English is not my native language and I'm still looking for a beta reader, so if there are spelling or grammar mistakes… I'm sorry! But you can still apply for the job as my beta reader!

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own the characters of "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman"… One Beth Sullivan does… But I do own the characters Jonas "John" Kerrigan and Elena!

Rating: I don't know anything about these ratings, but let's say T or PG-13. Just to be safe...

Warnings: I know that in the official Dr. Quinn timeline Hank's Nana is introduced in Season 4, so after Dr. Mike's and Sully's wedding. However, in my story they aren't married yet, but they already do know Ilse. So, in my timeline the events concerning Hank and his Nana in the episode "Woman of the Year" have already happened. So this story is slightly AU… I hope it doesn't bother you…

This story is the sequel to "Past Fears" and "Child of Mine". If you haven't read those stories I suggest you do that first. Otherwise this story won't make a lot of sense… I think…

Summary: Hank is trying to pick up his life again, with a little help from Elena. However, there still is a man out there who doesn't want to see Hank happy…

Another Warning: I added a small paragraph in Chapter 10! I had been so busy focusing on Hank and John, that I forgot about Sully having weapons too… Well, a tomahawk anyway… So, a little paragraph about the tomahawk… :-) The 8th paragraph to be exact… Sorry for my incompetence…

Chapter 11

John lay on the ground. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be unconscious. At least to the outside world he did… He had been unconscious for a minute or two. The blow to his head had been forceful and painful, which had caused him to black out for a moment. He hadn't even realized that Hank had kicked him with great force a few times. Until he woke up… His body ached everywhere and he was pretty sure he had broken or at least cracked some ribs. Well, at least he was still alive! But why? John was confused. Why hadn't Hank pulled the trigger? Why hadn't he killed him? He thought he knew Hank well enough to be out for revenge after what John had done to him and his son. And to Elena… But he had been wrong about Hank before, hadn't he? He thought Hank would end his own life after Zack's death, but he hadn't. Instead, he had picked up his life again. He had moved on… Could Hank have changed? Could it be that Elena had such an influence on him that Hank had changed? But the rage… the madness in his eyes… he was going to kill me! Why didn't he? John just couldn't figure it out.

He opened his eyes for a moment and saw Hank sitting on the bed with Elena in his arms. As well as Hank as the Sully-guy were with their backs to John. John had to smile as he smelled his chance again. He looked around the room. He knew Hank had dropped his gun when he had attacked him, so it should be lying around somewhere. There! John saw the gun lying under the table against the wall. It was just a few feet away from him. He moved to the table slowly and silently, and then picked the gun up from the floor. Slowly he got up from the ground as well. You should have killed me, Hans! You should have killed me when you had the chance! Because now I will kill YOU… You will never interfere with my plans again… with my life… You will never take what's mine anymore… Never! His eyes shot daggers at the man in front of him. He raised the gun and aimed it at the man he had hated for almost 20 years…

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Jake couldn't believe his luck! After traveling through the woods for hours he had finally reached a small cabin. He had already been overjoyed when he found Wolf a few miles back, and Sully's tomahawk a mile before that. He was on the right track! He had left his horse and had decided to continue his search on foot. And now he had found a cabin. The lights were on and from what he could hear it sounded like a fight was going on. He walked towards the cabin. During his trip he hadn't been able to shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen. That his help was needed. He had though back about his promise as well. The promise he had made to himself after Zack was killed. I will make sure that John Kerrigan will never hurt Hank again…

Suddenly he heard a loud crash and the sounds of people fighting stopped. What had happened? Who had hurt who? He wanted to increase his pace, but decided not to. Instead, he decided to walk a bit more slowly. What if John had won the fight? I could be next! He tried to get to the cabin as silently as he could. He didn't want to give himself away. When he finally reached the cabin he moved to the window. Carefully, he decided to take a look through it. He saw Sully standing in the middle of the room. Hank was sitting on the bed, Elena crying against his chest. Where was John? Suddenly he saw the man in question getting up from the floor. The next few seconds seemed to go in slow motion to Jake. He saw John standing nearly behind Sully. The man raised his right arm and to Jake's horror the man pointed a gun at Hank. Jake acted on pure instinct. He ran to the cabin door, smashed it open and pulled his own gun. He pointed it at John Kerrigan and pulled the trigger…

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Hank spun around the moment he heard the gunshot. The first thing that came to his mind was that John had found his gun and that he was going to kill them all. He pushed Elena against the back wall, and stood in front of her protectively. He saw John standing in front of him with his gun in his hand. He quickly looked over to Sully, who was watching John carefully as well. Then Hank looked around. If John had taken a shot at him, then why was he still standing? Why wasn't he bleeding? Elena seemed okay and so did Sully. Then why had John missed? John would never have missed! Then he noticed the odd look on John's face. His eyes were wide; there was a strange kind of look in them. A strange look of surprisement maybe? Slowly John lowered the gun. He dropped it and looked down at his stomach. That's when Hank noticed it: blood! John opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, he let out a chuckle and then dropped to the floor, revealing Jake in the doorway.

"Jake!" Hank called out, "What are ya doing here?" Jake lowered his own gun and said: "Saving your life apparently…" Sully kneeled beside John's body and searched for a pulse and breathing. "He's dead," Sully stated and looked over at Hank. He saw relief washing over Hank's face. Tension seemed to drain from his body and again he felt dead tired. He lowered himself to the ground and leaned against the back wall. He choked back a sob as Elena sat down beside him and held his head into her hands. "It's over now, Hank," she whispered, "He can't hurt you anymore… He can't hurt US anymore…" She stroked his hair and kissed him on the head.

Jake was still a bit in shock. He couldn't believe what had just happened… what he just did… He had killed a man! "Ya did good Jake," Sully said to him softly. Jake just nodded. "It was self-defence," Sully said and put a hand on his shoulder. "If ya hadn't pulled that trigger, one of us would have been dead now." Again Jake nodded. "Yeah," he said, his voice hoarse. He looked down at John's body. I killed him… I killed John Kerrigan… Hank's stepfather… Zack's murderer! Looks like I kept my promise, Hank…

Jake looked up as he felt a hand on his shoulder again. He looked into Hank's blue eyes. "Let's go home," Hank said to him. "Yeah, let's go home…" Jake said, more to himself than to Hank. "Jake," Hank said softly, "I owe you my life… We all owe you our lives… Thanks…" "Anytime," Jake answered as Hank gave him a quick nod. The two men shook hands and then decided to leave the cabin.

"What do we do about the body?" Jake asked Sully. "I don't know," Sully replied, "We could pick it up tomorrow… burry it somewhere… I don't know… I'm really not in the mood to think about it right now…" Jake sighed. "We'll pick it up tomorrow," he stated, "I'll wire some people about what happened… the authorities… maybe they want to have it or something… Make sure he's really dead…" Sully had to chuckle. "Yeah, right… trust me… he's dead…" They were both silent for a moment. "Sully?" Jake said, "I found this in the woods." He showed him Sully's tomahawk. Sully looked a bit surprised. He hadn't thought he would find it again. "Thanks," he said to Jake. "Yer welcome," Jake answered, "Couldn't choose a worse moment to lose it, could you?" Sully smiled and then shook his head. Tell me about it…

Elena walked arm in arm with Hank. She felt safe with him. She shivered when she thought about what could have happen in that cabin. What John could have done to her and to Hank. She was still a bit shaky and it would probably take a while for her to pick up her life again. Her life with Hank… But at least they had a future; a future without John Kerrigan…

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How could this happen? Why? John looked down at his stomach and saw blood pouring out of it. This is not supposed to happen! He looked Hank in the eyes. It was supposed to be you! You Hans! You… He opened his mouth to speak, but he wasn't able to say anything. Who? Who shot me? He looked around the room. Nor Hank, nor Sully, nor Elena had a gun. Who? He couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of it all. He was about to turn around to see who had shot him when his world went black for one last time…

TBC

R&R Please…