Disclaimer: Not to state the obvious, but, no, I do not own the Princess Diaries (book or film), it's characters, or anything in related to it except for my two DVDs. I make no profit from this stories. I am merely borrowing these characters for a little bit of fun.

A/N: Hello, all! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews for the last chapter, and yes, I know I have made them suffer a lot, but what would the fun be in everything being perfect and 'happily ever after' without a bit of serious chaos first? I wanted to update sooner, but alas, studying got in the way. I hope you enjoy this new chapter and, as always, please let me know what you think.

I hope you enjoy anyway, and please review:

As the foot-thick doors began to close behind the group, her trance broke.

"Pierre!" she heard the strangled scream escape her throat as she turned back towards the doors and made to run back – to run to her baby.

Several people tried to stop her - she heard Mia call for her to stay, Nicholas's shout of 'No!' as he realized she intended to run back towards the entrance and the gunman, but it was the hands at her forearms that caused her to stop, her arms held back as she froze, her resolve melting as she broke down.

His firm grip unrelenting, Joseph stood behind her holding her arms back. He felt her taught muscles shake as the sobs overtook her body, one hand, arm still in his grasp, clenching at her chest, and he felt the same pain sear through his own chest.

Pierre had been shot.

Her son— their son, had been shot.

"Please," she pleaded in a voice so small it sent a chill down everyone's spine, "please let me go."

Joseph stood firm, his hands releasing only to slowly turn her towards him, his eyes finding hers through the mist of tears as his hands returned their grip to her upper arms.

"Please," she said again, not quite meeting his eyes, "he's my son…" she was almost begging as tears streamed down her face, "please, I have to go to him… please!"

Joseph wasn't sure there was anything left of his heart to break, but as he watched her fall apart in front of him, as he watched her suffer over what had just happened to their son, he understood that, unfortunately, while one lived, there was always something left of one's heart to break.

Unconsciously, he pulled her towards him until her head rested on his chest, one of his hands holding her back, the other cradling her head as she cried.

"Please…" she asked again, her tears soaking through the dark fabric of his shirt, "he's my son…"

"I know," Joe spoke, and while there was no malice in his words, there was a deeper meaning to them – he knew that she had to go to him. He understood the overwhelming urge to run back out onto that balcony, to be with him. He understood the fear she had of losing another child.

How could he not understand? It was his son who was lying out there covered in blood.

As Clarisse wept into his chest, he managed to manoeuver her deeper into the safety of the underground rooms and, as they reached the small sitting room, carefully led her to sit on the couch.

The secure wing had been hastily built in the months preceding World War Two when her father-in-law, King Édouard IV, had feared that war would break out and demanded that a secure area be built within the palace where his wife and children would be safe should Genovia be attacked. Since then, it had been updated and expanded – it was now a veritable underground bunker, stocked for prolonged lock-down and set to withstand even the most persistent attempts at destruction.

The decoration on this level wasn't in any way comparable to the luxury found on the upper floors but, as it had been designed for prolonged inhabitation, it did have the basic amenities – a kitchen, sitting room, office, security command centre, two larger bedrooms and several small cubicles furnished only with a small single bed, wooden chair and desk.

"Joseph," Clarisse pleaded between sobs, her eyes focusing on him for the first time since they'd arrived, "please let me go to him…"

Everyone else in the room felt their hearts break at the pain and sorrow which flitted over Joseph's features as he knelt before her and took her hands in his.

"I can't," he said softly.

Closing her yes as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks, Clarisse turned her face away from him.

"If I let you go—" he spoke calmly, wanting her to understand why she must endure the pain of being kept from Pierre – why he, too, had no choice but to bear it, "—if I go, Clarisse," his use of her name brought her eyes back to his face, "Pierre will be in even more danger," his eyes tried to convey how important it was for her to understand, "we are the target," he explained, giving her hands a gentle squeeze as she took in a shuddered breath and tensed, "it's us they want, not him."

"Joe's right, Grandma," Mia joined in, coming to Joe's side and kneeling in front of her grandmother, her heart going out to the broken woman before her, "Shades is with him, he's not alone."

As Clarisse's eyes drifted back to Joe from where she'd been listening to Mia, the whooshing sound of the main doors filtered towards them from up the stone staircase and everyone looked up.

The uneven sound of heavy footsteps slowly grew louder as it approached the entrance to the sitting room, almost as if someone was carrying a heavy burden and was struggling to remain upright with each step.

As the footsteps reached the doorway, the strangled cry which escaped Clarisse's throat was almost as terrifying as the sight before them.

As Shades stumbled into the room, falling to his knees as he lowered Pierre to the floor, everyone froze.

No one noticed how Pierre had been leaning on the security guard, or how he had, slowly but surely, walked in on his own two feet with Shade's assistance.

All anyone seemed to be able to focus on was the burgundy stain which covered his left chest, shoulder, neck and arm where his black coat had been torn away. All they registered were the ragged breaths escaping the Prince's gritted teeth as his face contorted in pain.

After a breathless moment, Clarisse was on her knees beside her son, her hand on his abdomen as Shades pulled at his stained shirt to gain access to the wound.

"Oh, Pierre," she whispered as tears slid down her face.

"M…" he tried to speak between gritted teeth, "Mother…"

"Sh…" Clarisse stopped him, "don't try to speak, just breathe…"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," Robert spoke once he'd succeeded in pulling the white fabric from the prince's shoulder, "there is no gentle way to do this…" and he reached under Pierre's shoulder to feel for an exit wound.

The movement in his injured limb caused excruciating pain to seer through his body and his back raised off the floor as Shades applied pressure to both the front and back of his shoulder.

"Sh, son," Clarisse tried to sooth him, a hand caressing his face as his eyes found her face, "it will be alright, it…"

"It's going to be ok," Joseph's voice joined in as he, too, knelt beside Pierre, his eyes finding Shades', the younger man's head nodding in confirmation to the question he read in Joe's pleading eyes.

"It's just in the shoulder," Shades said almost in a sigh as relief washed over the whole room.

"Boss," Lionel's disembodied voice filled the room through Shade's radio as he returned Pierre's shirt to its original position, providing some cover to the wound as he applied pressure to stop the haemorrhage, "boss, do you read me?"

Looking to Joseph as his hands were occupied, Shades nodded to his right side to indicate to his superior where the radio was positioned. Reaching over, Joseph removed the object from Shade's belt and lifted it to his lips, his eyes on Pierre as his son continued to look to his mother, her hand on his cheek doing its best to provide comfort.

"We read you, Lionel," Joseph spoke, "what's your situation?"

"Everything's code 4, we have it under control, boss," Lionel replied, "Rick issued a 10-43. I have Dr. Dawes, he was stopped at the gates during the PS. Request permission to disclose your 20. Over."

"Permission granted. Give the doc an 11-51 to the Burrow. 10-22 to the Tiger in 10. Over." Joseph replied placing the radio down on the floor beside him as Shades, having understood the entire conversation and, therefore, that Joe had ordered Lionel to report to him in person, shifted to the side to let the older man take over applying pressure to Pierre's wound so he could receive Lionel and the Doctor.

As Joe went to take over for his second in command, he felt his stitches tug painfully at his side as he bent over Pierre, his face obviously showing the pain he'd felt as his son's eyes shifted to him worriedly, "Jo…" Pierre tried, but, seeing his boss hesitate, Shades returned the pressure to the prince's wound making him wince again.

"Nicholas!" Joe called, straightening his back and looking up to the Prince Consort, "take over for Shades, will you?"

Nodding, Nick released Mia's hand and rushed over to take Shade's position, his eyes finding Pierre's as his hands pressed down on the blood-soaked shirt, the warm red liquid quickly slipping through his fingers and coating his hands.

TBC

Drama! :P I hope you all enjoyed that and, as always, please let me know what you think and I will update again ASAP (there should also be an In the Shadows update within the next few days).

Also in case you were wondering, the codes Lionel and Joe use over the radio are (Code 4 - no further assistance needed; 10-43 - call a doctor; 10-20 (20) - location; 11-51 - escort; 10-22 - report in person to).

Thanks,

CJS-DEPPendent