A/N: Hello, y'all. I'll keep it short and sweet because I'm dashing off to work.

I don't know what you'll make of this chapter, but I guess there is only one way to find out.

Seeya soon. :D

Chapter TWENTY SIX

"Don't decide yet," Hephaestus advised. "Wait until daybreak.

Daybreak is a good time for decisions."
~Rick Riordan~

The Battle of the Labyrinth

"And did you and your brother grow up in Miami?"

Debra's face was aching from the forced smile she'd been holding throughout the entire lunch. She nodded her head at the nervously eager woman sitting across from her. "Born and bred," she confirmed.

Rachael Grieves put her hand over her husband, John and smiled up at him. "We're originally from Kansas."

"Felt like a sea change," inserted John.

"Not that we're planning on moving around a lot," said Rachael hastily. "We're very stable people. I'm so happy in my teaching job. I love all of the children in my class and John is very established in his engineering firm."

Debra could see how anxious Rachael was to impress them both and felt a pang of sympathy for the woman.

Rachael gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm blathering."

John placed his free hand over their joined ones. "Rachael and I are nervous. Sorry. This is incredibly important to us and we just don't want to get things wrong."

"It's fine," said Debra, trying to sound comforting. "I get that this must be hard for you." She was conscious of Dexter sitting quietly beside her, eating his fish and salad and not really joining in on the conversation. That wasn't unusual for Dexter. He wasn't exactly prone to being gregarious with new people but Debra kept sending him furtive looks, trying to work out what he was thinking about the eager to please couple sitting across from them.

Rachael tried to keep a brave face. "We tried for seven years to have a child of our own." Her bottom lip wobbled. "It's my fault. I'm the reason we can't."

John quickly interjected. "Sweetheart, it's no one's fault. It's just the way things turned out. No one is blaming you."

Rachael looked sad. "I blame me."

Dexter finally spoke around a mouthful of salad. "Nearly seven million women in the US have impaired fecundity."

Debra looked at him. "Impaired what?"

"Fecundity – the ability to fall pregnant or maintain a pregnancy to term," clarified Dexter. He seemed to realised he'd said something wrong with how they were all staring at him but Debra could tell he didn't know what. She was used to Dexter's somewhat clumsy ineptitude in social settings but she could see the Grieves were a little surprised but trying not to show it.

"My brother is a facts and figures kinda guy," said Debra. She put her hand on his arm. "Aren't you, Dex?"

"I'm just saying that it's illogical to blame yourself for such a common flaw of nature," reasoned Dexter. He looked at Rachael. "Unless you mean you actually did something to yourself to cause your own sterility, like intentionally didn't treat, say, a chlamydia infection. That can cause sterility and then, yes, it would be your fault."

"N-no," stammered Rachael, "that isn't what happened."

Dexter shrugged. "Then it makes no sense to blame yourself."

Debra looked at Dexter and couldn't help but love him a little more for his backhanded way of trying to make the woman feel better. "You're an idiot," she said affectionately.

Dexter looked at her wide-eyed. "What? It's true."

"I know, but you don't ask a woman if she's had a rampant chlamydia infection over lunch," said Debra in exasperation.

"So, what, it's more of a dinner question?"

Whether Dexter meant to or not, he was making her feel a little more at ease during this never ending lunch. It was a nice distraction to have Dexter just being Dexter. It made Debra feel safe, in a roundabout way.

"You two seem to have a great relationship," noted John, tactfully changing the subject. "Were you close growing up?"

Debra looked at Dexter. "We fought a lot but yes, I knew Dexter would always be there for me, no matter what."

Dexter half-smiled at her and they shared a silent look of understanding. "Same for me," he said quietly.

"It's really wonderful of you to support your sister in this way," said Rachael. She looked at Debra. "I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you." Her expression became earnest. "I just want you to know that if you decide to choose us, we'll take care of your baby like our own. Nobody will love that baby as much as us. It's all we've wanted for the longest time. Our entire home is set up for a baby. The nursery is all decorated and has everything a baby could ever need. We went for green on the walls because we don't care what sex the baby is—."

"She's a girl," offered up Debra, feeling a little uncomfortable at how enthusiastic Rachael was coming across but then knowing she'd be questioning her commitment if she wasn't.

"A girl," gasped Rachael, her eyes filling with tears. She looked up at her husband. "Oh John."

He gave a watery smile back at her. "I know. Our Chloe."

"Chloe?" repeated Debra in surprise.

"Chloe Maddison," explained Rachael and then looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry, we're being presumptuous but we chose baby names a long time ago."

Debra immediately hated both of those names but tried not to show it. "Oh, okay."

"I know you're going to make your final decision soon, Debra," said John seriously. "And we know just how big of a decision it is for you. You said earlier you wanted to make sure your child goes to a loving home. Well, Rachael and I have been married for twelve years now and together for fifteen. Our lives are full of love and happiness and all we need to make it complete is a child we can share that joy with."

"Her life with us would be perfect," agreed Rachael excitedly. "John and I would make sure of it. There is nothing we wouldn't do for her, nothing. She'll be our whole world, I promise you. No one would take better care of your baby then us."

Debra forced yet another smile to her lips. "I can see that."

The rest of the lunch went without incident, the Grieves presenting themselves as a devoted, grounded couple and Debra couldn't find fault with them. Part of her wondered if she was a little disappointed by that fact. After the meal was done and goodbyes were said, Dexter and Debra were left sitting in his car.

"Well," she said, "what did you think?"

"I think the fish was a little overcooked."

Debra glared at him. "You know what I meant. What did you think of Rachael and John?"

Dexter shrugged. "They seemed nice."

"Nothing going off in your lizard brain about them?"

Dexter hesitated and then shook his head. "No, I wasn't getting anything off them."

Debra blew out a long breath. "So, you liked them then?"

"I liked them fine," said Dexter calmly, "but the real question is am I happy to have them raise our child?"

"And-and are you?"

"No, but the problem isn't with them."

"Dexter," she groaned, "please, this is hard enough as it is."

Dexter turned in his seat to face her, expression serious. "Deb, you know I'll support you, no matter what but you can't ask me to be happy about this adoption."

"Keeping the baby is unrealistic," argued Debra, "and I can't keep having this conversation with you. Bump will grow up with two loving parents—."

"Bump already has that," interrupted Dexter.

"Two loving parents who can tell the world that is what they are," said Debra sharply. "We can't offer her that."

"I don't know what the future holds and either do you. That could happen one day, we just don't know."

"We can't just keep this baby on a chance that we'll sort our shit out," said Debra fiercely. "That day may never come."

"You're trying to demand the future be a certain thing." He made an exasperated noise. "No one knows the future, Deb. That perfect couple in there, tomorrow John could be hit by a car and killed and Rachael starts a pill addiction because she can't cope. There are no guarantees in life."

"I know that," Debra snapped, "but it doesn't take a genius to work out starting a kid off in a fucked up situation doesn't exactly give them the best start in life."

"Bump won't know that, she'll only know she's loved by you, by me and Harrison. She'll have her family around her and the exact makeup of that family doesn't matter. Whether she calls Harrison her cousin or her brother, they're going to love each other the same."

Debra put her hands to her head. "Dexter, please," she pleaded with him, "don't do this now. I can't take it."

Dexter pulled her hands away from her face and gave her a regretful look. "I don't want to upset you."

"Then don't," she implored him tremulously. "This is so hard, Dex."

"I know," he said roughly, "I know it is."

Debra closed her eyes. Of course he did. She couldn't help but feel selfish, making this all about how she was feeling and not Dexter. But Debra honestly felt like she was the one trying to protect them all and Dexter was just being short-sighted. Eventually he was going to see this was the right thing to do.

"Please don't cry."

Debra opened her eyes, surprised to find she was crying. She hadn't even noticed.

Dexter looked anxious. "That's not fighting fair."

"I don't want us to fight at all," she admitted in anguish.

Dexter cupped her face. "I know," he whispered. Dexter's eyes dropped to her lips. "I want to kiss you," he admitted raggedly.

Debra wanted that too but was conscious of all the people walking by their car in the busy parking lot. With their luck someone they knew would see them. Even so, Debra couldn't stop herself from leaning towards him, wanting the comfort of Dexter's kisses. Dexter's eyes drooped as he leaned in towards her but before they got too close, his cell phone rang, making them both start.

"Fuck!" gasped Debra, the harsh shrill bringing her back to reality. "Do you know what that is?"

Dexter reached into his trouser pockets. "My cell phone?"

"It's a sign," said Debra determinedly. "We shouldn't be kissing or doing anything else, ever again. The universe has spoken."

"I'm pretty sure it's just my cell phone," said Dexter dryly as he answered the call. "Dexter. Yes, oh hi. That's right. You have? Okay, send it to the email address I gave you. Thanks, Mark, I really appreciate this." He turned and smiled at her. "Sorry, work stuff."

Debra sighed. "Just promise me you'll think about Rachael and John."

"I'll do better than that." Dexter started the car. "I'll vet them."

Debra half-smiled. "Of course you will." It was an oddly comforting thought.

Dexter reached out and placed his hand on her stomach before they pulled away from the kerb. "All I want to do is keep both of you safe and happy."

Debra covered his hand with her own. "I know," she said softly. "I know, Dex, and you are and always will."

oooOOOOooo

Dexter hurried into his apartment after having dropped Debra off. The lunch had been as awful as he knew it would be. If only he'd been able to lie to Debra and tell him he was getting a bad feeling about the couple but then, what was the point? She'd only move onto the next couple and then the next. Dexter could see the strain it was causing Debra and couldn't bare it. There was still a whole month to go and Dexter knew Debra was bonding more and more with Bump every day. It was going to destroy her to hand over their baby but she was so stubborn in her mindset that their relationship was toxic that Dexter couldn't get her to reconsider. The situation continued to feel hopeless to him but right then, Dexter had another worry on his mind. He hastily started up his computer and checked his emails. The email from Mark popped up and Dexter opened it. He scanned the police report, a knot forming in his stomach.

A woman in Atlanta, Louisiana, a Carol McVeigh, had been found on her isolated farm that morning. Dexter read on to discover that she'd been found with several broken toes and had been tortured before being stabbed to death. Dexter had sent out a series of flags to all the law enforcement centres across the US, not wanting to take any chances. If anything even vaguely fitting Yates' MO popped up, Dexter wanted to know. And this crime scene was a perfect hit. Dexter knew it was Yates, could feel it in that lizard brain of his. He had no idea how the guy managed to make it to Louisiana and what he'd been doing these past months but didn't care. All Dexter cared about was that Yates had made a break from his cover and Dexter wasn't going to stop until he'd hunted down this animal and taken care of it, once and for all.

Dexter flicked over to the ME's report of the deceased woman and felt his heart drop when he saw she'd estimated the time of death to be at least five days ago. Five days. That was a long time for Yates to be on the move. Dexter wasn't sure what had started his urge to kill again but he was sure where Yates was heading next. In five days Yates could have easily made it back to Miami and found a place to hole up. He'd cleaned out Carol McVeigh's house and taken whatever money he found and her car. Dexter immediately logged into MPD's mainframe and looked for any reports of abandoned cars. Within seconds a report popped up of a car with Carol's number plates being abandoned on the outskirts of Miami.

Yates is here, in Miami.

It was a frightening realisation but one Dexter had been preparing for. He'd never really let himself believe that Yates was dead as Vogel had thought. There was just something about the man which told Dexter he wasn't going to go away that easily. There was only one reason for Yates to risk coming back to Miami and it was to go after either him, Debra or Vogel or, most likely, all three of them. They were all in danger and Dexter knew it was up to him to get ahead of Yates before something happened. Dexter started a fresh search of police reports of any locations where there had been disturbances or reported break ins. It took nearly an hour of sifting through endless reports but one finally caught Dexter's eye. It was the report of a disturbance at a disused church on the south side. Instinct Dexter didn't understand but also didn't question kicked in and he knew that was where Yates was holed up. Whatever he had planned, a hotel wouldn't do. Yates needed privacy and this isolated, run down church would be perfect. Dexter reached for his phone.

"Batista."

"Angel," said Dexter hurriedly, "it's me."

"Dex, what's up? You sound—."

"Yates is back in Miami," blurted out Dexter. "I need you to put a detail on Harrison and Jamie. They're at Harrison's school right now."

"What? Yates? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," said Dexter urgently. "Angel, please, can you do this for me?"

"Of course, of course," said Angel hastily. "But you got to tell me what you've got, Dex. We need to get onto this now."

"I know. Look, I'm going to go and pick up Vogel and Deb and take them somewhere safe and then we'll talk, okay?" Dexter had no intention of involving Angel in this beyond protecting Harrison and Jamie for right now. He had his own plans for Yates.

"Okay, I'll see you soon."

As soon as Angel hung up, Dexter was calling Vogel.

"Hello?"

"It's Dexter, Yates is back," he said grimly. "I'm on my way to you now. I'm going to take you and Deb somewhere safe, okay?"

"Dexter—."

"I don't have time to argue with you, just do as I say." Dexter hung up on her before jumping up and grabbing his keys. He dialled Debra's number as he dashed down the stairs, waiting impatiently for her to pick up. It went to voice mail and Dexter immediately became anxious as he ran to his car. He dialled again, blood pumping throughout his body as he willed Debra to pick up. The phone went to message bank again. Dexter wanted to scream as he yanked open the door of his car. He dialled Debra's number a third time, a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Hello?"

"Deb," said Dexter, relief flooding his body, "why did it take you so long to pick up? Are you okay?"

"I was peeing," said Debra, "if that's okay with you. I now spend my days peeing, it's all I seem to do. What's wrong, you sound stressed?"

"I'm on my way over to you," said Dexter, navigating the traffic as he merged onto the main road. "Pack a bag for a few days, just in case."

"Whoa, what the fuck is going on?"

"Yates is back in town," said Dexter grimly. "I need to get you and Vogel somewhere safe."

"How do you know Yates is back?"

"I'll explain when I see you. Will you just do as I ask?"

"I have a gun, Dex. I know how to protect myself."

"You're eight months pregnant and don't move as fast as you used to."

"The fuck I don't!"

"Deb!" said Dexter in irritation. "Please, just listen to me and do as I ask."

"You're freaking me out, Dex," said Debra unhappily.

"I don't mean to. I just need for you to pack a bag and be ready. I'll be there in half an hour. I'm picking up Vogel first."

"I feel like you're overreacting."

"I don't care. This is too important, Deb. I'm not going to let that maniac hurt you again."

"Alright, calm down. I'll do as you ask."

Dexter felt some of the tension leave his body. "Good, thank you."

"I'll see you soon."

"Don't open the door to anyone else but me."

"Fuck, Dex, it's not my first rodeo. I used to be a cop, remember? I know what Yates looks like. Stop panicking and just do what you've gotta do, okay?"

Dexter couldn't help but smile at the shades of his pragmatic sister. "I love you."

"I know, I love you too." Debra sighed heavily. "We're both so fucked."

Fifteen minutes later Dexter had Vogel in the car and was almost at Debra's.

"You're speeding," noted Vogel calmly.

Dexter glanced down at his dash and saw she was right. "I need to get to Deb."

"You're panicked," she noted. "I don't think I've ever seen you like this. You can't even be sure that Yates is anywhere near making his move yet."

"I can't be sure he's not," ground out Dexter. "I'm not taking any chances this time. I didn't take his threat seriously enough last time. I won't make the same mistake twice."

"Just don't get us killed on the way to saving us," said Vogel mildly as Dexter overtook a car a little too closely.

Dexter only grunted in reply. In his mind's eye he was plotting out his attack on Yates. He'd stake out that church and make sure it was where Yates was living and then make short work of him. The man was a cancer and he needed to be cut out. There was no more room for mistakes or miscalculations. There was too much at stake. It seemed to take forever but finally they were at Debra's beachside unit. Dexter leapt out of the car and hurried up to her door, with Vogel following at a more sedate pace. He knocked on the door. "Deb, it's me, open up." There was no answer. Dexter impatiently tried the door, guessing she was peeing again. To his horror, the door opened, showing it wasn't locked. "You didn't lock the door!" he yelled out to her in frustration. "I told you to—." Dexter's next words were stolen from him as he pushed open the door to see a trail of blood leading from the living room back into the bedroom. All the blood left his face. "Deb!" he called out hoarsely. "DEB!" Stumbling on suddenly numb legs, Dexter staggered to Debra's bedroom to see his worst nightmare. Debra was on the bed, her arms tied above her head to the bed head, a gag in her mouth. There was blood everywhere, all over her, all over the bed. It seemed impossible that all that blood could have come from her. Debra's blouse was pushed up and an incision ran down the length of her stomach. Dexter's terrified brain had trouble processing what he was seeing but then it sank in. Yates' had taken their baby. He'd cut Debra open and stolen their child. Dexter could hear screaming but didn't know if it was in his head or if he was doing it aloud.

"No, no, no, NO!" he gabbled, rushing to Debra's bedside as her eyes flickered open. He pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Dex," she whispered weakly, face covered in splashes of her own blood. "Dex he-he took her." Tears streamed from Debra's eyes. "He took our b-baby."

Dexter grabbed at a nearby blanket and pressed it hard into Debra's still bleeding wound. She groaned and he winced in shared pain but it was the only hope she had at not bleeding out on the spot.

"Oh my god!" Vogel's shocked cry from behind him had Dexter turning around.

"Call 911!" he bellowed. "NOW!" Dexter turned back to Debra. He put a shaking hand to the top of her head. "It's going to be alright. You're going to be alright, Deb."

You're not going to leave me. You can't leave me.

Dexter could feel the hysteria building in his body.

"He-he was already in the house," said Debra faintly. "I opened my-my closet a-and he was inside. I tried to fight him off, I did-" She groaned in pain and closed her eyes. "Fuck, he took her, Dex. This-this can't be happening." Debra's voice as getting weaker.

Vogel had made the 911 call and was now in the process of cutting Debra's hands free. "Don't talk, Debra," she instructed her quickly. "Conserve you strength. The ambulance is on its way."

With her now free hand, Debra clutched at Dexter's shirt front. "Find her," she implored him in a stricken whisper. "Find our b-baby. Don't let-let this happen, D-Dex." Debra's words were slurring from the effort of speaking.

Dexter was torn. The thought of leaving Debra so near to death was an incomprehensible one but Yates was out there with their newborn daughter.

"Go," she begged him desperately. "Save her."

Dexter made a guttural sound torn from deep down inside of his soul. He pressed his forehead to hers, blinking back his own angry and frightened tears. "I'll find her and I'll make him pay. I swear to you, Deb. Just hang on. Fight this and we'll all be together soon, I swear to you."

Debra's eyes were drooping close as the last of her strength left her body. In the distance the wail of sirens could be heard.

Vogel pushed him away and took over applying pressure to Debra's wound. "I have this, Dexter," she said determinedly. "Go and find Yates. Stop him before he hurts anyone else. Find your child and make this right."

Vogel was giving him her blessing to kill Yates, not that Dexter needed it. With a last stricken look at Debra, Dexter was running out the door, needing to get ahead of the police and hunt down the animal who'd done this to his family.

A/N: Yes, I went there, folks. Hey, it's Dexter – it can't all be tummy rubs and angsty conversations, you have to get some blood on the walls. ;) What do you think – too much? Not enough? Let me know. ;)