A/N: It's the end. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 11

The blonde had walked in as if she was set to autopilot.

"What have you done?" When she doesn't get an answer, Jodie pushes Alex against the wall.

"What the fuck have you done, Alex? I just got a call that you attacked Marissa?"

Alex finally comes to attention at the accusation. "I would never hurt Marissa, you know that."

"They have it on camera. You left her for dead!"

Alex walks back outside without another word and comes back dragging something behind her. Jodie gags at the disfigured look of Ryan's face. Jodie's mouth opens and closes a few times before she's able to actually get a word out.

"Is he even alive?"

"Barely. Help me get him into one of the interrogation cells." Jodie really didn't want to touch him. For numerous reasons. But she grabbed his legs and helped carry him into a room.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? What you've done? Why the hell Ryan is in our home?"

Alex doesn't answer, instead as soon as Ryan's arms and legs are securely hooked onto a pole, she begins to remove every other object in the tiny room. The chair, table, bedpan, the small pallet meant to serve as a bed and any other thing that wasn't bolted down to the floor. She grabs a large duffel bag and starts to make her way back to the room, but is stopped by a punch to the side of her face. Jodie holds her against the wall with her forearm across her neck.

"Stop! Just stop and tell me what's going on. Seth is sleeping and if he finds out that Ryan's here... just tell me what you're doing."

"I've watched over her for 19 years; I've seen every fall, been to every checkup, helped her with homework, checked her closet for monsters when she was scared, seen her graduate. I've been there for it all, I know her better than anyone, probably even more than her own parents do. That... thing at the fair grounds, whatever it was, wasn't Marissa. I could feel it."

"They sounded pretty convinced it was her when they called."

"I don't care! And the fact that he was there watching," She points to the room where she's placed Ryan. "What was an obvious setup of some kind only proves my point. He knows where Marissa is and he's going to tell me. One way or another." Alex picks the bag back up and continues to Ryan's cell.

Jodie lets out a long, deep breath and runs her hands over her face. People had died, her best friend had almost died, her friend had been kidnapped, and her girlfriend had been in on the entire thing. Now she was going to have to tell Seth, the guy who she considered her own flesh and blood, that one of the people who had tormented him most of his life was inside their home. She was more than certain that this last week was the absolute low point of her life. Taking another breath she makes her way towards the boy's room.

Inside he's curled up in bed under layers of blankets. Jodie sits next to him and watches im a moment before brushing a few curls out of his face. The movement wakes him up.

"Hi." He smiles at her.

"Hey. Sorry to wake you, I know you've hardly gotten any sleep the last few days, but you need to get up."

"Did something happen?"

"Uh, yeah. There's someone here."

"Who is it?"

Jodie doesn't say anything, only looks to the opposite wall, avoiding both his stare and question, but she knew she'd have to answer.

"Jo, who is it?"

"It's Ryan."

The curly haired boy jumps out of bed the instant he hears his brother's name. Jodie can see the hesitance and fear written on his face.

"Ryan? Why is he here? What is he doing here? How did he get here? What is he doing here?" The questions come flying out of his mouth.

"Alex found him during the trade off. He looks like she took a grater or something to his face. He's locked up in one of the cells right now. I'm not sure what she's doing, but she's sure that it wasn't actually Marissa that was there."

"Why did she bring him here?"

"Where else? The Coopers are out for blood and we've probably got the most secured place in the city. She can do more here."

"I have to see him? I don't think that's a good idea." He can't control the tremble in his voice.

"Yeah, me neither. Maybe you should get out of here until this is over."

"If you're going to be with Alex on this then who's watching after Summer?"

Jodie grits her teeth. She really didn't want to deal with the other girl. Mostly because she didn't know how.

"I didn't think about that."

"Look, I'll watch over Summer and where ever Ryan is I'll make sure to stay far far away."

"Are you sure? Cause I could watch her, just grit down and bare it."

"We're in this together. Just make sure he's nowhere near me. Ever."

"You got it."

He watches her leave. After a few minutes he decides to go and visit Summer. She's sitting in her cell picking at a stray thread on her shirt when he arrives.

"Hi, Seth." The shorter brunette greets when she sees him at the door.

"Hi, Rach- Summer."

"What do I owe the pleasure?"

Seth stares at her for a moment, not able to say anything.

"Seth?"

"Did you ever really care about any of us? About Jodie?"

"I loved her. I'm still in love with her, you know that."

"Then how could you do it?" He asks with confusion and desperation. "I mean, if you love her so much then how can you betray her and everyone she cares about? That doesn't make sense."

Summer takes a deep breath and runs a hand through her hair. She didn't know how to explain it fully, especially since she wasn't sure herself why she didn't come forward sooner.

"There... were a lot of factors and my life... it's never been easy. Your grandfather, Caleb found me at one of the lowest points of my life. I was desperate to have something better. To just be normal. Turns out it was anything but. I've dealt with so many shady people, demons, half-gods and warlords who want to dictate their worlds and it sickens me. I sicken me for sticking around. But I did and I'll always regret it because I lost the one person in this world who ever loved me. I'm going to make it right, I have to."

"Well, the only two people left in this world that care about me are hurting because of you and the people you work with. One of which is actually here."

Her head shoots up at that. "What? Who?"

"Ryan. Alex caught him and now he's locked in one of the cells."

Summer smiles and walks up to him. He backs away to the door.

"What are you doing?"

Her smile increases. "I think I know the first step in making things right. Take me to him."

Seth looks at her not sure what to do.

Jodie watched as the pole slammed into Ryan's shins for the twelfth time. So far he had refused to talk at all. Not even screaming when the metal made contact with his legs. He hadn't talked, but Jodie could hear his whimpers increase with each hit. What she was witnessing highly disturbed her. Alex had nearly beaten Ryan to death before bringing him there and now she was physically destroying the rest of his body.

Alex drops the pole and begin searching through her bag. After a minute or so she pulls out a small black stone. She holds it against Ryan's head and whispers a few words and the stone turns a bright red. She then places it into her pocket.

"What are you doing?"

"Modified protection spell to make sure he doesn't die or slip into unconsciousness."

"Alex, maybe you should stop and think about this."

"I'll stop when he tells me what I want to know. Until then-" She's interrupted by Ryan's laughing.

"You stupid bitch. I'll never tell you anything. I'm Ryan Atwood, grandson of Caleb Nichol!" He proudly grins at them. "I am the destined ruler of the world and when this is over there is no limit to the amount of pain and suffering I'm going to put you, your friends, your family and anyone else I feel like it through. That is, of course, if you all aren't already dead. No worries though, I'll make sure to give your girlfriend all the 'special' attention she can stand."

Alex brings her hand across his face. Had he not been tied to the poles, he would have surely been thrown into the wall from the force of the blow.

"I'm done with this." She gags him and picks the pole up again. Jodie pulls her to the nearest corner.

"I don't know what you're really planning on doing" She nods towards Ryan. "but what ever it is, make sure it's you that comes back when you're done."

Alex had come in looking as if she were a robot and now she had a savage look in her eyes. Jodie knew she'd been through a lot and was emotionally, maybe even mentally unstable. She just hoped that after it was all over she'd have her friend back to how she used to be.

"Don't worry. I just need to be sure that I'm doing everything I can to get Marissa back."

Alex goes back to Ryan, this time hitting him in the chest area. This goes on for the next ten minutes and eventually Ryan begins to scream in pain. His chest has turned a dark red and purple as bruise after bruise forms. Still, he refused to talk. It was moments later that Jodie realized someone else was there, at the door.

"What the hell are you doing here? Where's Seth? If you've hurt him I swear-"

"Relax, Jodie. He's in the hall." Summer points out the door and Jodie pushes her out of the way to see for herself.

Seth is leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and head down, staring at the ground.

"You okay, Seth?" He nods without looking up.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna stay out here. You should listen to what Summer has to say though."

Jodie frowns before pushing the other girl back into Ryan's cell and locking the door. Alex had stopped what she was doing and stared at the two.

"I know you guys don't want to hear this, but I am sorry and I want to help. Marissa is my friend. My best friend and I'll do anything to help get her back. And I think I can."

"You've already told us what you know so how can you help anymore?" Alex asks her, skeptical. "And now that Ryan knows you're here you can be sure Caleb will find out."

Summer looks her dead in the eye to convey her seriousness. "Then we'll just have to make sure he can never tell him. As for helping, now that you have Ryan I can... I have powers."

Ryan mumbles protests around his gag. They all ignore him.

"Powers?"

"Anything he knows I'll know."

"And you can use them on him?" Summer silently nods. "So, how do we know you haven't been using them on us the entire time of our relationship?"

"Jodie, don't make this personal." Alex warns. "Do what you have to do, Summer."

The shorter girl walks up to Ryan and he begins to jerk, futilely trying to get away from her. When she reaches him she places a hand on the side of his face and stands on her toes so she's eye to eye with him. Her eyes go completely black and Ryan's widens in response. It only takes her a few minutes of invading his mind before she stops and backs away. She takes a couple of steps and collapses. Her eyes have turned back normal, but now there was blood trickling out of her nose. Jodie helped her up.

"That's how you know I've never used it on any of you." She answers Jodie's previous question. "There's no way I could do it without being noticed and even if I could every time I use my powers it takes away a little piece of my essence. Eventually it'll kill me."

"So, where's Marissa?"

"241 Weyland."

Jodie frowns. "That's impossible. 241 Weyland doesn't even exist and if it did it'd be like, in the middle of the freaking Pacific."

"That's where they are." Summer insists.

"Again: not possible."

"No, they're there, they're just not there."

"What?!"

"Enough, you two." The back and forth was giving Alex a headache. "Summer, explain."

"They are there. It's just... they're on a different plane, I guess you call it, but it's right there in that spot."

"Nothing can ever just be easy, can it?"

"Lets get out of here and make a plan of attack."

Summer stops them. "Wait, what about Ryan?"

"We'll deal with him later. I doubt they know we even have him yet so that should buy us some time, but we're gonna need help."

Julie slowly made her way back to her bedroom. And when she saw Alex standing there all she could see was red, felt nothing but anger and the urge, the need for revenge. Her hand flew out and connected squarely to the blonde's face. And Alex let her. She tired a second time, but Alex intercepted and held on, so she tried with the left hand. Again the blonde intercepted and firmly but gently pressed her back into the nearest wall, making sure to hold onto both of her wrists.

"Calm down."

Julie looks at her in disbelief. "Calm down?! You took her from me! I trusted you and you took her from me."

Alex quickly covers her mouth hoping that no one has heard the redhead's screams. Julie, for her part, has curled into herself and is loudly sobbing. Alex cups both side of her face to make her look at her.

"I told you I was going to try my hardest to get your daughter back." Julie starts trying to break free and Alex goes back to holding her arms down. "That's what I told you, that's what I meant, and that's what I'm doing. Whatever you think happened didn't."

"So, you didn't attack Marissa?"

"No. Didn't you send someone to check the body?"

"Yes, but it was gone when they got there. We thought... I assumed you had done something with it."

That hurt. Alex tried not to let it show, but Julie had saw the way she'd reacted.

"So, you didn't hurt Marissa?"

"No!"

"And she's still out there somewhere?"

"Yes."

"You're going to get her back?"

"Absolutely." Alex reassures her. "This whole time we've been following the rules, doing whatever the bad guys want to make sure Marissa doesn't get hurt and it's gotten us nowhere. From this point on we do things our way. We take the fight to Caleb and we don't stop until this is over."

Julie nods in agreement. "Okay, how can me and Jimmy help? We're not just going to sit back this time either."

"You can't go with us."

"Like hell I can't!"

"Look, I can't get Marissa and be worried about you too. You can stay a few blocks away from the site with protection, but you're not going in."

"Fine." She relented. "But I want to know the instant you have her."

"Of course."

"Get away from Mrs. Cooper!" A new voice shouts.

"Calm down, guy."

The guy, Alex assumed, was part of the extra hired security. He doesn't bother listening to either of the two women and rushes at the blonde. She easily moves her and Julie out of the way, grabs him by the arm as he passes and throws him head first into the wall. The force is enough to knock him out.

"Could you do me a favor? Tell your security they can stop attacking me now."

"Sure..."

"I feel sick. Anyone else feel sick?" Jodie asks.

"Nerves are stomped and vomit's ready to come up at any moment." Seth confirms.

They had come up with a plan at the Cooper mansion and were now only a block or so away from where Summer had said they were keeping Marissa. While others were setting up their command center, the assault team moving into place and the mystics were preparing their offense Jodie, Seth, Alex and Summer were sitting in a corner waiting. Alex would go in with the front line and the other three would stay behind to protect the rear and make certain that no one got to the command center.

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Seth?"

The curly haired boy nods. "I have to face them sooner or later. And you're gonna need someone to watch your back."

"Thanks."

Alex didn't bother asking Summer again if she really wanted to come. The first time she'd asked and then suggested she stay had lead to her being slapped. For such a small person she could really hit. Alex could still feel the side of her face slightly throb.

Tim comes up to the four. "Everyone's in place and we're just waiting for you until we go. Good luck."

"Alex, wait." Seth pulls her aside.

"What's up?"

He hands her a small box. Inside is a pendant attached to a simple necklace band. On one side of the small pendant was the symbol of the Monolithica's and on the other side was an inscription. "Some are born with such greatness that they can fix any mistake, any person, any life. Thank you for being that person to me." Love, Seth.

"Oh." With that one word her voice completely waivers.

"Wanted to keep it simple. Been working on it for a little more than a year. I wanted to give it to you as a birthday gift."

"Seth, I don't really have a birthday." She tells him, slightly confused.

"I know, but I consider the day I met you as one of the most important days in my life. So, it's your birthday to me."

Alex pulls him into a fierce hug. After a few minutes Seth speaks up.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Kinda on my last breath here, buddy."

Alex lets him go and nonchalantly wipes her eyes. The sight of her trying to play it off makes Seth smile. He takes the necklace from her and hooks it around her neck.

"It also protects against any malevolent magics. That's what actually took me so long."

"Thank you, Seth. So much."

"No problem. Now it's time for you to kick a little ass and get your back."

The two move into place and waited for the bridge to built to take them to the other plane. Once that was finished they slowly advanced forward. Though the amount of land inside was large there were only three buildings. Two out in front and a much taller one behind them.

"Marissa's in the last one." Alex said more to herself than anyone else, but the others heard her.

"Okay." She hears the voice of one of the leaders in her ear piece. "Lets plant charges around the first two buildings and we'll detonate them just before we give our big hello."

A few guys run off to the two buildings and rest keep going. It isn't long before they begin executing their plan and Alex is slightly surprised at just how large the explosions were, but that wasn't what she needed to think about right now. She needed to concentrate on finding Marissa.

She doesn't bother staying with the rest of the group when they enter the last building. Instead she stretches her senses as far as they can go to try and locate her girlfriend. For the next ten minutes she makes her way up, story by story, getting closer and closer to her goal. Any of Caleb's men who get in the way are dealt with swiftly. At least until she comes across Trey and Caleb.

"Well, what an interesting turn of events." The man smiled at her. "Now, me and Trey? We'll be leaving soon, but my offer still stands. You can humbly work under me."

The blonde's reply is to pull one of her swords and point it at him. Immediately Trey moves in front of her and pulls his own weapon.

"You know, I'm not sure why, but I've wanted to beat you down since the first moment I saw you."

"Maybe because my sword's bigger than yours?" The double meaning isn't lost on Trey.

Without another word he beings his attack. Fueled by anger and hatred, they were sloppy and wide. Alex easily sidesteps and dodges them. The next time he swings at her she ducks and brings her knee up and into his stomach as hard as she can. He rolls away winded.

"Calm down, Trey." Caleb advises him.

The younger man gets up and takes a few deep breaths before attacking again. This time he's more of a challenge, even managing to get a few high impact hits on the blonde. Alex goes on the offensive and attacks him back with hits just as fast and just as hard. For the next several minutes they each trade turns getting the upper hand on the other.

The next time Alex swings toward his head, Trey blocks and sweeps her legs from under her. As soon as she hits the floor he brings his own sword down across her neck, but she manages to put her own in the way to block the would be fatal hit. The two struggle, Trey pushing down with all his weight and Alex pushing up with as much power as she can. They were at a stalemate as neither could overpower the other. The blonde decides to stop fighting with just her power and use a more tactical approach. She moves one of her legs in between both of his and kicks as hard as she can. When he bends over she places both of her feet against his stomach and pushes him up and over her own body. It may have been fighting dirty, but it got the job done. Quickly getting up she tries to push her advantage and continues her assault. Her next strike manages to catch him in the arm, but she leaves herself open and he takes the opportunity to kick her in the knee. She goes down. Hard.

She moves back on one knee as fast as she can. Once again Trey has the advantage. His attacks are ruthless and Alex tries as best she can in her kneeling position to block them. Some of them she manages and some get through. Eventually he lands a particularly hard hit to her nose and blood begins to run. He stands back for a moment to admire his work. His naturally cocky attitude demands it. When he moves to strike again Alex parries. Gritting her teeth she pushes up on her wounded knee and slashes her sword in a diagonal motion across his stomach and chest. Trey steps back with a look of disbelief on his face before falling down.

"Trey?!" Caleb rushes to his grandson fallen body and Alex braces herself against the wall.

Caleb Nichol was a very powerful person, but he still couldn't bring someone back from death. Angrily he looked up at Alex, formed and ball of energy with his hand and threw it at her. The pendant warmed her skin and the ball dissipated. It wasn't what had protected her though. From the far side of the room Seth walked in. Alex knew just from the sight of him that something had happened. Surrounding him looked to be a field of blue lightning.

"What are you doing, Seth?"

"Like I said before, I have to face him some time. And you still have to find Marissa."

Caleb looks between them no longer able to hide his worry and fear. This was not the same fragile grandson he'd shunned so many years ago.

"Alex. Alex, help me." The blonde turns her back and begins to walk away.

"I'll tell you who you are. If you helped me I'll find out exactly what happen to you, your family... everything."

Alex smiles a sad smile and then mumbles. "Two down, one to go." She leaves.

Moving swiftly along she could feel the pull to Marissa increase with every step. It wasn't long until she reached the last floor of the building and she could tell exactly where the other girl was. Strolling into the room she saw a man pulling away from the brunette as if he'd hit her. From the bruise forming on the side of her face Alex was sure he had. Without breaking her stride and ignoring the blows he's hitting her with, she grabs him by his jacket and throws him out of the nearest window. His screams fade in mere seconds. The relieved Marissa rushes to the blonde only to stop short when her wrist locks pull her back.

"Alex?"

The girl in question easily breaks the restraints and is engulfed into a hug. They stay like that, uncontrollable but silent tears running down their faces until they feel the entire building shake and start to crumble. Alex leads Marissa back to the stairwell and they begin their descent down.

"We're not going to make it."

"Well, let's not stay here and make it a definite." When Marissa moves to continue down the stairs Alex pulls her back.

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course." Is the instant answer.

Alex moves over the side of the railing and holds Marissa in a bridal carry before jumping over. She manages to only hit the sides twice on the way down. Her biggest pain was when they landed and pressure was thrown onto her knee. Continuing out of the building they run into Jodie.

"Where are the others?"

"Summer's already back. Everyone's getting out of here."

"And Seth?"

The shorter girl sadly shakes her head.

The three made their way back to the bridge.

Marissa slowly opened the bedroom and gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.

"Alex? Are you awake?"

"Uh, no. It's 2 in the morning." The blonde mumbles into her pillow.

"Yeah, about that-"

"We are not going out, Marissa."

"Not what I was gonna say."

Alex raises her head and looks at the other girl.

"Honest. I just wanted to stay here."

"You know your mom said no more sleepovers." Despite her words Alex has already pulled her blankets back and Marissa slides in next to her.

"I don't think every once and again is gonna hurt."

"I guess." With the last bit of awareness before she falls unconscious Alex mumbles into Marissa's next. "Love you."

The brunette internally coos. "Love you too."

It had been an extreme last few months; there had been a kidnapping, fake ransom, murders, lies, betrayal and the loss of loved ones. One thing Marissa couldn't forget though, refused to forget was that despite all the bad things she'd finally found love. The person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. And she was going to do anything in her power to make sure she never lost it.