. Putting the phone to my ear, I waited as it rang.

"I need you," I said when the other end picked up. "Now."

"I'll call you back in ten," the slightly familiar male voice on the other end said before he disconnected.

I pulled my phone back down and called another number. I stood in front of the elevator and chewed on my thumbnail as I waited for the line to pick up.

"Hey," Angelo said once he picked up.

"I have Ares," I said calmly, even though every sense in my body was screaming. "He's hurt, but Bobby's fixing him up as we speak. Deacon is dead."

"Are you sure that he's dead?" He asked.

"That's what Ares told me," I said as I started pacing again. "I told you that this was going to happen."

"I know," Ares said on a sigh. "Are you coming home?"

"I am home, Angelo," I said, trying to keep my voice in check. I would have two guys in the hall with me if I started shouting. Not what I needed at the moment. "I can't leave Trenton right now. I'll keep Ares with me for the meantime."

"I can't protect you and Alexander if you aren't here," he hissed. He wasn't about to keep his emotions under control. "You need to be here."

"I can take care of myself," I hissed quietly as I moved further down the hall away from the apartment. "If you haven't noticed, I've been doing that for awhile."

"This isn't another God damn job, Skylla!" Angelo shouted into the phone. "I want you here now!"

"No," I shouted back. "I've already called for back up."

I turned to look back down the hall when I heard my apartment door open. Ram was standing in front of the door with his gun drawn. I waved him back into the apartment, but he didn't move. I gave up on the privacy and went back to my phone call.

"I'll be fine," I said through gritted teeth.

"Who did you call?" Angelo asked after he was silent for a moment.

"You already know who I called," I said as I ran my fingers through my hair.

"Tell me you're joking! Tell me that you didn't call who I think you called! The guy is a lose cannon!" Angelo errupted over the phone.

"I can handle him just fine," I said, quietly hoping that I actually could.

I had only met the man in question twice, and I knew that he was capable for doing seriously bad stuff without batting an eye. The last time I had seen him, I had saved his life by taking out a security guard that had come out of nowhere when we did a job together. If I hadn't been in my position, the guard would have gotten the drop on him and killed him. He had been different that night when we met up at the appointed location. The hard, cruel person that I had spoken to earlier that afternoon was gone. Standing in his place was someone else. The man under the mask. He had taken me in his arms gently and said, "I am forever in you debt. Call me if you need me for anything, anytime, no matter what the job."

"What does Bobby have to say about this?" Angelo asked once he got himself calmed down. The sound of his voice had startled me out of my thoughts.

"That's a low blow, Angelo. I don't need to ask Bobby for permission to do something," I said as I leaned against one of the walls in the hall and sunk down to the ground. "He has to go out of town. I'm going to need some help, and you need to stay there with Alexander with every man that you have. They're coming."

"That's why I want you here. Why won't you let me protect you here at the compound?" Angelo asked, sounding slightly hurt.

"I won't hide. You know that. Plus, Tank needs me here more then you need me there," I said as I brought my knees up to my chest and laid my head on top of them. "I'll be fine."

"You'll come here if you think that you can't do it on your own?" he said after he thought about the situation for a moment.

"Of course."

"Be safe," Angelo said before he hung up.

I closed my phone and looked at Ram who was still standing down the hall. Looks like I needed to have another conversation about Moscow. Before I got the chance to get up off of the floor, my cell phone rang. I looked down at the caller I.D. and felt wary. It was too late to second guess my decision to call in my favor. I opened the phone and stuck it to my ear.

"I'll land at JFK tomorrow morning at nine," the male voice said on the other end.

"I'll be there," I said and then closed my phone.

"Who was that?" Ram asked as he walked over.

I looked at the large man that stood beside me. He was a friend and I wasn't sure just how far he would be willing to go for me. I took a deep breath and let it out as I rotated my neck, trying to ease the tension that was building up there. The war was coming, and I had chosen to call in a favor that could end up backfiring on me.

I stood up and locked eyes with Ram as I said, "Achilles."