Javi's POV

I pulled up to the apartment and was more than a little curious when I saw Kev's car. What was he doing over here? Getting out of my car, I saw him sitting in the driver's seat. I walked over to the driver's side and knocked on the window.

"How can I help you, officer?" he quipped.

"What are you doing sitting out here?" I leaned down.

"I gotta come clean."

"What's that mean?"

"Bri and I got into a fight earlier and, well, I wanted to try and smooth things over."

I sighed. "Stand in line bro."

"What?"

"I'm here for the same thing."

"Bri?" I nodded. "What'd you do?" he asked with a small smile.

"I agreed to let Lanie stay with me while her apartment was getting fumigated."

"Are you that stupid?"

"Bri came over this morning and Lanie kind of came out of the bathroom in just a towel."

"Wow," Kev laughed. "What were you thinking?"

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "So what'd you do?"

He sat there for a few moments chewing his bottom lip. "I did something kind of stupid."

"I gathered that much." I tapped his arm. "Spit it out."

"Last night I was hanging out with Katie and Bri came home... she kind of walked in on me kissing Katie."

"What?" I asked, almost hitting him. "What'd you do that for?"

"Hey! Don't go acting like a saint, okay? You kissed Bri, and now you guys are dating, so if you compare the two, I didn't really do anything all that bad."

Was he actually that stupid? "Bro, Katie is the single most important person to Bri. She's not going to be okay with someone she trusts putting the moves on her sister. Speaking of, why the hell did you kiss Katie?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. It just felt right at the time."

I smacked him on the back of his head. "You are dumber than I am!"

"I don't know about that," he muttered, getting out of the car. "I am thankful you are here though."

"Why?"

A small smile covered his face. "Now that you are here, Bri won't be too pissed at me."

"I'm not here to save your ass. I've got my own ass I need to cover."

He smiled. "Well why don't we both go in there together and have each other's backs? Deal?"

"I don't know bro. You kissed Katie. I don't think I can or should back you up. Not sure I like the thought of you two."

"It was just one kiss Javi, it's not like it's going to be a reoccurring thing."

"Does Katie know that?"

He shook his head and sighed. "That's the other reason why I am here. I need let her know that we are friends and that's all."

I nodded. "Good. You are using your brain now."

"We going?"

I nodded.

Approaching the apartment, something seemed off. I looked over and saw Bri's bedroom window open. She never left it open, especially not in this weather. "Hold it bro." I tapped Kev's shoulder.

"What is it?"

"Something seem weird to you?" I pointed to the window.

"What?" He looked. "They have the window opened? It's like 50 degrees out here." He shook his head. "Uh, I don't like this."

"What is it?"

"Bri, she told me not to tell you, but I think it's time to break that promise," he whispered.

"Kev, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Last night Bri found Sam's chain."

I thought for a bit. "Okay?"

"It was stolen when she was attacked." I winced a little, remembering that night.

"So what?"

"Whoever took it brought it back, and now the window is open. It's dark in there... I don't like this feeling."

"You're telling me that the guy who broke into their place and attacked Bri came back and you weren't going to tell me..." I stopped and looked at the window. Now wasn't the time. "You bring your service weapon?"

He shook his head. "You?"

"No." I looked around.

Something was definitely off. Both of our instincts kicked in and we slowly and deliberately went for the window, careful not to make a noise.

We both hunched down and looked inside. It was dark, too dark, but I could hear voices. Kev tapped my arm and motioned for me to look. I moved over the his position and saw Katie she was in a chair, her head was hanging.

Fuck!

"Alright, I'm going to hop through this window and you are going to cover the back, okay?" He nodded. "Text Beckett. give her the address, okay?"

He nodded, but didn't take his eyes off Katie.

"Bro, no time to worry, just go through the back and if you seeing an opening, take him down!" I whispered.

"Yeah, got it." He turned to leave and then looked back. "Be careful bro. We don't know who is in there or what they are capable of."

I nodded. "You too."

He moved quickly and soon he was out of sight.

'Now or never,' I thought before making my way through the window.

Brianna's POV

Natalie pushed my chair back up. "Say a word and I will kill whoever is in there." She threatened. She stood back and pulled her gun out and pointed it towards my bedroom. Her eyes were locked on the doorway. I looked over at Katie and saw that she was moving. My heart started to beat faster. 'Don't gain consciousness. Not yet,' I chanted over and over in my head. I looked back to Natalie and saw her moving further from me. She looked at me and held a finger to her mouth. She disappeared into the kitchen.

I looked at the door way of my bedroom. Who the hell was here? I hadn't heard anything. Was Natalie going crazy? More crazy?

A shadow appeared, and I knew someone was in there. Why would anyone be here?

I prayed my eyes were deceiving me as I saw Javi enter the doorway. He glanced around, and his eyes found mine. He jumped towards me.

"Oh my God! Baby, are you okay?" he asked looking me over.

"Leave. Just go," I whispered to him.

"I'm not leaving you." He shook his head. "Never." He looked at the side of my head and seemed to wince. "Who did this to you?"

"Yeah, tell him who did this to you." Natalie appeared. She had her gun aimed at Javi. '

Please let him be armed. Please let him have a plan.' I silently prayed. Javi turned towards her.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Tell him," she said.

"Javi," I struggled a little. "This is Natalie. My mother." I didn't know how I got the words out. I felt so weak.

"Your mother?"

"Yes," Natalie answered. "Now why don't you back up a few steps, or I will use your head as a target."

"Please listen to her, Javi." My heart was beating so fast. He slowly backed up next to me.

"It's okay. I'm not going to do anything."

"Damn right you aren't," she smirked. "Give me your gun."

"Didn't bring it with me," Javi said with a quick glance to me. "Why are you here?"

"To fix everything." She answered.

Around the time I began to open my mouth, I saw movement. It was Katie. I closed my mouth, and shot my eyes to her.

She blinked a few times and I saw her wince. She began to struggle. "What the..." She was cut off by Natalie slamming a gun against her head. My eyes moved to hers.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!" I screamed as Katie's body went limp.

"Bri! Just shut up!" Javi yelled, grabbing Natalie's attention. She turned the gun towards him and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

"Hey, look at me! Look," I got her eyes back on mine. "I did it! I ruined your life!" I needed to stop this. All of it. I couldn't allow Katie or Javi to get hurt. I needed to give Javi the chance to take her down, whether or not I made it.

"Bri, just be quiet," Javi tried.

"I know how you feel." I didn't take my eyes off Natalie. "I know that you loved him."

"I did! I loved him with everything I had in me. He loved me too!" She pointed the gun back to me. "Until you were here, and then he..."

"He loved me more than you."

"It wasn't fair!" I saw tears gathering in her eyes. "How could he do that! How could he love you more than me! I was the one who was there for him! I took care of him. Better than anyone else could."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Javi starting to take a step forward. Natalie must have seen it too, because she jerked the gun back to him. "Stop! I told you not to move!"

"Natalie!" I yelled. "I know how much you loved him and I know I ruined that love, but you can make me pay."

She didn't take gun off Javi, but her eyes flickered to mine.

"You can end this all right now. Nobody has to get hurt. Just me."

"Bri, just shut up!" His eyes went to Natalie's again. "Nobody has to get hurt here. All you have to do is put the gun down and we can forget about all of this."

I sighed. What the hell was he doing? Trying to negotiate with a psychopath?

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Natalie laughed. My eyes flickered to Katie who was still knocked out.

"No. I don't." Javi shook his head. "Listen, I get that you have it stuck in your head that Bri and Katie have done something unforgivable just by being born..."

"Javi, shut up!" I interjected. "Natalie, it's me you want!"

She nodded. "You," She gave me a look of pure hatred. It made a shiver run through me. "It's all your fault. It's your fault he's dead."

"No, it isn't." Javi jumped in. "It's your fault Natalie, isn't it?"

She flinched. "I tried to talk to him. I told him that you two could live your own lives, and that he and I could be together, that we could move away together, but he told me he couldn't, that you two were his family! He told me he didn't love me!" Her gun went to my head. "Why did you make him stop loving me? Why!" She screamed.

"You can't make everything better by killing Bri, it doesn't work that way." Javi spoke up. If my hands weren't restrained, I might have hit him. What the hell was he doing? Trying to get himself killed? Did he really think that rationalizing with her would help? She clearly wasn't stable. She was a murderer. She killed dad.

Natalie's eyes flickered back and forth to me and Javi. "I won't know that until I try." My eyes moved to Javi's and his chocolate eyes locked with mine.

There was so much I wanted to say to him. So much I wanted him to know. His eyes searched mine.

It didn't take me very long to figure out what was going on. The light smirk playing on Javi's lips, gave me a little hope that this wouldn't be the last time I would be seeing him. His eyes darted quickly from mine and I followed them.

From behind Natalie, I saw a shadow approaching. My eyes widened. Who the hell was that? How did they know to be here? "Don't let her hurt Katie," I whispered to Javi. I was hoping to keep her eyes on me, instead of turning around.

"Don't worry, she won't lay a finger on her."

Natalie exchanged a look with Javi then her eyes shot straight to mine. A light smile came over her face. "Don't worry, she won't feel a thing."

I shifted my gaze to above her shoulder when I saw Kevin coming up behind her, it took all I had in me to try and keep an neutral expression. Kevin's eyes connected with mine. He glanced over at Katie, then back to me. He looked over to Javi for a split second before leaping and knocking Natalie over on the ground.

Almost instantly, Javi was at my side trying to get my wrists free. My eyes were on Kevin and Natalie. Apparently she hadn't been sitting around for the past 17 years. They were fighting for the gun. I saw both pair of hands, fighting for dominance.

"Javi! Go help him!" I panicked.

"I gotta get you untied."

"It can wait! Go!"

I looked over just in time to see Natalie elbow Kevin in the face knocking him out.

"Javi!" I screamed and turned around as Natalie gripped the gun and pointed the barrel right at me. I closed my eyes knowing what would come next.

"No!" Javi screamed before the gun went off.

I couldn't feel anything and soon everything was black.