Disclaimer: I do not own AHS.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! I apologize that it always takes me a million years to update this fic along with Great Golden Child but I'm not abandoning them. I can assure you that!

…

CH 26- Soon We'll Be Found

…

Lana heard the flutter of wings and slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, slowly coming to the view of the otherworldly being before her. Right away, Lana recognized the massive black wings and red lips. The cold presence of Shachath was right before her.

"No." Lana began to cry when she recognized the presence of the angel of death, "Not you again, please…"

Shachath remained silent, watching the emaciated woman on the floor. She could just smell the death on her. She was ready to go.

"You won't be in pain any longer."

"My girl needs me. I—I can't leave her!" Lana wheezed. It hurt to speak but she mustered all the strength she could. She closed her eyes and cried. The tears seeped down the sides of her face and onto the dirty ground. She shook her head in defiance, thinking of her little girl who must have been so scared without her mother.

Lana opened her eyes to look at the deathly angel. Her lips trembled. "I—I wasn't ready to leave her when she was b—born and I'm not…I'm not ready to leave her now…"

"But you'll be at peace. You won't have to suffer anymore." Shachath tried to reason with the defiant woman. She knew death would be a sweet release for her.

"I can take it." Lana attempted to sit up but her arms failed her and she faltered, "I can keep going…"

Shachath gave her a look of pity. "Look at you, you're suffering. Do you really want to keep going? Is it really worth it?"

"I can take it!" Lana snapped. She stopped herself and looked at the being in black. Death lowered herself to be face to face with Lana.

"Your body is done. Your soul needs to be set free. Let me make it all go away."

Lana looked up into her deep eyes. She thought of all the pain she had undergone in the hands of Oliver and in the hands of Briarcliff at the orders of Sister Jude. Her body ached all over; it was slowly shutting down, prohibiting her from standing on her own two feet. She was so tired and death sounded so heavenly in that moment. Oliver was only going to keep torturing her. The answer was so clear. She didn't want to keep suffering; she wanted the pain to stop.

Then Ellie came to her mind.

Her sweet little Ellie with her impish smile and her sweet little voice. Lana couldn't allow her to grow up the way Oliver did, all alone in the system with no one to care for her. No one to really love her.

"No." Lana said, "If the pain means I get to see my daughter again…then I welcome it."

Shachath gave Lana a small, saddened smile. She pitied the woman but admired her tolerance for pain. All in the name of love for her child. Shachath never really understood why humans did the things they did. Her wings extended, she bid Lana a few encouraging words and disappeared.

Lana closed her eyes and laid back down on the cold, hard ground. When her eyes opened, she noticed the spilled tools Oliver had left on the ground in his seething rage. Her eyes went to the pair of pliers.

…

Ellie stood against the wall in the hallway entrance, her big brown eyes looked out in to the living room where some of the children played and rustled amongst one another. She held her hands behind her back, her shoulder leaning against the wall. The caretaker had given her a new haircut: a cute little bob ending just below her ears. She wore an old hand-me-down dress that had been worn by multiple little girls. It was navy blue with tiny little sailboats and a hole just above the rim. It smelled old but they weren't as bad as the shoes on her feet. They fit Ellie a size too big. They were scuffed and ripped from the bottom.

She watched the children play, intimidated by their rough and loud interactions. The children in the home didn't share very well and they weren't very nice to her. They were each watching out for themselves and a new addition was just meant less food and less attention for them.

Ellie jumped with a start when two kids ran by her and hurried down the hall. She wanted Lana to hurry and get her. No one wanted to tell her where her mother was, or better yet, no one could. Whenever she asked about her, they never gave her an answer.

Kit was more honest with her and at least acknowledged the child's concern. He reassured her and assured her that Lana would be back soon. That she'd never leave her.

Ellie leaned her back against the wall and sunk down to the ground, bringing her little legs to her chest. Her stomach growled with hunger but she didn't like the food they served. It was dry and tasted weird. She missed her mother's cooking. True, Lana wasn't the best cook but it was her cooking. And when Ellie did bring herself to eat off her plate, a bigger kid bullied her out of her food. It happened multiple times. The first time, a much older boy shoved her and took her crackers. Ellie scraped her knee and cried herself to sleep that night.

All she wanted was Lana.

She hugged her knees. "Come get me, Mommy. I wanna go home." Tears raced down her rosy cheeks.

…

Lana remained on the ground, saving every single ounce of strength she had left. Her breathing was shallow and she couldn't hear the pounding in her chest. She was slowly slipping but she still held on firmly to life. The pliers on the ground were missing. Lana fought to keep her eyes open but they commenced to close.

"I want you to promise me that whatever happens, whatever I tell you or whatever you hear, that you remember that I love you very, very much and everything I do, I do it for you."

"I love you too, Mommy."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

"Don't forget, okay?"

"I won't."

Tears found their way out and rolled down Lana's cheeks, dripping on to the floor she was sure she'd die on. Her body was ready to let go. It was then, in the distance, she heard the sound of wailing sirens. Lana slowly opened her eyes, she listened. The sirens, they approached closer and closer.

…

Oliver was in the kitchen of the farmhouse when he heard the sound of sirens in the distance. He cursed under his breath and ran out of the house in the direction of the shed. When he burst inside, he found Lana on the ground. Her eyes were closed and she appeared unconscious.

"Lana." Oliver rushed to her side and grabbed her by the arms, lifting her limp body from the ground. She seemed almost lifeless. He had to get her out of the shed and away from the farm. He didn't know how but he knew they were coming for her. Someone must have seen him. But who?

"Lana, wake up!" Oliver patted her face firmly but Lana did not wake. He checked her pulse and found that she was still alive but barely holding on.

Oliver hauled Lana over his shoulder and attempted to carry her out of the shed. Lana's eyes slowly opened, in her hand she held the sharp pliers. She raised them and brought them down hard against Oliver's lower back with all her remaining strength.

Oliver cried out in pain and threw Lana on the ground. Lana cried out from the hard blow of her landing.

"Bitch!" Oliver spat as he placed his hand to his lower back where Lana had jammed the pliers. Blood quickly began to seep through his shirt.

Lana struggled to push herself off the floor and reached out for the bloody pliers. She could hear the sirens approaching faster and faster. If they were coming for her, she couldn't know, but she didn't care. She was going to kill Oliver before they arrived. She was done with all his shit.

Lana lifted herself up and took the pliers and charged at Oliver. Oliver didn't see her coming for he was far too busy applying pressure to his wound to keep himself from bleeding out. Lana tackled him against the wall. They fell back against the wall of the shack and onto the floor. The shack shook with the heavy impact. Oliver hit his head against the wall on their way down, almost knocking himself out. Lana perched herself on top of him, holding the sharp tool against his neck.

"You son of a bitch!" She gritted through her teeth, "You sick fucker!"

Oliver groaned in pain. The blow to his head had left him dizzy. "You wouldn't kill me…" He said.

"Fucking try me!" Lana said, digging the tip of the pliers into Oliver's skin. She was so close. "You're finally going to pay for all those years you stole from me." She pressed harder against his skin. "And all the sick things you did to me."

Oliver cried out in pain, unable to push Lana off in fear that she'd dig deeper into his throat and cut his jugular vein. He could see the craze in her eyes and knew she was capable of it.

"Noelle, she'll be all alone."

"No, she won't." Lana reaffirmed him, "She'll have me."

"You could never give her what I could." Oliver said with loathing in his voice.

Lana nodded, "You're right, Oliver. I'm capable of giving her so much more."

Oliver glared at her.

"Goodbye, Oliver."

The door to the shed burst open just as Lana was about to shove the pliers into Oliver's neck. A pair of strong arms came from behind her, grabbing her and pulling her off of Oliver.

"No!" Lana screamed in dismay as officers pulled her away and two more picked up Oliver off the ground and commenced to arrest him.

"Shh, Ms. Winters! Its alright!" One of the officers tried to calm Lana down, "You're safe now!"

"No! He has to die!" Lana used all her strength to scream those words, "He has to—he has to pay…" Her body went limp in the officer's arms and her vision went black.

…

"Okay children, lights out." The woman in charge of Ellie's foster home said as she exited the small crowded room just before she turned off the lights.

Ellie lay in an old smelly cot against the far wall of the room by the window. They had run out of beds and Ms. Babs, the caretaker of the home, had pulled the old thing out from the attic claiming that it belonged to her father during the war.

Ellie clutched the brittle blanket to her face, watching as the lights went out and all the children silenced. She didn't like the home at all. One of the bigger kids had pushed her in the hall, bruising one of her arms when she fell down. She had asked Ms. Babs when she could see Kit again but Ms. Babs couldn't give her a definite answer.

Ellie was lost. She felt lost. All she wanted was her mother, she didn't even think of her father. He was gone and had been gone. There was no use in asking for him anymore.

Ellie closed her eyes and bit back the lump at her throat. She fought hard against the tears that swelled in her eyes. She didn't want to cry but all she could think about was Lana and where she had gone. Lana promised that they'd always be together. Ellie became angry with her mother for leaving her too just like her father had. She didn't understand why she had just left and never came back for her. Ellie had been scared when she woke up in the hospital and Lana was not there. She waited for hours but Lana never came back. Ellie frowned at the memory of her mother but she remembered her promise. Whatever happened, Lana loved her. Ellie took a deep breath, remembering that promise very well. Lana loved her. She'd never leave her. She'd be back for her. But Ellie couldn't help but to cry. She buried her face in her pillow and let the tears flow.

The other children became angry with her when she cried.

An older girl, around the age of thirteen, sharing a bed with another girl around Ellie's age, woke up at the sound of Ellie's soft sniffling.

"Shut her up." Said another girl across the room as she grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head.

The older girl with the dark brown hair got out of bed and sat on Ellie's cot. "Hey, you gotta stop crying now." She whispered, "We told you before, it's no use."

Ellie sniffled. "I wanna go home."

The older girl gave her a saddened look. "This is your home now. It might not feel like it but it is…well, until they move you again."

Ellie's eyes widened at this and she sat up. "Move me?"

A red headed girl with curly hair sat up from the bed opposite them. "You better get used to moving around a lot."

Ellie had been at the same foster home since she arrived. No one told her she'd be moving to another home.

"But my Mommy." Ellie frowned, "If they move me, she won't be able to find me." She looked to the older girl next to her.

"If she's even looking for you." Said a different girl.

The older girl sighed. "Don't listen to them. Just sleep." She laid Ellie back down, "You'll get used to it. We all do." She placed the blanket over Ellie's chest and stood from the cot, "But for now sleep. No more crying. You don't want Babs back in here." She climbed back into her own bed and so did all the other girls.

Ellie brought her little hands together in tight fists and glanced out the window into the night sky. How she wished Lana was there to comfort her.

…

The first thing Lana heard was the familiar beeping of the heart monitor. Her body ached all over and she felt it before she fully came to. Her head pounded and she felt extremely dehydrated. Her eyes opened to greet a pale ceiling above her. Her hand twitched, trying to get the feeling back in her hands. Lana looked down to her arms where countless tubes and wires were connected to her body.

She then suddenly remembered where she had been and sat up. She winced at the soreness in her muscles and reached over to rip the wires and tubes off of her. She cried out at the pain but continued to swing her legs over the bed and onto the cold, aluminum floor. She tried to stand on her own but stumbled and fell.

The door opened just as Lana collided with the ground.

"Lana!" Kit rushed to her side. He grabbed her weakened body and secured her in his arms, "Holy shit, Lana! Ya alright?"

Lana opened her eyes. "Kit? Kit is that you?" She placed her hand to his face.

"Yeah, yeah, its me. Don't worry, yer alright now. Yer safe."

"Kit," Lana said almost out of breath, "Where's Ellie? Where's my girl?"

Kit didn't have the heart to tell Lana where Ellie was at the moment. She was too frail and in a delicate state. "Don't worry. She's fine. You'll see her soon."

"She was sick." Lana said, "At the hospital. I went home but I was coming back. I—I—"

"Its okay, Lana. Yer safe and Ellie's safe too."

Lana suddenly remembered and tried to sit up in Kit's arms. "Oliver!"

"Ey, ey, ey!" Kit calmed her down before she scrambled out of his arms, "The coppers got 'em, Lana. They got 'em."

Lana looked into Kit's eyes trying to comprehend his words. Oliver was finally captured.

When Kit managed to get Lana back into bed, a nurse came in and reattached all of the wires and tubes and checked Lana's vitals. She was a bit dehydrated and exhausted but she was doing fine. She would live.

Lana was informed that two boys that lived near the farm ran back home crying about a dead woman locked in a shed. Their mother didn't believe them at first but upon seeing the face of fear in her son's eyes, she called the cops just to be safe. The officers took the description of the woman from the boys and raced out to the farm to investigate. It was then they came upon Lana about to slice Oliver's throat. She passed out before they got her into an ambulance and raced to the nearest hospital. The detective on the case called Kit and informed him that Lana had been found and Bloodyface had been arrested.

"All that happened last night?" Lana asked.

Kit gave her a serious look. "No, Lana. It happened three days ago."

"Three days ago?" Lana was aghast. "I've been asleep for that long? I need to go home. I need to get Ellie!"

"Hey!" Kit calmed her down, "Lana, please. The doctors said if they hadn't found you when they did, you would have died that night. That bastard almost starved you to death. "

"I know." Lana said. Her eyes fell to all the tubes. She shook her head, "That son of a bitch got away alive."

"That doesn't matter, Lana. He's gonna fry for what he did."

"He's not." Lana said, "The judge will deem him mentally unstable and send his ass to a hospital. He won't go to the chair. He won't be punished the way he deserves…"

Kit sighed and wrapped an arm around Lana. "Either or, he's out of your lives for good. He won't hurt you or Ellie anymore."

Lana looked to Kit. "Where is she?"

Kit pressed his lips together, giving Lana a sad look. He head been dreading telling her where Ellie had been for the past weeks.

…

The days passed and Ellie slowly became accustomed to the norms of the foster home. She kept herself from crying at night, not wanting to wake the other girls. She stood up for herself during meal times and didn't allow any of the other children to eat her food. She ate as fast as she could before they had the chance to take anything.

Ellie had visits from her social service worker every other day. Ellie always asked her about her mother but she usually didn't give her a straight answer. However, on that Sunday morning, the social worker went straight to Ellie and told her to grab her things.

Ellie became scared. "Am I moving?" Her big doe eyes looked up at the blond woman and she took a step back.

"Don't worry, just go get your things." The woman reassured her and ushered her in the direction of the stairs.

Ellie did as she was told and slumped up the stairs to gather her things. She didn't have much or at all for her stay had been a short one and the majority of her things had been left in the apartment. But she hauled the old backpack over her shoulder and followed her social worker out of the house. Many of the children watched from the stairs and peered from behind the couch.

Ms. Babs stood at the door. "You take care of yourself, you hear?"

Ellie nodded once. She tried to keep a straight front even though inside she was terrified and close to breaking into tears but she remembered Lana telling her that she had to be brave. Whatever happened, she had to hold strong.

Ellie nodded at Ms. Babs words and thanked her silently.

"Are you ready to go home, Ellie?" The social worker asked.

"Home?" Ellie asked confused as she was ushered out onto the porch. Her eyes then ventured down the walkway and widened in surprise. "Mommy?"

A black car was parked on the street right in front of the foster home. Lana stood outside of it. She was dressed in her own clothes and her hair was up in a ponytail that came down in a single curl. She wasn't as frail or as pale as she was when they found her. She smiled when she saw her daughter.

"Mommy!" Ellie dashed down the porch steps and down the walkway, throwing herself in Lana's arms.

Lana wrapped her arms around the little girl and lifted her off the ground. Ellie shook and cried, burying her face in Lana's jacket. "Hi, baby girl." Lana said gently.

Ellie tightened her hold around Lana's neck. "Mommy, you came." She sniffled, knowing perfectly well that her mother would be back for her.

"I'm sorry it took me so long." Lana tightened her hold on the child, "But I'm back now."